An amiable buddy-buddy-just-plain-weird comedy offering, a follow up to WINNERS & SINNERS and following much the same mould. This time around the ensemble cast travel to Japan to outwit a criminal gang, cleverly located in an amusement park which makes a great backdrop for the action. Unfortunately, despite the kick-fest indicated by the trailer, action is exactly what MY LUCKY STARS is short of. It's a film of two halves. The first ten minutes and the final half an hour is one film; the hour in between is another. For the most part, the middle of the film is a meandering comedy film reuniting the jokers we all know and love; Kidstuff, Roundhead, Rawhide, Sandy, and Herb. The jokes are pretty childish but there are plenty, and a fair few hit home. It's likable enough but not exactly what action fans are looking for and it doesn't always help that the Chinese comedy is so different from what Western viewers are experienced with. However, I find the jokes improve on repeat viewing, especially the hilarious 'dinner' scene that makes fine use of the language barrier. Of the cast members, the funniest is Eric Tsang, playing the stupid one of the group and usually at the butt of everyone else's joke, although all of the actors get some nice scenes to themselves.Thankfully, the beginning and end of the film feature Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao engaged in some fine work, the martial arts battles. The film kicks off with a hilarious and exciting chase by car, complete with a far-fetched stunt and a battle with some ninjas. Movie heaven, to be exact. Then Biao and Chan disappear and Sammo is left to carry the can as both star and director, something he does with skill. However things get really exciting at the finale, where the good guys storm the amusement park and Jackie Chan goes into the House of Horrors to fight the baddies.Lots of spooky shenanigans follow in an expertly shot sequence from Hung, who also directed, reminding me of FANTASY MISSION FORCE. Things culminate in a massive bust-up in which Jackie fights regular villain Dick Wei (PROJECT A), Sammo fights a whole load of bad guys, and a female bodybuilder comes on the screen to make an impression. It's crazy and fun. My only complaint with the action is that it's sped-up, which I found really noticeable in this instance. The resulting movie is a strange combination, not one of the total classics from the decade like DRAGONS FOREVER or PROJECT A but still good fun if you're in the right mood.

For someone who loves the "three brothers" in the outstanding "Dragons Forever", or the also excellent "Wheels on Meals", "My Lucky Stars" was a poor offering. The fight scenes at the end, particularly Jackie's unique and exciting romp through the "haunted house", account for four of my five-star rating. The vast stretch of "humor" in the middle is comprised of some Chinese-nuanced gags, inaccessible to my Western senses, and a load of truly imbecilic slapstick, most of it so juvenile and embarrassing that I had to eventually begin fast-forward searching, to get to some decent action. I can only recommend the first 10 minutes, and the last 20.....

This is a second film from Lucky Stars series (the first one was Winners and Sinners). It has some funny scenes and some well choreographed martial art scenes and that makes this film highly entertaining. Yuen Biao had a very small role in this movie but still there were two good fighting scenes with him. There was many good fighting scenes with Jackie Chan. One of them took place in chamber of horrors and it was made in Jackie Chan style (using everything that's around to win a fight). There were few scenes where Sammo Hung was imitating Bruce Lee and that looked great. The Five Lucky Stars did also a great job. There were few comical scenes where they demonstrated their improvisation skills.

My Lucky Stars is one of those Kung Fu films that western audiences are unfamiliar with. There have been serious hard-hitting martial arts flicks; namely Enter the Dragon, Police Story and yet there are also comedy based Kung Fu movies, such as 'My Lucky Stars', the sequel to 'Lucky Stars: Winners and Sinners'. It combines slap stick comedy with martial arts action, though the humour isn't exactly as silly as that of Kung Pow or Beverly Hills Ninja. It is Hong Kong Chinese humour but with a touch of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Marx Bros thrown in for good measure. The film is mostly set in Japan and there is a lot of Japanese being spoken, although this is still a Hong Kong production. Jackie Chan plays a cop and he and Yuen- the other cop are on a mission to Japan to get hold of a former cop turned thief. When Yuen's character is captured, Chan enlists the help of his friends to rescue Yuen and to recapture the diamonds. Joining the guys is a female cop named Barbera, who apparently takes no prisoners and puts up a decent fight. Most of the scenes feature lesser known names such as Sammo Hung- who later on went to make his US TV debut in the CBS show, Martial Law-, Yuen Biao and Hong Kong comedy actors, Eric Tsang, Richard Ng and Charlie Chin, who are well known faces on Hong Kong television, all interacting with one another and making silly banter. Depending on how receptive you are of the humour, it can take a while getting used to; being Chinese and with Cantonese as my dialect, I understand it better than I do speaking it myself and so I had no difficulties adapting and assimilating to it. Yes it is different but the quicker you get used to it, the more you'll enjoy this movie. It is funny in places and the fight sequences as ever, are excellent. One of the highlights of the film is the battle between the two Chinese and Japanese female characters; it is brilliant to watch and a complete contrast to see women squaring off each other in unarmed combat; not like Police Story where the females such as Maggie Q gets seven shades knocked out of them by the villains. Despite Jackie Chan's appearance being relatively limited in contrast to the other cast members, this doesn't dampen the film's interest. The other characters all play their part; thus for once, Jackie doesn't dominate this movie, as he does with his other efforts. I think that it's a tad shame though that the Hong Kong film industry, thanks to the likes of Raymond Chow and Leonard Ho, no longer churn out these types of movies. The Kung Fu genre began in the 70s with Bruce Lee, continued with Jackie Chan in the 80s and then eventually it died by the 90s, after the efforts of Jet Li and Stephen Chow, only to be replaced by the likes of Hollywood blockbusters, The Matrix and China's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero. Chinese cinema, well make that Far Eastern cinema's reputation, laid bare the foundations of Hong Kong film making and it was a reputation that was once lauded by many as one of the very best that ranked alongside the US and Hollywood. 'My Lucky Stars' is one of Chan's under rated hits- which spanned a follow-up titled: 'Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars', released in the same year as its predecessor, and yet if you want to see him in a comedy- based role, then you can do no wrong with this effort. I enjoyed it very much and if you're a fan of his, then so will you. Highly recommended