This broadly humorous sequel to the cult hit MY LUCKY STARS is another film cast from the same mould: small scale comedy and laughs combine with hard-hitting action, the result is a roller-coaster of a film, slow in some spots and rip-roaring in others. The thing that really made me enjoy this film was the fun atmosphere, even more improved since the last instalment: the leads now seem really natural together (as they should, having starred in two ensemble films previously) and the comedy comes brisk and naturally. Plenty of the humour surrounds the boys' attempts to score with a pretty young woman, creating fires and fights in an attempt to grope and see her naked as many times as possible. Yes, it all sounds pretty low brow, but that's the point, and there's an innocence about the humour which makes it impossible to dislike.Just about every cast member acquits themselves admirably in this production. The comedy stars shine through and the action heroes are quite wonderful. Comedy and action is mixed together in a successful, always moving, non-boring sequence. There are two main martial arts sequences, whilst the rest of the film involves incredible stunts (jumping from buildings and moving cars particularly), motorbike chases, shoot-outs, and just plain old-fashioned escapism (Jackie shooting the door off his car is a favourite moment). The warehouse attack, about halfway through, is a major tour-de-force for stars Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and a young Andy Lau. Each faces a weapon-wielding toughie in a warehouse setting; the resultant fights are fast and furious in the truest sense of the words.The film is really a who's who of Asian talent: along with bit-parts from popular players like Kara Hui, Jason Pai Piao, Phillip Ko, and villain Dick Wei, we have fresh-faced soon-to-be-famous bits from Michelle Yeoh and Andy Lau amongst the more established turns of the three leads. Rosamund Kwan lends fiery support but the fun is in the villainous trio, comprising Fat Chung with hilarious eyebrows; imposing Japanese villain Yasuaki Kurata, and best of all the Australian martial arts master, Richard Norton. In one of his first roles, Norton is great as the shell-suit clad baddie, particularly when shooting people with a machine gun whilst hang-gliding through the air! He also gets some great dialogue, such as in the final fight scene: "Painful?". Norton's tongue-in-cheek turn makes for the best villain of the series and every scene with him is a winner.Sammo Hung only really comes to light in the film's finale, a chase-cum-shoot-out-cum-mass-fight in a theatre and a restaurant. There's a great gag in which a girl pretends to be blind, then some blistering action from Hung and Chan. Hung is particularly good, wielding wooden tennis rackets and beating bad guys like the pro he is. Obviously these kind of films are an acquired taste, a mix of old-fashioned slapstick, sniggering schoolboy humour, and the kind of martial arts flavoured mayhem they can only make in Hong Kong. It's reall rather good.
... View MoreWithout martial arts sequences it would be 5 out of 10 at most on IMDb, no doubt. But the flick does have some amazing brawls as a tasty dish in different parts of the film.The Chinese humour here may be called moronic but being that bad it does not spoil the movie. Suggest that one should watch this movie in Chinese with subtitles. Maybe being drunk will also help. The way that little fat "bugger" (as another character calls him) speaks is awesome. As if singing some idiotic childish song - quite a moving intonation. Lexically his speech is idiotic as well. The way Sammo looks in this movie also adds some crazy flavour: he is so baby-faced here and so hurtful at times (with his kicks, jumps, and all). Richard Norton is ridiculous as well with his "Excuse me" and trademark "Painful?" phrases together with childish face expressions, though he has a beard.In a few words this movie is an orient extravaganza that is quite more enjoyable than anything "blockbusterish" of today's cinema.The things that spoiled (a bit) the movie for me: voodoo doll topic (it gets too far), outtakes on the DVD (not funny, not cool - plain uninteresting and dull, thankfully these scenes are not in the movie), and little fighting (yes, really tough but little - would be happy with an additional 15 minutes brawl between everybody engaged in the production). The movie could be also shorter for the sake of insane pace - 70 minutes of this stupidity would be nice.Almost forgot: 1) that Biao's jump at the factory is still in my mind's eye (he made the backward splits and kneed the opponent in the back grabbing him by the hair and thrusting forward through the glass - pure ecstasy); 2) the scene where one of those stupid old fellows is harassing his two friends with the fingers and finally slaps them with that helicopter move hitting the first friend up the chin and the other - upon the head (re-watched this dumb scene a number of times - still cannot believe my eyes while it looks so childish and phoney); 3) the music becomes to the movie perfectly - it resembles the one used in the old Soviet cinema for kids; 4) the moronic ending with the endless crowd of people coming out of the elevator makes me smile real wide.A ridiculous 7 out of 10 - forget the manners and you'll love it, but do not re-watch it too often because it can make you stupider... Thanks for attention.
... View MoreThe script is totally incoherent (something about a letter that could expose a criminal organization... don't even bother to think about it), and most of the comedy is lame, but the action is fast and exhilarating. Jackie has a small part and barely any dialogue in this one; I also would have liked to see more of the gifted Yuen Biao, who has a way of making even the most amazing stunts seem effortless. Sammo Hung gets the lion's share of the fighting, and at the end he is pitted against Richard Norton, one of the most worthy villains of Jackie Chan movies. I give "Twinkle" * for the comedy and *** for the action, so the average is **.
... View MoreReally silly stuff, goofier than usual, but fun nonetheless. Another of Jackie's "minor" movies, he's back in a smaller part, but he does get to scrap a bit with Richard Norton, who showed up later in "City Hunter" and "Mr. Nice Guy." The ending of course is really cool, and it's fun to see a young Michell Yeoh in a tiny, tiny part....
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