Action Member: Jackie Chan

The performances from all parties are excellent, and Jackie has reinstalled a little faith in me that he is still capable of making a good action movie.

Using the conventions of the 30’s Hollywood swashbucklers mixed with his insane stunts and sublime fight action, Chan produced one of his best ever films.

It was impossible to match the original classic, but Chan pulled out all of the stops to make sure he gave it his best.

Despite some wonderful Jackie moments it proves to be a movie where the need to be ‘cute’ is more important than the desire to entertain.

The action is far superior to that of any American made film on ten times the budget, and shows Chan at his best shortly after the excellent ‘Drunken Master 2’.

As an action comedy, it is one of the best efforts to come out of Hollywood in recent years as not only is it laugh-out-loud funny, but the action is still 10 times better than anything else around at the time.

‘Rush Hour 3’ barely even passes as a competent movie and I think that it’s about time that Tucker (who never really had much talent in the first place) and Chan moved onto other things.

After my thoughts that he might well be resigned to uninspiring Hollywood fodder, I’m glad to eat humble pie and say that ‘Shanghai Knights’ contains some of his best action in recent years.

It’s certainly not perfect and not among Jackie Chan’s best films, but there is ample entertainment value.

‘Snake And Crane Arts Of Shaolin’ starts with a stunning martial arts display by Jackie Chan and ends with one of the most complicated pieces of choreography ever seen on screen.

Of course, it is far from perfect and lacks the polish that was applied to Chan’s later vehicles, but it’s still a solid effort that has a distinctly old school charm.

If you are a big Chan fan, then you will undoubtedly want to own this movie, as will anyone who wants more than just action.