Jackie Chan's Project A2
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Movie Reviews of Jackie Chan's Project A2
Movie Review: Project A2 - twice as great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I had seen Project A many times, so when, seeing Project A2 for the first time, was expecting more of the same (I also gave Project A five stars as well - how can anyone go wrong with a Jackie Chan film?!?!?!). But Project A2, IMHO, is much better, with more action and more amazing stunts (too bad I can't give it 6 stars!!). I have the subtitled version, and I've always liked those versions better, rather than the dubbed versions. Don't think twice - get this movie (especially if you can find the subtitled version!!!).
Movie Review: "Are you chief of security or Peeping Tom?"
Summary: 4 Stars
This 1987 sequel to PROJECT A does away with Sammo Hung and Yuan Biao - both of whom at the time were filming EASTERN CONDORS - but Jackie Chan is back and, really, that's the crucial thing. Jackie acts and directs, stages some slapsticky bits and performs his own stunts... y'know, the usual. Fresh from having put a dent on high seas piracy in PROJECT A, Sergeant Dragon Ma (Chan) is reassigned to shore duty in the Sai Wan district to investigate police corruption, namely a local police inspector named Chun who is so shady he stages his own collars. As the movie reel unspools, Dragon Ma also gets caught up in cute (and not so cute) revolutionaries, operatives from the Manchu government hunting these revolutionaries, a triad lord, and axe-wielding pirates who survived the first movie and are seeking payback from Dragon Ma. And, along the way, Dragon Ma gets discredited when he's framed for a jewelry theft during a gala event. It's a lot to take in, and yet the movie makes it work. Or at least I was able to keep track of who was who and what they were about.
Jackie does his usual hectic scrambling over furniture and effortless scaling of daunting vertical heights. He's acrobatic as ever, as daring as ever. He does get punched here more than I'd like, but I guess Jackie was going for some sort of realism. I've heard folks remark that PROJECT A 2 improves on the original, but I've also heard it the other way. Me, I tend to like the original just a smidge better. But PROJECT A 2 is pretty dang terrific, as well.
Jackie has always strived to inject humor into his films, and sometimes they work, sometimes not so much. Here, he executes a comedic sequence set in a confined space, namely in Maggie Cheung's residence. There's something delightfully Marx Brothers about this bit as several uninvited guests play a deadly form of hide and seek, people looking for certain people while keeping away from other people. A bewildered Maggie Cheung finally asks: "What are all these people doing in my house?"
The fight scenes are predictably excellent, and Jackie's extended fight with the three Manchu agents is a fabulous set piece. Things get pretty suspenseful when Jackie is flung down a meat crusher pit, and later a wall crashes down on Jackie, and this is his homage to a famous stunt Buster Keaton did in STEAMBOAT BILL JR. But maybe the most impressive risk he takes is chewing a mouthful of red peppers as a sort of mace weapon against the manchus (the red pepper juice gets rubbed in the manchus' eyes). The outtakes show that Jackie really did nosh on those red peppers. Just another way that Jackie suffers for his art.
And, yes, if you don't know by now, you have to stay tuned for the outtakes during the closing credits, as you get behind-the-scenes stuff regarding the stunts. There's also a picture in picture of Jackie belting out a mildly rousing tune in Cantonese. By the way, I'm crossing my fingers for a future Dragon Dynasty release. I'm not at all down with English-dubbed editions, which is the only option provided by Dimension Home Video here. A pirate axe to the skulls of all staff over at Dimension Home Video.
Movie Review: Better than I expected... the DVD, that is...
Summary: 4 Stars
Alright... I'm keeping myself anonymous as I've been against Dimension Films' treatment of pretty much all Hong Kong imports, yet this release wasn't as bad... First off, I'm not sure if the print was cut at all, but at least the run time was over 100 min. Yes, this version has a new dub created by Dimension, HOWEVER, it has retained the original Hong Kong score. I don't believe Dimension has ever done this. The only thing close to this was the opposite with "Iron Monkey" in which the Cantonese track had been retained, but the music had changed. Also, the score was blasting in 5.1 surround sound, no less. And even the original sound effects were kept and with very good bass coming from the subwoofer. As for the picture, it looked almost like a brand new film. It might not've hit the standards of the Region 2 company "Hong Kong Legends", but was still highly impressive. As for extras... this is where it falls flat on its face... NOTHING! Also, I had feared that Dimension would chop out the outtakes since Jackie is seen singing in Cantonese in the original version, yet it was left in! Unfortunately, Dimension was too lazy to get subtitles for it. Well, it looks like Dimension may be getting closer to getting things right... but not until they release a Hong Kong film on DVD UNCUT and with BOTH English and Cantonese/Mandarin audio tracks. If Disney/Miramax, can take Japanese anime films ("Spirited Away", "Castle in the Sky", etc.) and give them high-class two disc releases, then why not Hong Kong live action films? They'd sell better that way as well. All we can do is wait... but it's getting harder and harder to hold my breath. As for this DVD... if you can find it for a decent price or you have a gift card and can't find anything else, it's actually worth the purchase. But, if you want original language over video quality, I guess you'll have to find the Mega Star Hong Kong DVD... either way, IT'S UP TO YOU!!Movie Review: A great follow up to Project A
Summary: 4 Stars
David Lam stars as a crooked cop and Jackie is sent in to work alongside him so he can eventually take him down. He has a lot of cleaning up to do in his new district and starts with Chan Wei Man and his gang. The movie is slow going, but there are tons of hilarious scenes that keep things moving along. The plot finally kicks into gear when we find out Maggie Cheung and Rosamund Kwan's plans. This movie is your standard Jackie vs. everybody scenario. There is also a gang of pirates after Jackie because he killed their leader at the end of Project A.
While there are no lengthy 1 on 1 matches, the action is all very good and also has a big emphasis on comedy. There are a couple of very long drawn out comic sequences, but it always ends in a big payoff. Thanks to the comedy, the movie moves along at a good pace. Make sure not to blink early on because there is a 5 second exchange between Jackie Chan and Chan Wei Man that is amazing. The stuntwork is superb. Just don't go into this expecting anything that comes close to matching the 3 on 1 final fight or the clocktower stunt from the first Project A. There is a nice 10 minute sequence towards the end that is filled with crazy stunts and also a few fights. Not his best, but definitely one of Jackie Chan's better movies.
On top of the names already given, the cast also includes Mars, Bill Tung, Fan Mei-Sheng, Ken Lo, Ben Lam, John Chiang, Lee Hoi San and Tiet Wo Chu. Ken Lo and Ben Lam unfortunately don't get in on the action.
4/5
The DVD from Dimension Video is not cut very much and the original music is intact, but the British dubbing gets extremely annoying. Picture quality is very good and perfectly widescreened.
Movie Review: Good, but not as good as the first
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie was pretty good, but after watching the first, I expected just a little bit more fighting and a little more comedy. The first had more comedy and the stunts were better. Despite that, the movie was still pretty good.
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