Mr. Nice Guy
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Movie Reviews of Mr. Nice Guy
Movie Review: Maybe not Chan's best, but a truly fun film nonetheless
Summary: 4 Stars
When it comes to the career of Jackie Chan as far as his films and stunts go Mr. Nice Guy won't be one of the first brought up; Chan has made a career out of amazing fight scenes and some of the most dangerous stunts ever seen on film. In my opinion Jackie Chan just might be the greatest action star of all time. Chan really raised the bar for action sequences and nobody has really ever managed to top him.
The thing about Jackie Chan even if you view some of his 80s movies like even Police Story you can clearly see the Hollywood influence and Mr. Nice Guy was clearly aimed at an American audience. This movie does have that B-grade feel, but its Chan's fighting and stunts that raise the movie above the normal B-Flick. Here in Mr. Nice Guy it seems to be a more slightly toned down Jackie Chan or just maybe it's just damn near impossible to top some of his earlier work. Regardless of which it is this isn't gonna make the Jackie Chan highlight reel, but it's still filled with some great fight scenes and some great stunts.
The screenplay by Fibe Ma & Edward Tang is what it is; look nobody really goes into a Jackie Chan movie for the script. We watch his flicks for the fights and stunts. The script by Ma & Tang is good in the sense it's never boring, but the plot is very thin and actually as the movie goes on its quite easy to even forget how this whole thing started. The characters though are mostly likeable and the villains are silly fun. The script is weak, but I suppose it serves its purpose.
Mr. Nice Guy was directed by Sammo Hung who has appeared in many of these kinds of flicks and should be best known to American audiences from the TV series Martial Law; Sammo's directing is fairly good; the movie is well paced and there really isn't a slow moment at all. The action starts off quick and its non-stop. Most of the running time is filled with action and any breaks are very brief. This isn't one of the great martial arts movies and does feel too American in structure, but Sammo Hung does a good job in the sense the movie is never boring.
The performances are decent from the cast with Chan being the best of the lot. But like we don't see these movies for the script we also don't really watch them for the acting. Jackie Chan really isn't a bad actor he's actually fairly good and while I'm a big fan of his work I would love to see him with better material from a writing stance. Miki Lee as Miki is just so cute and fun to watch and her scenes with Chan are highly entertaining.
Like I said before most of the running time of Mr. Nice Guy is packed with action and while these may not be the best of Chan's career they are still excellent and thrilling to watch. While Mr. Nice Guy isn't quite a 4-star movie and it really is very much an American B-Movie, I still rate it 4-stars for the simple fact Mr. Nice Guy is just so entertaining; from the get go until the closing shot this movie is never once boring and will keep a smile planted on the viewers face. Don't go in expecting classic Jackie Chan just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Movie Review: Subtle overtones of Marx's struggles of the working class:
Summary: 4 Stars
The fact that Jackie Chan's character is a provider of sustanence for the masses (on an extrapolated basis, a TV celebrity chef is able to reach and feed, if only by proxy, millions more than than the average soup kitchen hash slinger) goes on to demonstrate the solid foundation of the working class throughout the world. The villainous gangsters who kidnap Chan's girlfriend are a representation of the oppressive wealth that controls society (there are other gangsters of less means who, even though still representing a contrary force to that of Chan's character, still face with Chan a common enemy bent on monopolizing commerce in a Microsoft-esque fashion...this premise was similarly used in the earlier "Rumble In The Bronx").>
The police, representative of the supposed "order" as provided by government, is portrayed as being incapable (if not completely incompetent) in their attempts to aid Chan (again, he represents society as a whole). The controlling influence of the established bourgeoisie (perfectly housed in an opulent mansion that seems to be more akin to a modern art museum than a home for a single person...this further clarifies the idea that the gang boss is more representative of a class as a whole than his own wants and accomplishments) extends beyond the influence of society as it is taught in primary school.
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The climax of the movie represents the ultimate triumph of the working class in that the (literal) vehicle used to render the afforementioned mansion to kindling is not, as would be expected in an "ordinary" action movie, a military device (helicopter, rocket launcher, Sherman tank), but instead a monstrous dump truck (a Terex Titan, I believe), a larger-than-life representative device used by those who construct, every bit as representative of the working class as a pair of Dr. Martens' steel-toed boots.
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Do I seriously believe any of that? Of course not...it's all art school, smoke-filled screening room crap. This is a simply a very good action movie...not the best Jackie Chan offering, but far from the worst. I rate the fight scenes a cut above "Rumble In The Bronx", but "Rumble..." probably had the better stunts. Seriously, anyone who's seen one Jackie Chan film knows what to expect in any of the rest...ENTERTAINMENT. If you don't like his movies, you just don't like action movies, period. If you've never seen any of Jackie's films, this one isn't a bad introduction. I recommend it as a matter of course to any action fan who seeks a fun movie at a good price.
Movie Review: solid nice guy entertainment
Summary: 4 Stars
As with many of his films, Jackie Chan relies more on stunts and action than story in Mr. Nice Guy. The movie contains mostly stunts like Rumble in The Bronx & First Strike and not so much in the way of one on one fights such as Who Am I and Legend of Drunken Master.
Jackie Chan plays "Jackie Chan", famous tv chef located in Melbourne, Australia, where the movie pretty much all takes place in. He becomes the "Nice Guy" by helping out a female reporter escape from Gene Carter (Richard Norton) and his gang of goons. She accidentally leaves her videotape of one of Gene's illegal business deals with Jackie, and that's when Jackie becomes entangled in the mess throughout the rest of the movie.
Several highlights in this film include Richard Norton, who plays the bad guy boss, like in many of his movies. There is a funny cameo from Sammo Hung, who also directed Mr. Nice Guy. There are tons and tons of chase/stunt scenes featuring Jackie. The best is one of the last scene at a construction sight. Another good but small one is on the street. A Pepsi truck overturns, looses all the cans of soda, and Jackie and a goon are fighting it out in thousands of exploding cans of soda. The final scene in the movie involves Jackie driving a MASSIVE construction vehicle through Gene's "cheap-looking" mansion. Really cool, though you can kinda tell its a cardboard set. Oh yeah, and his sports car collection gets crushed too. Oh, and the dubbing on the film is rather done well too.
I miss a really good fight scene the most from this movie, but the stunts make up for it. If you enjoy Rumble In The Bronx, First Strike or Supercop, Mr. Nice Guy needs to be added to the collection.
Movie Review: A bad movie, but....
Summary: 4 Stars
Lets face it. This is a bad movie. The plot is terrible and hard to follow, plus the dialogue is atrocious. However, this movie does have some saving graces.This movie is filled with action. I mean good action and well chorographed fight sequences. That is a sign of director Sammo Hung's extraordinary ability to creative mind blowing fights. The best of the lot is a scene inside a van where Jackie messes up a bunch of baddies with limited space to move around. An honorable mention is the escape on a horse drawn carriage.
Another feature to look for in this film is Richard Norton, the Aussie martial artist who has starred in dozens of Hong Kong action flicks. His performance is terrible, but he gets his face rearranged towards the end courtesy of Mr. Chan, which is worth the wait.
If you are in dire need of Jackie Chan fix then this movie is right up your alley. If you are looking for a good story and acting, look elsewhere.
Movie Review: Of course the plot is stupid
Summary: 4 Stars
The plot should be stupid. I think the common misconception about Jackie Chan is that he wanted his films to have engaging plots and failed. Ummm, Jackie Chan is as much a comedian as he is a martial artist. In fact, if you want martial arts without the comedy you'd be better off with Jet Li or *cringe* Jean Claude Van Damme. Ouch, okay now that I've shaken that one off, Jackie Chan is one of the great Kings of B-Moviedom. The most famous are the horror Kings (Bruce Campbell, John Carpenter), but the archetypal Hong Kong action flick of yesteryear was hideously low budget (still is) and the choices are limited. Does one make a high action film with no plot, or a no action film with all plot. These are the two main choices in most of Asia. But I think Jackie has found the best option: Make a funny action movie with a deliberately weak plot and laughably cheesy acting. And voila. A unique and value-budgeted movie.