Jackie's Back
Hong Kong's Comic Hero Returns

A friend of mine recommended that rather than write a new review I should just tweak my review of Jackie Chan's last movie (Operation Condor), because one is pretty much like another. In one sense, he's right. All of Jackie's movies exist simply to showcase his martial arts prowess and comedic sense of timing. Mr. Nice Guy, his latest film released in America, has something else going for it. It's a fun movie from start to finish.

While I have loved all of Jackie Chan's movies I have seen, I occasionally feel cheated. Sometimes the plot is too involved and hard to follow, and the fight scenes too far between. With Mr. Nice Guy, Jackie makes his biggest action film to date, including nine separate fight scenes.

The threadbare plot on which the story is hung involves a mobster (Richard Norton) who is dealing with a gang called the Dragons. The Dragons, it seems, have stolen $10 million in cocaine from the mobster, and he offers to buy it back for half a million. The buyout becomes a bloodbath, and in the middle of the fight they realize they are being watched from the rafters of the warehouse. A chase ensues, and the mobsters realize the reporter has escaped with a videotape of the exchange.

Enter Jackie. He plays a chef who works with his adopted father on a cooking show. While walking home with groceries, he is nearly run over by Diane (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), the reporter being chased by black suited thugs. Jackie helps her to avoid the thugs, but even after splitting up, he has trouble shaking the bad guys who have become convinced of his involvement with the reporter.

While the plots of Jackie's movies could only be helped by a good writer, it's all academic. When you're one of the biggest draws worldwide (second only to Arnold Schwarzenegger) why mess with success? Evidently Jackie understands his audiences and gives them what they want. They aren't looking for clever dialogue or surprising plot twists. They want to see Jackie and his lightning fast moves. The humor only adds to the madness.

While Jackie has become well-known for doing his own stunts, some which have nearly killed him, Mr. Nice Guy concentrates mostly on beautifully choreographed fight scenes and chases. When Jackie's girlfriend Miki (Miki Lee) is kidnapped and being held in a construction site, the audience knows that it is the perfect setting for a man who uses props to his advantage in a fight. Whether using a wooden box, a two-by-four, or a cement mixer, Jackie moves like water and seems unstoppable. It isn't until the out-takes at the end that one realizes how hard he works to make it look that easy.

MY RATING: 7 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 87 min.