Weekly Cinemeh

Hello, and welcome back to Weekly Cinemeh. This week we decided to delve into Jackie Chan movies. We were both in the mood for some over the top kung-fu acrobatics and this week certainly delivers. Jackie Chan is well known for how awesomely choreographed his movies are, and the films this week deliver that well. My favorite part of Jackie Chan movies are the credits though, where they show just how the stunts can so easily fuck up. It was a fun week. To the list!

1: Rumble in The Bronx
Rumble is one of the classic Kung-fu movie structures. Guy comes in from out of town, gets caught up in a plot because they kick the ass of someone bad, then uses the power of head-kicking to resolve the issue. Jackie Chan is a young man in town for his uncle's marriage. While in town he beats up some people who try to rob his uncle's supermarket which leads to a gang war between Jackie Chan and a bunch of neighborhood toughs. This movie has all of the crazy jumping around the environment and using it to hurt people that you have come to expect from Chan, though I will say the lack of police presence in the movie makes no damn sense. I get that they are in bad part of town, but the bad guys do some very noisy violence that should have attracted a lot more attention than it did. Overall the movie is a fun time. The cast is suitably over the top, and Jackie Chan is understandably great. Watch it, it's a good time.

Eshi: Its weird, but one of my favorite things about this movie is how little it relies on a story. There is one, don't get me wrong, its just that no one really seems to care about it. There are some gangbangers and some big time syndicate types, the cops even come in for fifteen minutes at the end to vaguely legitimize a hovercraft chase through New York. Jackie Chan gets his ass kicked pretty bad in this one, both in character and just normally. Not that that is particularly unique in his films, but some of the hits in the credits are pretty nasty and there's a five minute scene of his character just standing in front of a wall getting torn apart by bottles of malt liquor. Be forewarned, though, it just kind of drops you when its done. No epilogue, no resolution, just "done now".

2: Little Big Soldier
LBS takes place during the Three Kingdoms era of history in China, and is essentially a road trip movie about a soldier who "captures" an enemy general and tries to bring him back to his country in order to turn him over for a reward so he can become a farmer. This movie covers a lot of bases. You still get the amazing choreographed fight scenes and comedy, but there is also a lot of heart to the movie. Ultimately it is about how war is fucked up, and hurts everyone. The cast it great, Jackie Chan and Leehom Wang in particular have some great chemistry together. Its a good movie, check it out.

Eshi: This is my favorite Jackie Chan movie. I don't feel like there's much to be said about this film except that it's required watching for fans of foreign cinema. The characters are compelling, the story is genuine and heartfelt, just... watch this fucking movie. Seriously, its a very worthy hour and a half.

3: The Legend of The Drunken Master
This is probably my favorite Jackie Chan movie of the ones I've watched. Its funny and has some of the most amazing fight scenes I have ever seen. While on a train with his father and father's housekeeper to his home city, Fei-Hung (Chan) gets caught up in a smuggling ring and finds out about a British ambassador trying to steal a bunch of artifacts from China to sell to the British national museum. It is up to Fei-Hung and his friends to keep them from leaving the country. As I said before, the fight scenes in this movie are great, the last one in particular is wonderful. It has a great sense of humor, especially the drunken fighting style allows for a great deal of silliness. Anita Miu, who plays Fei-Hung's step-mother is also a stand out for me. Her comedy style lends itself well to this type of movie. Its a great movie, watch it.

Eshi: Drunken Master is probably the best choreographed martial arts film I've ever even heard of. All of the acrobatic and environmental combat that Jackie Chan is renowned for are perfected in this movie. The momentum, both of the plot and the combat is goddamn impeccable. About the only thing that's missing for me in this film is the Popeye music playing in the background whenever Fei-Hung drinks.