I'll start off by saying I preferred this movie to the original.  The original was fun, but it wasn't a Jackie Chan movie.  This one is more of that.  I found it funnier and more enjoyable.  This time, the two guys end up in England, trying to stop some evil Lord from doing something bad.  The fact that they're in London makes for some nice anachronistic jokes and some nice action set-pieces.

The action is a lot of fun.  It recalls some of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong movies (not his best, though) and the scenes are a lot of fun to watch.  They're fast, and funny and... Before I go on, I'll say a few things about the quality of projection I exprienced at the theatre.  Firstly, at one point the film dislodged from the projector and so for a few minutes the movie was greatly out of focus and without sound.  Of course this had to happen during an action sequence...  Then, a big later on, in a scene with Donnie Yen, the film actually burned up!  This isn't supposed to happen nowaday!  Were they using film stock form the 1940s or what?  I was speechless for a few seconds.  It was very surreal.  This type of thing just doesn't happen.  For the rest of the running time, the movie with either out of focus or almost out of focus.  So that's what I went through watching this movie.

Back to the action.  It's very enjoyable.  Jackie Chan and his did the stunts becuase they're so well made, and so thought out that I doubt a bunch of American stuntmen came up with them (no disrespect to American stuntmen, mind you, it's just that Mr. Chan's been doing this for 25 years, so he knows how to make things work).  Just watch the scuffle between Jackie and the bobbies in the revolving to to see what I mean.  I would've liked longer scenes, but not every fight can be 'Drunken Master 2' material (go here for the Miramax version of that movie).  The comedy bits are mostly tied in with the action, but there are some pretty funny jokes in here also.  If you know about history and what goes on in London in 1887, you can enjoy a few extra jokes in this movie.

The drama is kind of corny and predictable, but it's handled well enough and doesn't get too long.  In the same vein the acting is what you'd expect.  Nothing Oscar, but nothing Razzie either.  For the guys, watch out for Fann Wong.  If you like that long-haired, limber, martial-arts type-babe, then you'll enjoy her.  She's only done Hong Kong television dramas before, and this is her first American movie.  For the ladies, watch for Donnie Yen.  You should know about him if you've read some of my other reviews (oh, say, go here and here for two of his movies).

I did mention Donnie Yen.  He's the main reason I saw this movie.  He's in here, and he plays a bad guy.  The only fight scene he gets is at the end.  It's worth it, though.  He and Jackie Chan go at it nicely enough.  It's not long enough and they splice it with another storyline going on at the same time, so it was kind of annoying, but at least you get to see Donnie Yen and Jackie Chan fighting once in their careers.  That never happened in Hong Kong.  It could have been done better, but at least it's there.

Overall a fun movie.  Nothing very memorable, but by no means a waste of time either.  The fights are a lots of fun to watch, the drama is kind of corny, and the comedy bits work well.  I recommend it, but don't expect too much.

26/1/2003