Jackie Chan is his usual goofy, exuberant self in a film that had its moments, especially at the beginning and end, but which was too uneven in its middle for me to truly like. It opens with a fantastic 7 minute lion dance competition and closes with an entertaining 17 minute epic fight scene between Chan and Hwang In-shik; for those scenes alone, it's probably worth seeing. Another bit I enjoyed was Lily Li fighting with her swirling skirt, a scene I wished had gone on longer, then Chan later using the idea himself while fighting others. Chan also shows off his athleticism by climbing up a chute by walking up the left wall with his hands, and the right with his feet.
As an actor Chan gives an emotional speech early on that comes across pretty hammy; as a co-screenwriter he peppers the script liberally with adolescent jokes; as a director he's oddly in love with rapidly zooming in and out on characters during dramatic scenes. However, as he's rocking some serious 80's hair here (resembling Eddie Van Halen to me) and is so lovable, it's hard to ever really get mad at him, even as the plot meanders. I guess I prefer his later movies with more jaw dropping stunt work and less of the silly comedy, especially when the latter gets in the way of movements flowing naturally in fight scenes. If you like his style of comedy though, you may like this one more than I did.
As an actor Chan gives an emotional speech early on that comes across pretty hammy; as a co-screenwriter he peppers the script liberally with adolescent jokes; as a director he's oddly in love with rapidly zooming in and out on characters during dramatic scenes. However, as he's rocking some serious 80's hair here (resembling Eddie Van Halen to me) and is so lovable, it's hard to ever really get mad at him, even as the plot meanders. I guess I prefer his later movies with more jaw dropping stunt work and less of the silly comedy, especially when the latter gets in the way of movements flowing naturally in fight scenes. If you like his style of comedy though, you may like this one more than I did.