Project A 2 (‘A’ gai wak 2)
Directed by Jackie Chan
Written by Jackie Chan, Edward Tang and Yu Ting
1987/Hong Kong
Golden Way Films Ltd./Paragon Films LTD
First viewing/Streaming on Netflix Watch Instantly
#788 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
IMDb users say 7.2/10; I say 6.5/10
[box] I’m crazy, but I’m not stupid. — Jackie Chan[/box]
I think I would need a couple of months of testosterone therapy to truly appreciate this. There is no denying Jackie Chan’s charisma though.
The story is but an excuse for the epic fight sequences. I will try my best. Hong Kong Police Sergeant Dragon Ma Yue Lung (Chan) is assigned to pose as Superintendent Chun’s assistant to investigate whether the Superintendent is staging arrests. For a long time, however, Dragon and his loyal team are more involved with taking down a vice kingpin and dealing with very confusing efforts by and against a rebel group fighting (?) the forces of the Dowager Empress (of China?). With the gorgeous Maggie Cheung as one of the rebels.
I suppose everyone should see one Jackie Chan movie before they die. This one is interesting in that it pre-dates the British hand-over of Hong Kong to China. So we get a lot of British twits in high places plus, in the dubbed version available to me, several local characters with ludicrous Cockney accents. It’s all very light and fun.
US Home Video Trailer
I agree with you that everyone should see a Jackie Chan movie at some point, but as I alluded to in my own review, there are arguably much better ones than this if you’re only going to pick one. Still, more power to you for going along for the rise on the 1001 book’s recommendation!
* Going along for the “ride”, I mean!
Too bad I’ll probably have to die before seeing the other ones!