Starring: Jackie Chan, Alan Tam, Rosamund Kwan
As far as Jackie Chan films go, the Armor or God series always shines. From beginning to end, it's a non-stop ride of action, acrobatics, and hilarious antics.
Armor of God stars Jackie Chan as Asian Hawk, a sort of Indiana-Jones type adventurer who's contacted by his old friend Alan (Alan Tam) to rescue his girlfriend Laura (Rosamund Kwan) from a cult of weird monks. Laura used to be Hawk's girlfriend, and the monks have taken her in order to force him to bring them the remaining parts of a mystical relic known as "God's Armour," which Hawk had once retrieved in the past.
The collector who owns the remaining three pieces agrees to loan them to Hawk if he returns with the whole set. The catch is that he has to take his daughter May (Lola Forna) along with him. The trio set off after Laura and manage to rescue her from the monks. However, she's been drugged, and so she returns to the monk's mountain hideout with the armour and Alan, forcing Hawk into a showdown with the cult's sinister leader and his minions.
A take on Raiders of the Lost Ark given a Hong Kong spin, Armour of God is one of Jackie's more famous and inventive films. This is, however, as much due to the now infamous botched stunt which occured during the shooting of this film that nearly cost Jackie his life as it is to the film itself.
A simple leap into a tree went horribly wrong, and during the credit reels you get to see Jackie rushed off for brain surgery. Despite this, the film itself is a bit sluggish. It doesn't really kick in until the end of the movie, when Jackie finally takes on the bad guys. Fortunately, the last part of this film is classic Chan. It's not a non-stop thrill ride, but it is an ok film nonetheless. |
