Who Am I? Dir.: Benny Chan & Jackie Chan 1998 Review: E. J. Winner
The gradual introduction and growing popularity of Jackie Chan in America has from the beginning been fraught with odd twists and turns. "Rumble in the Bronx" at last popularized Chan for American audiences, but Chan cultists tend to hold this to be a disappointingly trivial film. These cultists generally came to Chan via "Drunken Master" some years before the release of "Rumble", and still hold that film in high esteem - even though it is actually inferior to a number of later Chan films, including the 1994 sequel "Drunken Master II".
The release of "Rumble" was followed-up theatrically with the release of "Operation Condor"; the problem with this is that "Condor" is actually the sequel to "Armour of God", a more interesting and more problematic film, which was released in America only on video.
Chan solidified his "Rumble" reputation with the extraordinarily energetic "Supercop", which also introduced Michelle Yeoh to American audiences two years before her appearance in the James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies". "Supercop", by the way, is also a sequel to a previous film, "Police Story", which only appeared in the US on video.
Chan then embarked on 3 film ventures almost guaranteed to subvert his reputation: the James Bond imitation "First Strike"; the low-key, difficult to follow "Mr. Nice Guy", and the disastrous "Rush Hour", which apparently succeeded at the box-office, much to my disappointment.
This year, the continuing saga of Chan's appearance of America continued on its twisted way. A film made around 1985 was re-dubbed and released theatrically: "Twin Dragons". The odd thing about this is that "Twin Dragons" has been available in America on vuideotape for at least ten years!
Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, Chan's most recent Asian release, 1998's "Who am I?" was also released in America - but only on video!
The odd thing about this simultaneous release is that Who am I is decidedly the better of the two films. So before remarking on "Who am I?", a brief note on "Twin Dragons": This film, co-directed by Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam (although Lam claims he only acted as second-unit pick-up director), is loosely based on a Claude Van Damme film, "Double Impact" and was made (very quickly) as a benefit for the Hong Kong Director's Guild. It is enjoyable, and has one or two remarkable stunts, but on the whole is a bit of fluff, even by the standard of "pure entertainment.
On the other hand, "Who am I?" - co-directed by Chan and Benny Chan (no relation) - is a well mounted stunt-and-fight-filled maze of plot and theme, as Chan stars as a commando with amnesia in a struggle with a corrupt CIA agent over a recently discovered explosive element derived from a meteorite; the film moves from South Africa to the Netherlands, and involves considerable double plays and double-guessing on the part of Chan's character as he struggles to reclaim his memory while also stopping the corrupt CIA agent from successfully selling the new element to the highest bidder. The message of the film is very positive, and the action is lively; the editing and camera-work are worthy of commendation.
There are some draw-backs to the film: Relationships between Chan's character and, first, a tribe of South Africans, and then later two women helping him, are never fully developed; thus Chan's character, rich in potential, is never developed fully, since this would require greater interaction with others.
For Chan fans the film is also disappointing in a number of subtle ways: the stunt work here tends to belie Chan's claim that he works "without a net"; i.e., without safety-supports. The slide down the skyscraper. for instance, is too obvioulsy along a guide wire.
Secondly, the climatic final kung-fu battle between Chan and two kick-boxing thugs, while well done and exciting in itself, is clealry derived from the climatic finale of the much better "Drunken Master II."
Both these problems raise an important issue which has been buzzing around Chan Fans for a couple years now - namely, is the master running out of steam? Is he perhaps growing too old for the kind of acrobatics his stunts and fights require?
Well, stay tuned for the next episode of the saga...
on a four * rating system,:
As "pure entertainment", "Who am I?" rates ***; as a film per se, **1/2.
As for other films mentioned:
Drunken Master: ***
Drunken Master II: ****
Rumble in the Bronx: **1/2
Rush hour: *
Mr. Nice Guy: *1/2
First Strike: **
Twin Dragons: **1/2
Armour of God: same as "Who am I?", with additional nod for complexity of
characters.
Operation Condor (Armour of God II): same as "Who am I?"
Police Story: same as "Who am I?"
Supercop (Police story II): ***
and for all you James Bond fans:
Tomorrow Never Dies: *** (a successful revitalization of an old war-horse
of a series)
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