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Jackie Chan returns as his character from Armour
of God. Chan is the Asian Hawk (or Condor for short),
an Indiana Jones-like adventurer/mercenary who combs
the globe in search of rare artifacts.
In this installment, Condor
finds himself on the trial of some buried Nazi gold.
Aiding him are not one, but three comely females. Comedy
superstar Carol Cheng is the map expert who tags along.
Eva Cobo deGarcia is the granddaughter of Adolf, the
guy who hoarded the Nazi gold (and no, he’s not that Adolf). The third female is Ikeda Shoko as a Japanese
traveler who sells handmade crafts for a living. Condor’s
enemies are some sniveling Arab grave-robbers and one
of the ex-Nazi soldiers who hid the gold in the first
place.
Together, all the principals
go on a globe-trotting journey to exotic locales for
well-choreographed mayhem. The set pieces in this film
are among Chan’s best, from an early motorcycle chase
to the classic showdown in a wind tunnel. The choreography
is fresh and inventive, and displays the Buster Keaton-ish
charm that Chan became famous for.
Operation Condor also
possesses some nearly unwatchable sequences between
all the excellent action. For some reason, Chan chooses
to use the Armour of God series to make his biggest
PC blunders. The depiction of women and Arabic peoples,
among others, mar the film. It’s harmless if you’re
a relatively educated person, but sadly a great deal
of people out there aren't. Still, this flick is a must-see
for the jaw-dropping stunts and fights, and simply because
Jackie Chan really can’t do anything like this anymore.
(Kozo 1992/1998) |
