Jackie Chan's Project A
For people who've discovered Jackie Chan through his American hitRush Hourand want to learn what his Hong Kong movies are like,Project Ais an excellent place to start. Chan plays a sailor in 19th-century Hong Kong; pirates have been terrorizing the seas for months, and all efforts to combat them have been sabotaged by the corrupt chief of police and a criminal gang, who are in cahoots with the pirates. But the plot is hardly the point--a Jackie Chan movie is about astonishingly acrobatic action sequences and breathtaking stunts, andProject Ahas plenty. Of particular interest is a bicycle chase that is more suspenseful than any car chase you've ever seen. Chan is joined by Sammo Hung (star of TV'sMartial Law) as a shifty con man who comes through when the chips are down.Project Aalso features Yuen Biao, a frequent costar in Chan's movies, who's yet another astounding martial artist. But what separates Jackie Chan movies from other kung fu flicks is his sense of humor; every fight scene is punctuated by something--a clever use of a prop or sudden reversal of your expectations--that will make you bark with laughter. Sometimes it's just so exquisitely choreographed that the entire movie seems to float on a cloud of giddy delight. Purists may object to the movie being dubbed, but given the overall hamminess of the acting, it's not particularly intrusive. Jackie Chan is often compared to the classic silent comedians for his grace and timing--he lives up to it.--Bret Fetzer