Mr. Nice Guy

Jackie Chan does his thing.

Features: Jackie Chan
Director:
One has to be in a certain frame of mind for a Jackie Chan flick:
  • Don't care about plot.
  • Don't care about acting skill.
  • But do care about Chan's phenomenal ability avoiding being killed in the stupefying stunts that the man performs.

    Such is the case with Mr. Nice Guy. Chan (playing a character named "Jackie"--what a stretch) is a television cook in Melbourne, Australia. So Chan can cook is the deal here.

    Meanwhile, the "plot" has bad guys with a drug deal going down. You can tell they're bad since

  • their suits are dark and baggy (the GQ gang)
  • or they're wearing torn-up blue jeans (the slacker gang). Meanwhile, our hero is literally wearing all white. L-i-t-e-r-a-l-l-y.
    An intrepid television reporter and her naturally hapless cameraman catch the tran on tape. Said bad guys see them and give chase. Does the trusty reporter, who is played by a stunning redhead, run into Chan? Does Chan have all the right moves? Is the Pope Catholic?

    The magic of Chan's movies is the sheer extemporaneousness of the stunts. The horse-drawn carriage sequence and what Chan does with a trolley coming from the opposite direction is a perfect example. (Want to know what it is? Go see the flick.) Altho the stunts were undoubtedly written to work out just as they do, they still have a totally impromptu feel to them which is so refreshing compared to the Willis/Ah-nuld/Stallone Hollywood-clockwork stunts.

    Movie ends with the denouement at the chief bad guy's lair. Chan does stunts with a giant road grader dump truck with are proof-positive that the man is insane. I spent most of the time picking my jaw off the sticky theater floor.

    You want mindless, totally fun entertainment? Then this is the movie for you.

    Movie's suitability for:

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