It seems that in the 70’s and 80’s, Jackie Chan was the main trendsetter in Hong Kong cinema. First, he popularized kung fu comedies with Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master. He felt that other actors could easily mimic his kung fu styles, so he tried death-dying stunts and popularized modern action comedies in the 80’s. He even inspired an action boom in other countries, most notably Panna Rittikrai from Thailand. Jackie Chan eventually made some of the most expensive Hong Kong movies in the 90’s. He was known as the undisputed king of action comedy. Project A, Police Story, Miracles, and Drunken Master 2 are often listed as some of the best Hong Kong films ever and with good reason. He has a devoted fanbase and his fans will defend him for anything he says or does (except for his political stand, but I digress). Everyone loves Jackie Chan, but I must admit I don’t think that all of his movies are worthy of praise. For example, Armour of God.
Now, before you throw your monitor out of the window, I must say that I like Armour of God. It’s a great action movie, but I feel like it gets more acclaim than it should. The movie follows Asian Hawk, a relic thief, whose latest job involves him stealing a sword which belongs to a full suit of armour called the Armour of God. An evil cult wants Asian Hawk to steal the other pieces of the Armour of God for their religion and they kidnap his former girlfriend, Lorelei (Rosamund Kwan). Lorelei’s current boyfriend, Alan (Alan Tam), seeks his help. They both team up with a rich man’s daughter (Lola Forner) as they try to rescue Lorelei and steal the Armour of God back.
Now, before you throw your monitor out of the window, I must say that I like Armour of God. It’s a great action movie, but I feel like it gets more acclaim than it should. The movie follows Asian Hawk, a relic thief, whose latest job involves him stealing a sword which belongs to a full suit of armour called the Armour of God. An evil cult wants Asian Hawk to steal the other pieces of the Armour of God for their religion and they kidnap his former girlfriend, Lorelei (Rosamund Kwan). Lorelei’s current boyfriend, Alan (Alan Tam), seeks his help. They both team up with a rich man’s daughter (Lola Forner) as they try to rescue Lorelei and steal the Armour of God back.
Armour of God does feature many amazing action sequences mainly towards the end of the film, but the rest of the movie is kind of crappy 80’s movie filler. And I kind of notice this in a few other Jackie Chan movies. The filler in Dragons Forever is both painfully and delightfully cheesy, but I digress. The same is in this movie and it seems that most people blame Alan Tam for that. His first scene in the film starts off with him singing his song, Midnight Rider (which I love by the way), but he’s sort of an annoying character. He isn’t unbearable, but...he’s Alan Tam and he hasn’t had much success in the film industry.
It is actually surprising that Alan Tam does have a few funny scenes towards the end. There’s not only some good slapstick, but there’s another scene in which he acts like a complete suckup, which was pretty hilarious (in a cheesy way). In the rest of the film, he’s quite obnoxious. But I can’t really blame him entirely because almost everyone’s a bit annoying in this movie, except for maybe Jackie. His character’s an enjoyable jerk. But still, everyone else doesn’t do too much in this movie. The dull filler throughout the middle of the film almost ruins the film.
It is actually surprising that Alan Tam does have a few funny scenes towards the end. There’s not only some good slapstick, but there’s another scene in which he acts like a complete suckup, which was pretty hilarious (in a cheesy way). In the rest of the film, he’s quite obnoxious. But I can’t really blame him entirely because almost everyone’s a bit annoying in this movie, except for maybe Jackie. His character’s an enjoyable jerk. But still, everyone else doesn’t do too much in this movie. The dull filler throughout the middle of the film almost ruins the film.
If this film were to have one saving grace, it’s the action. Because who goes to these movies for a story or characters? The thing that people look forward to in a Jackie Chan movie is the action. And though this film has action, it’s actually relatively scarce in the first half of the film. The first 15 minutes has a bit of action in it. There’s a car chase a little later on and a few brief scenes in which Jackie and Alan Tam sneak into the cult’s lair, but that’s mostly all that there is. But then, somehow, the last 20 minutes makes you forget almost entirely about this film’s faults.
This entire movie is worth watching just for that finale. Jackie’s fight scene against a bunch of monks is one of my favorites, but the scene where he fights the four Amazon women is classic. These scenes aren’t even his best, but they’re so damn exciting. Somehow, Jackie is able to take a movie which is mostly crap and turn it into something great with a few fight scenes.
This entire movie is worth watching just for that finale. Jackie’s fight scene against a bunch of monks is one of my favorites, but the scene where he fights the four Amazon women is classic. These scenes aren’t even his best, but they’re so damn exciting. Somehow, Jackie is able to take a movie which is mostly crap and turn it into something great with a few fight scenes.
Without the action, this movie would’ve been doomed, but watching Jackie Chan as a relic thief fighting a bunch of monks is so much fun. If you sit through this entire movie, you’ll be rewarded with some amazing fight scenes. But chances are very high that those are the only scenes that you’ll want to revisit.
Images from Wikipedia and HK Cinemagic
Images from Wikipedia and HK Cinemagic