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ACES
GO PLACES 4: YOU NEVER DIE TWICE
AKA:
Mad Mission IV
Year:
1986 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Ringo
Lam is given the director's chair in this fourth part and even
at this early moment in his career it's plain to see the
gritty action that would later become his trademark.
Certainly, this is slightly more violent than the others and
concentrates more on action than on comedy.
Whereas
the previous 'Aces.' films were centred around missing gems,
'You Never Die Twice' focuses on one very special energy
prism. When processed in a certain machine, the crystal can
turn the average man-in-the-street into a superman. Naturally
this arouses the interest of the underworld and in particular
the character played by Ronald Lacey (a near-reprisal of his
'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' role). Once again Sam, Kodijack, Ha
Tung and a new assistant (Yeh) must save the day.
The
Scope of this production is perhaps the most ambitious yet.
Lam uses a mainly western cast and films a great portion of
the film in
New Zealand. Unlike 'Aces.3' which failed to integrate the
eastern and the western elements of the film, 'Aces. 4'
succeeds in creating a globe-hopping adventure without losing
its main Asian audience. The original remains the best, but
this is yet another worthy follow-up.
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