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Cast:
Jackie
Chan
Joey
Wong
Richard
Norton
Chingamy
Yau
Leon
Lai
Gary
Daniels
Action:
Jackie
Chan
Producer:
Chua
Lam
Director:
Wong
Jing
Score:
 
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CITY
HUNTER
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1992 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
When
the daughter of a rich businessman goes missing, there is only
one private detective that her father can possibly turn to -
City Hunter (Chan). Hunter is renowned as the best in
the business and, with the help of his assistant Kaori (Wong),
is soon hot on the trail of the missing girl. All
of the clues point to a cruise ship which the girl is believed
to have conned her way onto so Hunter stows away in the hope
of locating his target. Unbeknownst to everyone though,
this ship also houses a group of International terrorists
headed by the fearful Donald Mac (Norton) who has plans to
relieve the passengers of their wealth. Luckily though,
there are several other talented fighters on board and with
their combined ability they can surely put a stop to his evil
plans.
'City
Hunter' originally hails from a manga comic strip and even on
the first watch of this film, it's influence is very apparent.
From the zany opening credits that feature 60's style Batman
sound effects right down to the psychedelic ''Street Fighter"
duel between Chan and Daniels, this feature wreaks of the
over-the-top style seen throughout the best known Japanese
anime. Conveniently, this approach goes hand-in-hand
with Wong Jing's directorial technique that is often a little
extreme thanks to his habit of inserting humour that can be
best described as cringe-worthy. However, in a film like
this it seems to fit perfectly and the combination of wacky
humour and Chan's superior comedic timing make 'City Hunter' a
lot of fun to watch.
Essentially
for a Chan film, 'City Hunter' also features several good
action sequences as Jing lines up worthy opponents for Chan in
the form of Brit-kicker Gary Daniels and Richard Norton.
As mentioned earlier, the use of the video game license from
the "Street Fighter" series makes for a highly
amusing battle between Chan and Daniels that is much more
successful at re-creating the computer antics than Van Damme's
dire effort. As is synonymous with Chan films though, the best
is always saved for last when Chan and Norton go toe-to-toe in
a battle that features everything from weapons to bootwork.
This finale proves to be extremely satisfying and offers a
more fitting conclusion than the majority of Chan's
later (particularly American) efforts.
In
conclusion, 'City Hunter' is a strange film in the Chan back
catalogue and one that fans seem to either love or hate.
The influence of Wong Jing in the director's chair is a
prominent one and his sense of humour certainly prevails
throughout the production to the extent where it can help as
well as hinder. For me though, this film is best suited
to his style and thanks to some classic Chan moments and
superb action, this movie earns a healthy four stars.
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