Cast: Jackie Chan, Bill Tung, Anita Mui, Francoise Yip, Morgan Lam
Director: Stanley Tong
Producer: Barbie Tung
Screenplay: Edgar Tang and Fibe Ma
Cinematography: Jingle Ma
Music: Black 9, Ministry Ash, and others
U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema
One of the oddities of the United States' pervasive foreign film antipathy is that the biggest action star in the world, Jackie Chan, is known to only the select group of American movie-goers who frequent art-house or film festival screenings of his features. Chan, who is arguably bigger overseas than Schwarzenegger or Stallone, has made 39 motion pictures since breaking into the business during the Bruce Lee era, but this is his first major push into the United States. (He has appeared in American productions before, such as Cannonball Run, but not as the star.)
What makes Chan different from action icons like Stallone, Willis, Seagal, and Van Damme? In addition to doing all his own stunts (for an example of when these go wrong, stay for the end credits -- Chan shows the flubs, fluffs, and bone-crunching missteps), Chan combines an acrobatic fluidity of motion with a genuine comic aptitude. Unlike most action stars, Chan understands acting. His face is as flexible as his body, and, when he's moving, he's like a violent, supercharged combination of Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and Buster Keaton.
Although Rumble in the Bronx isn't Chan's best work (not by a long shot -- check out Drunken Master and Police Story if you want to see him in peak form), it's still ninety minutes of solid, campy entertainment. Most of the running time is devoted to the slickly- choreographed action scenes, leaving virtually no room for plot or character development. Because the dialogue was rerecorded in post-production, it still has some of the mismatched lip movement associated with dubbing, but there's not enough talking for this to become a major distraction.
The setup has Chan's Keung arriving in the Bronx (actually, Vancouver doubles for New York City) for the wedding of his Uncle Bill (Bill Tung). Bill has just sold his market store to a pretty young entrepreneur, Elaine (Anita Mui), and Keung agrees to stick around to help her get things running. Unfortunately, Keung falls afoul of a local gang of bikers, headed by an especially nasty bully by the name of Tony (Marc Akerstream), and fists start flying. Things get worse when Keung shows an interest in Tony's Chinese girlfriend, Nancy (Francoise Yip), but everyone is forced to band together when an outside danger arrives in the person of big-time gangster and diamond thief White Tiger (Kris Lord), who's out to kill everyone in his way.
Everything except the action scenes is laughably bad (or laughably good, depending on your point of view), but Chan recognizes this, and has fun with it. Of course, no one comes to a Jackie Chan movie for dialogue or a strong narrative; viewers are there for the visceral thrill of watching the hero knock down bad guys like bowling pins while leaping tall buildings and hurling himself through the air. In Rumble, Chan does all his typical eye-popping stunts, including an amazing jump onto a hovercraft (which cost him a broken ankle) and a waterskiing sequence accomplished without skis.
Going to a Jackie Chan film demands a complete disregard (as opposed to a mere suspension) of disbelief. Nevertheless, for those willing to succumb to the actor's easy charm and high-voltage performance, Rumble in the Bronx gives the expected adrenaline rush. The topic of conversation on the way out of the theater won't have anything to do with thematic content; it will be more along the lines of "Who in their right mind would do that?" Only Jackie Chan, now rumbling his way into the United States.
© 1996 James Berardinelli