Canton Godfather (1989)

This is the second time I watch this movie, but I didn't get such a great impression the first time around so I'm watching it again (and reviewing it for the first time).

I watched a Jackie Chan documentary between the watches, and learned some more about this flick that probably made me appreciate it a more, but the fight scenes still aren't the most fantastic. The filmography however, is great. According to the documentary Jackie wanted to introduce the classy American 30s to Hong Kong cinema,. This movie holds a higher budget than his usual movies (though it's still low-budget if you compare to Hollywood flicks) and it shows. There are old cars, fancy locales, beautiful sceneries, beautifully dressed people... in short, it's beautiful. This is probably also Jackie's movie with the most suits in it. I don't think there were this many suits even in Accidental Spy or The Suit, where there really were tons of suited secret agents and, well you know... suits. Maybe I should get back to speaking about this movie though...

The plot is simple, and builds with intrigue. Jackie is stranded in Hong Kong, searching for a job, broke, when a gang boss stumbles upon him and dies in his arms and suddenly Jackie is the new boss. He's a goodhearted individual still, as in all of his movies, and the gang change their ways when he leads. There's a damsel (in distress?) involved, an old woman he buys a rose from each day (it gives him luck, which is more than superstition in this movie), his advisor, a police inspector, and well.... plenty of interesting characters. There's also one big fight scene and a few brawls, but it's not about stunts as much as it's about comedy and class.

If you're looking for all-out action then maybe this isn't what you're looking for, but if you are looking for classic Jackie Chan humor with a slower pace than the norm, this is it. I must admit I was a bit disappointed at the lack of action myself, but it doesn't ruin the movie. It's kind of like Gorgeous in that aspect, but though the one fight scene is a good fight scene, this movie is so much more than that. It's a classic!

 rated 3/5: not bad