(2 of 2)
In his new film, the first to get a wide release in the U.S., the Bronx is Ginger Rogers. (The film was actually shot in Vancouver, British Columbia; thus the scenic mountains, and thugs with pasty skin and a predilection to say "Eh?" a lot.) As the guy who cleans up a ghetto, helps a crippled kid and does battle with a rampaging Hovercraft, Chan shows off the muscle of a superhero and the charm of a deft comedian. He doesn't swagger or threaten, flash his Magnum .44 or talk dirty to women; he's Gentleman Jackie.
Rumble audiences may titter at the naive plot (the director is Stanley Tong), but they will gasp at Chan's lithe, lightning reflexes when he takes on five creeps in a deli or executes a jump from one high building to another. You watch these impossible stunts with fear and gratitude for the hardest-working man in show biz. To see your first Jackie Chan movie is to fall in love with what the movies once were: a comic ballet of bodies in motion.
If not up to the best work of either man, Broken Arrow and Rumble serve as introductions to the spirit of Hong Kong cinema, even as they serve notice to U.S. moviemakers. Think you can do it better? Just watch! Hollywood will watch and, if there's any justice, give Chan and Woo the best seats in the house.