# Yatgo ho yan (1997)

### reviewed by
Michael Dequina

    Mr. Nice Guy (PG-13) *** (out of ****)

As with his other stateside releases, Jackie Chan's latest chopsocky vehicle, Mr. Nice Guy, is contrived, blockheaded, and lacking in narrative logic. But also like those other films, it is a highly enjoyable ride.

Once again, Chan's screenwriters (here Edward Tang and Fibe Ma) have taken the easy way out and named their star's character simply Jackie, with no last name. This Jackie is a world-class chef who co-hosts a popular cooking show on Australian television. Of course, Jackie also happens to be a talented martial artist, and these skills come in handy when he becomes involved in an ambitious reporter's (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) expose of a drug dealing ring.

Other plot details, involving a videotape and a biker gang, are irrelevant; in fact, as is the case with most Chan films, the plot itself is just about irrelevant. The sole purpose of Mr. Nice Guy's existence are Chan's comic fight scenes, and those here do not disappoint. Director Samo Hung (who has a cameo role), a longtime collaborator of Chan's, does not waste any time putting Chan in action, diving head-on into a wild chase/fight/shootout after a brief cooking show prologue. Other impressive set pieces follow, most notably a chase in a mall, which directly leads to some frenzied, if cliched (can you say fruit cart?), business involving a runaway carriage; and an extended late-film sequence at a construction site, in which a hilarious pursuit through a maze of blue doors culminates in some exciting fights involving boards, cement mixers, and a deadly buzzsaw. None of the action sequences in Mr. Nice Guy are as spectacular as Supercop's thrilling helicopter-train finale or Rumble in the Bronx's daring leap between two buildings; nor is anything as inventive as the ladder fight or air tunnel climax in First Strike and Operation Condor, respectively. But the action delivers, even if the energy peters out before the film's end (the finale, as spectacular as it is, is a letdown for fans of Chan's athletic prowess).

Filmed almost entirely in English (even so, the voices of some English-speaking actors are laughably dubbed), Mr. Nice Guy hints at Jackie Chan's latest transition to Hollywood productions (he made ill-fated attempts with 1980's The Big Brawl and 1985's The Protector); next in the pipeline is Rush Hour, a stateside production co-starring Chris Tucker. Hopefully that film will be a mere diversion in Tinseltown, and Chan will continue with exuberant Hong Kong productions such as Mr. Nice Guy, for his unique charm and reckless abandon are sure to be diluted by American hands, much like they have been before.

Michael Dequina mrbrown@ucla.edu | michael_jordan@geocities.com | mj23@the18thhole.com mrbrown@michaeljordanfan.com | mj23@michaeljordanfan.com mrbrown@iname.com | mst3k@digicron.com

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"I didn't know what to expect. It's like something you chase for so long, but then you don't know how to react when you get it. I still don't know how to react." --Michael Jordan, on winning his first NBA championship in 1991 ...or, my thoughts after meeting him on November 21, 1997

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