Jackie Chan Adventures Vol. 3: Shadow of Shendue:

Jackie fights his way through three more episodes searching for more talismans. Adding very little to the last disc, the show is, not surprisingly, a mere kids' show and its depth is non-existent. Still, it has its moments and hopefully may inspire kids to pick up Project A or Wheels on Meals when they get older.

One other thing to note is that the practice of releasing children's cartoon series here in America is definitely not without its faults. Jackie Chan Adventures is a fun show that really deserves moderately priced season sets. Unfortunately due to the lack of reasonably priced singles and the fact that the releases aren't complete I won't be picking up the rest unless I can get them dirt cheap.

Labels: Cartoons, Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan Adventures Vol. 2: The Dark Hand Returns:

I was at Big Lots a couple months back and I was browsing their small collection of DVDs seeing what closeouts I could find when I happened across two volumes of Jackie Chan Adventures. Naturally they didn't have Volume 1 but I picked up 2 and 3 nonetheless.

I had heard of JCA ever since it was originally broadcast. While I love Jackie Chan's films, I avoided this show as I believed it would be something in the awful mold of other celebrity to cartoon series and in one sense I was right. On the other hand the show does deliver in the form of action and a story that is palatable for the average 8-12 year old.

Drunken Master fans may want to avoid this but it's not awful; it's just not that special.

Labels: Cartoons, Jackie Chan

New Police Story:

Jackie Chan returns to his 80s roots and after a string of mediocre films I can finally say I have seen a good Jackie Chan film again.

In this film Jackie plays Inspector Chan, an elite officer of the Hong Kong police. Set on tracking down a ruthless gang who kill cops just for the sport of it Chan instead becomes their next target having his entire team, including his future brother-in-law completely obliterated. This takes its toll on Chan, obviously, and he then degrades into a drunken existence until a new partner, in the form of a police wannabe played by Nicolas Tse, comes along and sets Chan straight and goes after the gang to seek justice.

The film was fantastic and unlike other Jackie Chan films, you won't see much in the way of comedy. What you will see is a lot of fights and action scenes. All in all, Chan's best film since his Who Am I and First Strike days.

Labels: Action, Hong Kong, Jackie Chan

Rush Hour: There were a few people in my family who could not believe that I did not have this film on DVD. Me, Mr. Jackie Chan fan, did not have Rush Hour. Part of the reason is how Jackie's American films never really warmed up to me. In fact, I never even bought the vastly superior Shanghai Noon films. The other reasons I never picked it up was that it was always around $7.50 and in a snapper case. When I saw it at Wal*Mart on black Friday for $4 and in a keepcase, I couldn't resist any longer.

The film is one of Jackie's most successful films in America and partly because a lot of the humor is much more accessible to Western audiences. While the Chan films I love are filled with Keaton-esque slapstick and stunts, they very rarely had a lot of verbal comedy. With Chris Tucker in this film, it's all about the mouth. Yes, Chris Tucker blabs on and on throughout the whole film. While he has his funny moments, most of the time he's just as annoying as he was in The Fifth Element.

My verdict for this is that if you can get it this cheap, just buy it.

Labels: Jackie Chan, Kung Fu