La gang degli svitati

This movie begins with some jaw-dropping, "holy s**t" stunts performed by Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao. Then Biao's character gets taken as a hostage by the villains, and the next hour belongs to Sammo Hung and his gang, the infamous "Lucky Stars". Their comedy is often labored, and always lowbrow, but it manages to be occasionally funny. I've seen three films with them now, so I'm more accustomed to their brand of humor, but they're definitely not to everyone's taste. In the final 20 minutes, we get to the fight scenes, which are choreographed in the usual inimitable Jackie-Sammo style, yet I have some complaints: most of the fights are either too brief or too choppily intercut with each other. For example, what could have been the ultimate cinematic catfight, between the stunningly sexy Sibelle Hu and the beautifully muscular Michico Nishiwaki, is pretty much a disappointment: too brief, intercut with a parallel Sammo fight, and Ms. Nishiwaki comes to a rather demeaning end. Another example is the Jackie Chan vs. Dick Wei fight, which is over much too quickly. Both Nishiwaki and Wei are better showcased in the excellent Hong Kong actioner "In The Line Of Duty 3". In fact, probably everyone involved with "My Lucky Stars" is better showcased somewhere else. But for fans of the genre and the stars, the movie is worth a viewing. (**)