ARMOR OF GOD I-II 1986 & 1991
Time to revisit a couple of old favourites and see how much they hold up. I've always been of the opinion that Hong Kong action sequels, particularly those by Jackie Chan, are often weaker than their predecessors. The action highlights always shine very brightly but the scripts often fail to recapture the magic. But is this the case with Jackie's 'Asian Hawk' adventures, or have the tables turned? Not everything can be Police Story or Project A of course, but in this case there's quite some time between the original and follow-up. It also helps that the globe-trotting stories crib from Indiana Jones and as such can be enjoyed as separate adventures with few returning characters or plot points. Let the treasure hunt begin...
The original Armor of God is a strange mixture of dramatic elements for the star. The brutal opening massacre at a fashion show is something of an outlier in his work, and the central character is strangely ruthless at times. In Police Story II he's the victim of a blackmailing plot and is forced wear an explosive vest; whereas here he does it to get the advantage over his enemies. There's often a strange disconnect between the romantic melodrama, the slapstick comedy, and the hard edged action. Asian Hawk, or simply Jackie, does chewing-gum tricks and delivers a cynical speech about God in the same scene. We're also expected to believe that he was a pop star before becoming a mercenary.
Of course the tonal whiplash as it jumps from yet more bedroom antics to electric martial arts performances is to be expected. Some of this stuff is pretty subtle next to his contemporaries and the violence is often tame. But it has to be said that the weakest elements revolve around a comedy of errors and a love triangle as Jackie clashes with his former band mate Alan (Alan Tam) and wealthy heiress May (Lola Forner). Which is before they even get to rescuing old flame Loralei (Rosamund Kwan) and stealing the titular armour from a laughable evil cult. Various scenes of brainwashing and robe swapping take place before the story can get back to its strengths - the vehicle stunts and athletic feats.
Both of these films feature extended car chases involving high jumps and extreme manoeuvres, and it's hard to decide which one is best. This one features the superior score (as long as you watch the original version with the Loralei theme) but does feature a ridiculous trick car. There's also of course the famous Raiders of the Lost Ark style opening in which Jackie cracked his skull; just check out the hair length difference after this prologue. But the real peak of the action is the monastery dining hall battle with the burning logs and broken crockery, followed by a one versus four fight against a team of Amazonian bodyguards. If only it didn't lag so much between the set pieces and spend so much time on Alan and Jackie's rivalry...
3/5
Fortunately the whole pop star sub-plot has been ejected in the part two, aka Operation Condor, which focuses on buried gold from the Second World War. Unfortunately there are now a cast of wholly irritating side characters, from those following Jackie to those he's talking along for the ride. The dubbing is frankly atrocious and the ensemble all feel like characters from a Tintin comic album. However, you won't catch me watching this with subtitles very often as the nonsensical antics and overwrought voice actors are a big part of the film's charm. The music is a lot worse this time, dropping guitar riffs in favour of bad synthesized samples, but the rest of the film has good production values.
Still, it's hard to say if this really is the 'biggest martial arts adventure ever' as the old box art claims. The Indiana Jones vibes have certainly increased from the opening set piece to the North Africa based third act. Motor cycles and black stunt cars still get totalled in the middle of the film, but generally it's a whole new adventure. Only Jackie's employer The Duke (or the Count?) played by Bozidar Smiljanic sticks around from the previous movie, and his daughter May is never mentioned. Instead there's a trio of women from different countries who generally scream and cause havoc throughout the story. It's certainly a product of its time; those who thought Willie Scott was a pain need not apply.
In the end though it's down to a series of insane set pieces to wow the audience, which is certainly the case here. The opening mountain scene may not be entirely real, and the hotel mayhem may not be convincing, but by the time it reaches all the military bunker sequences jaws will have dropped. Bigger is certainly better in one of Golden Harvest's huge stages containing all kinds of elaborate contraptions. Performers leap between some kind of Luftwaffe machinery before they're blasted in an experimental wind tunnel. Certain optical moments and wire effects might seem a little phoney but a lot of the aerial antics go beyond mere slapstick into real movie magic. Which means that for once this is a sequel worth checking out and a double feature that demands to be seen.
4/5
