Mr Nice Guy

As Jackie Chan movies are fundamentally stunts in search of a plot, it's unsurprising he's become one of the most well-travelled stars, exporting his standard mix of thrills and gags to 'colourful' worldwide locations. Sadly, the metropolitan centres he favours appear to be virtually interchangeable; shopping malls, apartments, empty warehouses and building sites are his natural habitat. Though this casts him as a TV chef, his name, 'Jackie', hints at how indistinguishable the role really is from the happy-go-lucky cops Chan usually plays. Admittedly, he throws a mean noodle, but the recipe is beginning to taste a bit stale. This could have been made at any time over the last 15 years. Yet many of its multiple misunderstandings, chase and fight scenes are so dynamic and inventive they do in fact justify the enterprise. Director Samo Hung points the camera at the action and generally shies away from the saddest bunch of Australian bit-players you ever saw.