Made during the mid 1980s, a period which I consider to be the most productive (in terms of entertainment value) in Jackie Chan's overall filmography, ARMOUR OF GOD is another hit and a perfectly-paced movie, offering up varied locations, some wonderful action sequences, tons of stunts and breathtaking martial arts work. Little does it matter that the film has a lightweight and undemanding plot, which uses the Indiana Jones films as a basis and throws in lots of odd interludes (the Chinese rock band, the evil/comedy monks) before forgetting about it at the end in favour of crazy action.
In many ways this has much the same formula as Jackie's other films from the time, pairing him up with a bumbling sidekick (this time played by Alan Tam), who shares plenty of comic interplay with the Chan man, and bringing in female beauty Lola Forner (WHEELS ON MEALS) as a romantic interest. There's a lot of comedy in this movie which, whilst being very Chinese in tone, is still pretty funny in places, including the middle of the film which is a bedroom farce very much in the Jackie Chan style and nowhere near as lame as some people claim it to be.
The action sequences are dotted in throughout the film to highlight the plot and each one tops the last. Beginning with a major hill-sliding event, ARMOUR OF GOD takes in an excellent cross-town car chase, utilising a number of cars and motorbikes, a huge jump which is as good as the bus jump in SPEED, and tons of destruction, my personal favourite being the jeep rolling down the town square steps which is perhaps THE best crash I've seen on film. The martial arts is as good as ever, as it should be considering Jackie Chan was at the height of his physical prowess when this was made, but kept to a relative minimum until the action-packed ending which doesn't disappointment.
The action incorporates a wild food fight and plenty of extra-fast martial arts fighting which is some of the best filmed. Later, there's another memorable scene in which Chan must battle four ball-breaking Amazon women, and a hilarious joke involving a vest of dynamite which had me laughing out loud to myself (the first time in a Chan flick). Chan is likable, Alan Tam makes a good comic foil (and doesn't have to embarrass himself by too much fighting, being an non-martial artist), Forner is the icy beauty once more and there are some weird-looking bad guys to add to the fun. The film is topped off by a jump onto a hot air balloon which is also highly impressive, and if you watch the closing credits you'll see that Chan nearly died after hitting his head on a rock - thank goodness he survived and went on to make more enjoyable movies like this one.
In many ways this has much the same formula as Jackie's other films from the time, pairing him up with a bumbling sidekick (this time played by Alan Tam), who shares plenty of comic interplay with the Chan man, and bringing in female beauty Lola Forner (WHEELS ON MEALS) as a romantic interest. There's a lot of comedy in this movie which, whilst being very Chinese in tone, is still pretty funny in places, including the middle of the film which is a bedroom farce very much in the Jackie Chan style and nowhere near as lame as some people claim it to be.
The action sequences are dotted in throughout the film to highlight the plot and each one tops the last. Beginning with a major hill-sliding event, ARMOUR OF GOD takes in an excellent cross-town car chase, utilising a number of cars and motorbikes, a huge jump which is as good as the bus jump in SPEED, and tons of destruction, my personal favourite being the jeep rolling down the town square steps which is perhaps THE best crash I've seen on film. The martial arts is as good as ever, as it should be considering Jackie Chan was at the height of his physical prowess when this was made, but kept to a relative minimum until the action-packed ending which doesn't disappointment.
The action incorporates a wild food fight and plenty of extra-fast martial arts fighting which is some of the best filmed. Later, there's another memorable scene in which Chan must battle four ball-breaking Amazon women, and a hilarious joke involving a vest of dynamite which had me laughing out loud to myself (the first time in a Chan flick). Chan is likable, Alan Tam makes a good comic foil (and doesn't have to embarrass himself by too much fighting, being an non-martial artist), Forner is the icy beauty once more and there are some weird-looking bad guys to add to the fun. The film is topped off by a jump onto a hot air balloon which is also highly impressive, and if you watch the closing credits you'll see that Chan nearly died after hitting his head on a rock - thank goodness he survived and went on to make more enjoyable movies like this one.