Despite being one of the biggest box-office draws in Asia, Jackie Chan had failed to achieve anything approaching modest success here in America until 1996. His first two U.S. backed movies, The Big Brawl and The Protector, were both relative failures. His third attempt to crack the U.S. market was Rumble in the Bronx. Finally, Jackie Chan scored with American audiences.
The plot involves Keung (Chan), a former Hong Kong cop, arriving in New York to help his Uncle Bill (Bill Tung) complete the sale of his grocery store before he leaves for his honeymoon. While staying with his uncle, Keung incurs the wrath of a local motorcycle gang by interfering with a drag race, stopping them short of damaging a limousine borrowed for his uncle’s wedding. To retaliate, the bikers trash the grocery store and harass its new owner (Anita Mui). Throw in a search for a stolen briefcase full of diamonds and one might guess where it’s all going to climax.
Needless to say, the best parts of the movie are the action sequences and there are plenty of them. Chan, who choreographs the fights himself, turns every battle into a mix of sight gags and fast-and-furious martial arts.
Chan also does his own stunts. For a typical action star, that might mean a few pratfalls or doing a few simple jumps. For Chan, it means jumping from the top of a parking garage to a fire escape across the street or being dragged by a speeding hovercraft. Watching Chan perform these daredevil acts, one realizes how much of Stallone and Van Damme’s appeal is based on special effects and camera trickery than it is on true athletic ability.
Unfortunately, Chan didn’t write the script for Rumble in the Bronx. The dialogue is poor and sometimes, due to the fact that most of the film was originally in Chinese, comes across as unintentionally funny. Otherwise, his performance is stellar compared to most of the other actors in the film.
Admittedly, one doesn’t rent an action movie to see Oscar-winning performances and great character development. If you think you can endure the rather wretched acting and dialogue, I can hesitantly recommend Rumble in the Bronx on the strength of the action scenes alone. If you’re expecting anything more, stay away.
3.0 out of 5.0 stars
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