Jackie Chan’s Armour of God (1986), Operation Condor (1991) & Chinese Zodiac (2012) Movie Reviews

Armour of God 1 (1986): (Original title: Long xiong hu di)

The evil cultus is after three pieces of Armour of God. Asian Hawk (Jackie Chan) is an ex-singer turned treasure hunter. His old acquaintance Alan (Alan Tam) comes to ask him to save his girlfriend Lora (Rosamund Kuan) who got kidnapped by the evil cult. He asks for Armour of God that Jackie recently recovered from native tribes. Collector of armour of god’s daughter joins Hawk and Alan on the quest for the remaining Armour of God.

Armour of God 1 (1986) a typical Jackie Chan action-comedy movie, where the emphasis is on the action scenes, so the plot always takes a back-seat to a good stunt. Here good stunts are many, including the Famous opening sequence [stunt almost killed Chan], a breathtaking multi-car chase in the middle, and a daredevil leap onto a passing balloon at the end. The major trouble is with the characterizations, they aren’t believable or compelling. This Chinese Indiana Jones starts off good, but the narration goes off-center in the second half and the climax appears comical. On the whole, Regular audience might find Armour of God (Part 1) unattractive, but Action lovers will like it.

Theatrical Trailer:

Armour Of God 2: Operation Condor (1991):

Operation Condor is a funny Jackie Chan movie which is the sequel to the 1986 film Armor Of God. Once again, the plot is a mere shell for some great action sequences. This time, Jackie Chan plays a secret agent code named Condor who has been assigned to search for Nazi gold in Egypt. With the help of three female sidekicks, he must battle mercenaries and goons who are also searching for the lost treasure.It’s a sequel to the hit Armour of God. The first 30 minutes are very entertaining, and I thought the rest of the movie will be great as well, but… NO!!! The main disaster is two women who join Jackie in his mission. Their acting is so terrible it’s beyond belief and it’s almost unbearable. They keep on shouting in the movie and it nearly causes you headache. Director failed to capitalize on an interesting plot. The movie suffers from tatty direction and tactless screenplay. On the Whole, Check out Armour of God 2 only If you like exciting action with an Indiana Jones typo plot…

Theatrical Trailer:

Things I Liked:

*Jack Original Stunts (Includes a stunt that almost killed Jackie Chan)
* Chewing Gum Scenes (Rajini Repeated similar style in SHIVAJI)
*Chase Sequences (Car Sequences in 1^st Part & Bike Sequences in 2^nd Part)
*Safety Bike from the Car Scene (reminds me of DARK KNIGHT Tumbler scene)

Chinese Zodiac (2012):

In Chinese Zodiac or CZ12, Chan reprises the role of Asian Hawk, an adventurer traveling around the world to find the 12 Chinese Zodiac statues that were stolen by the French & British troops during the 19th century. Chinese Zodiac has been touted as possibly Jackie Chan’s last big headlining action film and a return to the Jackie Chan action-comedy of old. The stunts and skate chase are all very good. Things all build to a suitably wacky finale and things come to a close on a good note, but overall I wasn’t all that impressed with this one. There’s plenty of humour but some of it falls flat. Some of the energy is taken out at the end of the film I thought because more time was spent at the underground smuggling place than was necessary. When good, it’s good but I sorely wished for more action and less filler. Chinese Zodiac is flat, but at least the action delivers as we would expect from Chan. On the whole, Chinese Zodiac is an unsatisfying adventure movie with some jaw-dropping stunt work.

Theatrical Trailer: