Bovie Movie

Jackie Chan wrote, directed and stars in this English-language action-comedy tale of about a commando group that travels to South Africa to kidnap scientists working on new energy sources. However, a Washington-based cover-up requires a downed plane after completion of the mission, and Jackie is the only survivor of the plane crash. When the crash trauma leaves him with amnesia, his question, “Who am I?” becomes his name — Whoami. Recognized by CIA agent Morgan (Ron Smerczak), Whoami learns covert operatives have sent assassins to eliminate him, and the martial arts footwork gets fancy with Whoami heading to Rotterdam in hopes of recovering his memory.

Though it’s an English-language film, the fantasy action comedy The Medallion is one of the highest-budgeted movies to come out of Hong Kong. Cop Eddie Yang (Jackie Chan) and his partner, Interpol agent Arthur Watson (Lee Evans), are in pursuit of international human-smuggling crimelord Snakehead (Julian Sands). The partners get seriously wounded and a mysterious ancient medallion transforms them into superpowered warriors called Highbinders. The two halves of the medallion are supposed to grant eternal life when joined together by a powerful young boy who was born during a specific time in the Year of the Snake. The villainous Snakehead wants to gets his hands on both the child and the medallion, and the heros try to stop him. Aided by special effects and action choreography by Sammo Hung, Chan fights his way toward a violent conclusion with Snakehead that takes place in mid-air.. Claire Forlani plays Jackie Chan’s love interest, the Interpol agent Nicole. Also starring John Rhys-Davies as Commander Hammerstock-Smythe.

The work of international superstar Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle is a humorous, special-effects-filled, action-packed martial arts epic set in early ’40s China. A bumbling thief named Sing (Stephen Chow) desires to be the toughest member of the dreaded gangster hit squad known as The Axe Gang, but to completely join the gang he has to commit murder. When Sing attempts to rob a crowded run-down apartment complex known as Pig Sty Alley, the locals begin to defend themselves with some high-flying kung fu skills, and a tiny war erupts between the local masters and the axe-wielding gang. After the gang busts the ancient kung fu king known as The Beast (Leung Siu Lung) out of jail, tensions reach a boiling point as Pig Sty Alley’s landlady (Yuen Qiu) leads an all-out attack against the gang and Sing discovers his true heroic fate. Kung Fu Hustle, which set box-office records across Asia during its December 2004 release, also stars Yuen Wah and Xing Yu, and features fight choreography by legendary masters of martial arts cinema Yuen Woo Ping and Sammo Hung.

Hong Kong action genre craftsman Tsui Hark directed this martial arts tale, his second collaboration with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme after Double Team (1997). Van Damme stars as Marcus Ray, a Hong Kong fashion designer who specializes in “knock-offs,” cheaply produced jeans and sneakers meant to look like major-label merchandise. With his new partner Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider), Marcus hopes to go legit and put his shady past behind him, but Tommy is really an undercover CIA agent investigating the smuggling of mini-bombs in Marcus’ products. An unwitting pawn in a scheme concocted by the KGB and Tommy’s CIA superior Johanson (Paul Sorvino), Marcus must clear his name and save his company. His quest to do so becomes even more complicated when local authorities link him to a murder and a vice-president, Karen (Lela Rochon), arrives from Marcus’ parent company to investigate discrepancies in his bookkeeping. Knock Off is based on a script by Steven E. de Souza, author of 48 Hrs. (1982) and Die Hard (1988).

Ching Siu Tung directs the straight-to-video action thriller Belly of the Beast. Steven Seagal stars as ex-CIA agent Jake Hopper. He wants to retire peacefully, but is pulled back into the action when his daughter Jessica (Sarah Malakul Lane) is kidnapped by a terrorist group called Abu Karaf. While the rest of the CIA starts a routine investigation, Jake goes out on his own to find her. Seagal also co-wrote and co-produced.

This action parody is a Die Hard clone with an interesting twist. Kit (Jet Li) leaves the police force after the death of his family at the hands of a terrorist named “The Doctor.” Kit becomes the bodyguard for Frankie (Jacky Cheung), a movie star who is famous for supposedly doing his own daring stuntwork. Frankie, a shameless send-up of action superstar Jackie Chan, turns out to be a drunken womanizer whose martial arts skills have waned; Kit secretly performs all of the actor’s stunts. Frankie attends a gala event at a high-rise hotel when the Doctor shows up and takes hostages. While Frankie runs short of courage, it’s up to Kit to confront his nemesis. Jet Li, whose serious action performances have often been contrasted to Jackie Chan’s slapstick antics, is a perfect choice to play the “real thing” opposite Cheung’s outrageous Chan caricature. It should be noted that the film’s sharp jabs at Chan’s onscreen credibility are funny and audacious, but also highly inaccurate.

This third installment in the popular “Lucky Stars” series — directed by Sammo Hung — finds Muscles (Jackie Chan), Kidstuff (Hung), Fung (Yuen Biao), and the gang taking a well-needed vacation in Thailand courtesy of the Hong Kong police department. Also on the trip is police inspector Woo (Sibelle Hu Hui-chang) on orders to track down a list of drug dealers from informant Ma (Melvin Wong Kam-sun). Unfortunately, Ma gets whacked by a Thai crime lord, but he tells Woo as he draws his last breath that he mailed the list to his friend in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Muscles and the gang are shaking down Lau (James Tien Chun), a drug dealer who, it turns out, is being targeted by the same baddies that killed Ma.

The stars have aligned in an ominous sign, and as a legion of malevolent monsters descends upon New York City to wage war against humanity, the only thing that stands between humankind and certain destruction are four wisecracking turtles with a flair for martial arts and a hearty appetite for pizza. Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s “heroes in a half-shell” return to defend the world against an interstellar threat that comes just once every 3,000 years in a computer-animated action comedy that marked the final film role of Japanese screen legend Mako — here providing the voice of the eternally wise Master Splinter. Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar lends her voice to the role of the turtles’ technical-services worker, April; Fantastic Four’s Chris Evans assumes the role of hockey-loving crimefighter Casey Jones; Memoirs of a Geisha star Zhang Ziyi steps in as villainous Foot Ninjas leader Karai; and Star Trek: The Next Generation captain Patrick Stewart voices malevolent tech industrialist Max Winters — a mortal man whose hunger for profit and power may spell doom for all humanity.

The narrative of The Hitman unfolds following the assassination of a sleazy Japanese businessman in Hong Kong. Various groups come together at a meeting held by the administrators of the dead man’s Revenge Fund, which offers a $100 million reward to find the killer. Fu (Jet Li), a penniless mainlander, walks into the meeting by accident and is taken under the wing of Ngok Lo, a smooth-talking agent for professional hit men who proposes Fu help him track down the killer. Some of the funniest scenes are when Ngok Lo buys Fu new clothes and coaches him in Hong Kong ways. Ngok’s daughter, a young lawyer who is unhappy with her father’s background, seems to fancy Fu. Fu and Ngok are busy trying to stay one step ahead of the psychotic son of the murdered man, who is also after the assassin — a reputed mythical Killing Angel. A genre film reflecting the current zeitgeist in Hong Kong following the Chinese take over, The Hitman was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999.

Jackie Chan tones down the martial arts action but turns up the international espionage in this globe-trotting adventure. Buck Yuen (Jackie Chan) is a sporting goods salesman from Hong Kong who daydreams of living the exciting and dangerous life of an international spy. One day, Buck makes the news after he accidentally stops a gang of bank robbers from getting away with the loot, and his brief moment of celebrity attracts the attention of Many Liu (Eric Tsang), a low-rent private detective who’s looking for help with a missing person’s case. One of Many’s clients is looking for his long-lost son, and Many thinks Buck is just the guy to help track him down. Buck signs on, and is sent to Korea, where he meets a mysterious man named Mr. Park; Buck doesn’t think he’s the man Many wants, but he wonders if he might be his own father, who disappeared when he was a child. Buck makes the acquaintance of Carmen (Kim Min-jeong), an attractive journalist who tips off Buck that Mr. Park is actually an infamous North Korean espionage agent; Buck confronts Mr. Park, who has suddenly fallen ill, and Park on his deathbed tells Buck a riddle that, if properly decoded, could lead him to a great fortune. As Buck and Carmen try to unravel the mystery of Mr. Park’s final words, their adventures lead them to Istanbul, where the fate of millions is suddenly put into Buck’s hands when he discovers a deadly biological weapon coveted by Mr. Zen (Wu Hsing-kuo), a ruthless Chinese crime boss. One of Jackie Chan’s most lavish Hong Kong-based vehicles, Takmo Mai Sing was a massive commercial success there, where it did impressive business opening on the Chinese New Year.