Plot: What’s it about?
Dragon Ma (Jackie Chan) has just defeated the pirate Lo and soon after he reaches dry land again, he’s involved in yet another dangerous mission. He is placed on the police force and his goals are simple, in that he is told to clean up the streets within his area. He needs to lower the crime rate and make sure the folks can walk the streets without fear, which might not be such an easy task after all. It seems as though he is on the side of good, but Dragon soon learns he might not be on the right side in the end. He meets some revolutionaries which the government claims are dangerous, but he sees no problems with them and they seem reasonable enough. While he is a police officer, Dragon sees the point in their cause and feels he should support them in what they’re doing. But the government has no plans on letting these revolutionaries survive long and whomever is with them is doomed as well, even if they’re government workers like Dragon.
This film is the sequel to Project A, which featured Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao. That film was a fast and furious action/comedy blend and I feel it is one of Chan’s better films in all respects. So of course I was looking forward to this follow up, but I have to say it let me down on some fronts. While Chan returns as Dragon Ma, the other two leads from Project A do not return which leaves this one with a different feel and that just doesn’t work as well. Chan is awesome, but he can’t replace two gifted martial arts actors all by himself and the team mentality of the first film seems to be gone. The wildness of the original is also not present here and the fight scenes and comedy seem toned down somewhat. Despite those flaws, this still turns out to be a decent movie and one that fans of Jackie will want to look into for sure. It’s not as good as the original one, but it is still a pretty good flick. I recommend this release as a rental to first timers and Chan fanatics will want to decide for themselves whether or not this title belongs in their collections.
This film was directed by Jackie Chan himself, who also stars as the main character in the movie. Chan is best known for his work in front of the camera, but he also has much experience behind it as a director. He also directed the original Project A film and while this one falls short of that movie, I don’t think Chan’s directing is at all to blame. As I mentioned above, I think the loss of Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao is what cost this movie the impact of the first and that lies with either casting or budget issues. Chan keeps this one very close to the original in terms of visuals and what not, which makes this seem like a simple continuation of the original. It works well, as I think fans of the original will find a lot to like with this follow up. In front of the camera, Chan (Rumble In The Bronx, City Hunter) is also impressive and he works his usual magic in this film. If you want to see more films directed by Chan I recommend the original Project A, Operation Condor 2: Armour Of The Gods, Operation Condor, Miracles, and Drunken Master II. The rest of the cast is also pretty good and includes Maggie Cheung (The Heroic Trio, Chinese Box), Bill Tung (Jackie Chan’s First Strike, Rumble In The Bronx), Rosamund Kwan (Once Upon A Time In China, Operation Condor 2), and David Lam (Hong Kong Dance Man, Powerful Four).
Video: How does it look?
Project A II is presented in a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, which is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. This looks better than previous versions I’ve seen, but it still has some flaws to contend with. This transfer has some edge enhancement and other compression faults, which I think a new anamorphic widescreen transfer would clear up easily. I am unsure why Tai Seng has issued so few anamorphic transfers, but they need to climb aboard and give these flicks the visual treatment they deserve. The source print has some debris, but that’s to expected from a Hong Kong film this age. The colors seem bright and never bleed, while contrast is strong and well detailed. This is a nice transfer, but it should have been much better than this.
Audio: How does it sound?
This disc contains dual Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in Cantonese and Mandarin, with both offering terrific overall audio experiences. The surrounds are used the most by the music, which comes through in immersive and rich fashion. When the action picks up you’ll notice more surround use, but this is more of a lower key audio film. Both dialogue tracks seem clean and crisp and no volume errors were present that I could discern. Subtitles have been included in Chinese (simplified), English, Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Korean, Bahasa, Thai, Vietnamese, and Spanish.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc contains theatrical trailers for this and other Tai Seng releases and some talent files, in Chinese and English.
