Chan to direct Armour of God 3? August 5, 2007
Posted by Cal in : Articles , trackbackI read two interesting articles this week about Jackie Chan, and I can’t help thinking that maybe the two separate stories are related somehow.
The first, brought to my attention by dleedlee at the Hong Kong Movie Database, concerns Jackie’s relationship with the Rush Hour movies. Apparently, he’s not a fan, and his comments could not really come at a worse time as Rush Hour 3 is about to speed its way to our screens anytime now.
As well as venting his frustration at not having free reign with the action scenes, he also bypasses any kind of semblance of tact and slates the crowd-pleasing “War” singalong from the first instalment, saying: “I hate that, the whole thing, I hate it, even the [head bobbing] movement”, although it appears he’s chalking all that down to cultural differences as he wasn’t familiar with the song. He also publicly says he “hates” the American system and states point blank of the original Rush Hour: “I hate the movie”.
So why did he come back for a third instalment? “My manager begged me to do it”, Chan says, which is just the kind of quote you want on a movie poster outside theatres showing the new movie.
Don’t hold your breath for Rush Hour 4, then.
Hot on the heels of this revelation comes the staggering news that Chan is planning to return to directing and scriptwriting for a second sequel to one of his most successful films ever, Armour of God.
If this comes to pass, it’s exciting news indeed. The last whole film directed by Jackie was 1991’s Operation Condor, which was the first sequel to Armour of God (although in the States, they switched the films around so that in their universe Armour of God is a sequel to Operation Condor). Operation Condor was so expensive and took so long to complete that Golden Harvest “requested” that he used other directors in future, and the work suffered. It needs to be remembered that just prior to Operation Condor, Jackie had handed in his magnum opus Mr Canton and Lady Rose, which turned out to be an expensive and time consuming flop. The best scenes Chan did in the 90’s were when he directed himself like in the good ol’ days of the 80’s, including the now-infamous finalé of Drunken Master II.
Now he’s free of Golden Harvest I suppose he can do what he likes, and the decision to resurrect Armour of God kind of makes sense. The name of his most popular series, Police Story, beame sullied with the lamentable First Strike, and New Police Story moved the series in a direction few fans wanted to go. A new Project A movie would proabably not be considered simply because it would raise the Hung/Yuen question again, although if the new Armour of God movie is a hit, who knows what will happen? There are certainly still plenty of fans foaming at the mouth for a reunion.
Sadly, we’re going to have to wait a while to see if he’s still got his directorial chops. Armour of God 3: Chinese Zodiac doesn’t begin shooting until April 1st (I hope this is not some kind of wildly elaborate April Fool’s joke!) and we all know Jackie’s plans can change like the weather. In the meantime, he’s working on a kind of remake of Journey to the West with Jet Li, and it doesn’t look anything to write home about.
But at least we’ve now got something to look forward to. You can read the articles here and here.
Comments»
I read an article a couple of years ago that Jackie wasn’t happy with his American films and only did them so he could get other films made.
It’ll be great to see Chan back in the director’s chair. He is probably the greatest action director alive and it’s a crime he has spent the last decade being directed by people like Ratner. Even the director’s of his Hong Kong films like Benny Chan don’t have the eye for action that Jackie has.
Absolutely. Even though everyone keeps going on about how Jackie’s over the hill etc, his skills behind the camera alone MADE certain sequences, and I think this has been overlooked too much in the past. All he needs is the time and a coherent script and I’m pretty confident it’ll be a winner.
How strange: just today I read this quote from the Yahoo/Reuters:
The good will between the three goes so far, Chan said, that “Brett, Chris, and I already have a verbal agreement to make “Rush Hour 4.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070808/film_nm/rushhour3_dc_2
Someone’s wrong - but who?!
That’s really funny!
It’s not the first time Jackie’s contradicted himself, but it’s the first time I’ve seen him do it within a week!
Thanks for pointing that out.
If Jackie makes Rush Hour 4 he will diffently have “sold out” and it will establish him as a joke within his own fan-circle. I hope he won’t do it.
I hate to say it but you’re probably right. During the early 90’s I thought the man was almost godlike, but I’m finding it harder and harder to come up with reasonable excuses for some of the decisions he’s made, movie-wise, over the past 10 years. Hopefully, if AOG3 DOES happen, it’ll redress the balance a little.