Great Film overall

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Of all the similarly-themed Chan flicks from the period (YOUNG MASTER and the like) I have to say that this one was my favourite. Made the year before he moved into bigger-budget period flicks, this is an inventive, thoroughly enjoyable Chan adventure, mixing together the best aspects of comedy and action whilst following a set, somewhat bizarre formula brought together in his earlier movies. Most of the film features non-stop comic hijinks, as Chan and his buddy Mars court the same girl and fall out over her, whilst there's a serious (if minor) sub-plot involving Chinese antiques being smuggled out of the country. Eventually, the plot less cross each other, resulting in a huge 20 minute fight finale in a barn, incorporating all kinds of major stunt work. Mars himself, usually in lesser roles in Chan's movies, shines in perhaps his best turn as the dim-witted friend who gets pretty fierce. Chan himself plays his typical bumbling happy-go-lucky character and his likability (is that even a word?) pays off in spades.Perhaps the most original element of the film is the sports action, in which various teams play a game of football with one difference: they use a shuttlecock instead of a ball. Yes, it's as fast, furious and frenetic as it sounds, and makes for excellent entertainment just watching the skills of the players. The comedy is as broad as usual, one laugh involving somebody peeing over Jackie's leg, so you know the kind of harmless, childish tone to expect. The martial arts work is excellent with plenty of loose-limbed bad guys (led by Wong In-sik) who are EXTREMELY hard and solid work from the likes of Dick Wei. Chan himself runs up walls, falls from railings, and spins in the air in gravity-defying shenanigans, highlighted in the lengthy final fight which is riveting and in my opinion, in his all-time top five action sequences. Fans will know what to expect and love this fast-moving, fat-free adventure.

This movie was originally going to be the sequel to the Young Master and was going to be called the Young Master in Love. What ended up happening is that the movie drifted so far away from the original Young Master, that they decided to make it a separate movie on its own. (Gee, I can quote Des Mangan word for word, almost). Anyway, the movie is set during the colonial times in China and Jackie Chan is a young kid (with a rich father) who is doing what all kids do - chase girls and play sports. What ends up happening is that during his cavorting, Jackie stumbles across a plot to steal ancient treasures from China and he and his friend beat up the nasty bad guy and become heroes.It is a pretty basic plot, but then who watches Jackie Chan for the plot. We watch it for the fighting and for the comedy. The thing with Jackie Chan comedy is that it can be quite subtle at times. In this movie it is basically him chasing women around and bumbling constantly. Not only that, we see him scheming with the gods and his friends to manipulate this woman into his life. The thing is that in the end she ignored the advice of the gods and decided to go for him anyway.Do I really need to say more about this movie? No, I thought not.

"Dragonlord" sees Chan returning to his role of "Dragon" from "The Young Master". Not much has carried over from the first film though. "Tiger", his older brother, is nowhere to be seen; neither is the Marshall, his daughter or his son played superbly by Yuen Biao in the original film. Dragon does have the same master though - presumably all the other students have moved on to other things. (Dragon's laziness at training is portrayed heavily in this film, so maybe he's still studying!) Originally titled "Young Master In Love", this film sees Dragon (for the first sixty minutes at least) pursuing a villager girl in various idiotic and slapstick ways. His rival for her affection is his friend (inappropriately named "Cowboy") played comically by the longtime Chan Stunt-team member Mars. We see various scenes where their silly schemes backfire. It is one of these scenes that we (thankfully) find "Dragon" in over his head.This film is notorious in that it failed expectations at the box office. That said, I'm sure the expectations were pretty high, and I feel that this film has never had a fair judgment based on it's own merits. But even when I try to do this, I still feel that there is a problem with the film. It seems quite unfocused, sometimes rushed, and I think the action is too sporadic and not as brilliant as Chan's other work from this period.The thing that really saves the film is the ending sequence. As in "The Young Master", there is a fantastic final reel that it full of incredibly exhausting action - you really feel every blow. And again, Chan goes up against the same rival from "The Young Master" (is it the same character?), and the timing and energy here is brilliant. Chan's style of using every last bit of his environment to help defeat his opponent - not just relying on pure physical ability - is as apparent here as anywhere else. The barn they fight in is full of clever little prop gags and improvisations. This is an absolute highlight of the film and one of Chan's incredible career.It's not necessary to see the prequel before seeing "Dragonlord", in fact, it might even raise more questions than what it hopes to answer. But it must be said that the original film is the superior film, and "Dragonlord", with it's focus on girl-chasing and team-sports does seem baffling. Luckily, the few fight scenes it offers (plus a fantastic shuttle-cock scene) push it over the line as a must-see film in this genre.

`Dragon Lord' is more of a comedy than a martial arts movie. There are a few action sequences in the movie - a strange ball tournament at the beginning, a scuffle between Jackie and his friend over a girl, an interesting shuttlecock game in the middle of the movie - but there are really only two fight sequences in the movie, both near the end. Despite this, the movie's great. It's never dull. There are some funny moments, and the final fight scene between Jackie and the baddie is awesome. Definitely worth seeing over `Shanghai Noon' or `Rush Hour'.