Dissapointing? - 'A' gai wak 2 (1987) Discussion

YES, Its a stunning jackie chan film. Amazing fights and stunts

reply

[–] spiney-4 17 years ago

Thought so. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but I suppose I just expecte more after the first 'Project A'.

reply

Hey, I hear ya. I didn't find it particularly entertaining. "Project A" was incredibly fun when I first saw it years back, but this one didn't quite live up to it. I am constantly mystified by all the comments about "Project A II" being Chan's best film ever, as well as "Miracles"... those two films are his most disappointing 80s works to me. Chan did an awkward job of direction.

reply

[–] Nakrophile 17 years ago

It's not as good as the original, but then again so few things are. The emphasis was firmly placed on stunts and humur over martial-arts in this one though. I think the main reason this film isn't regarded that highly is the lack of Sammo and Yuen Biao. I still think it's an excellent film though.

reply

[–] collin-reid 15 years ago

Although not a 10 like Part I, I still really do like this movie and do not feel it is disappointing. That is probably because I think of this movie as Jackie's ode to Buster Keaton and the pure focus on the chase. (Obviously the last gag was taken from Buster, but the movie feels like Jackie re-imaging Buster's best chase movie Seven Chances. Also I enjoyed the room sequence straight out of the Marx Brothers.) I love the endless chase of the movie and is still one of JC favorites.

Funny, you mentioned this and Miracles as these were the closest Jackie did of a classic American film.

reply

[–] b-karloff7 15 years ago

I just watched it - the dubbed American version, and thought it was not as good as Part One (uncut Hong Kong version). I just wonder how much difference is there between the Hong Kong and USA version? Anybody seen them both?

reply

[–] dragonofskies 15 years ago

I think it's far better than Project A. I give:

Project A 7/10
Project B 10/10.

reply

[–] KaZenPhi 13 years ago

Quite honestly, I put this one above Project A. It's just a load of fun from beginning to end, the humour was never too HK, the fight scenes and stunts were creative and the overall pacing was a lot better than in Project A imho. I watched it expecting to be disappointed, but the opposite was the case.

reply

[–] filmbuff1974 13 years ago

No, I found it disappointing and surprisingly so as this movie made it onto "1001 Films You Must Watch Before You Die" and the first film didn't make the list.

Live Full & Die Empty. Tap Your Potential and Realise Your Dreams!

reply

[–] Henry J Sosenite 12 years ago

I thought it was just as good as Project A. The fighting and action in Part II are nothing close to the first film, but Part II actually has a real screenplay. It's one of the cleverestt I know of, in any genre. The scene where the girl's apartment ends up full of random people is my favorite! And the fight scene at the end with those three big Mandarin dudes is fantastic. Out of the two movies, it's second-best only to the bicycles in Part I.

I'm the smartest guy around: http://meonvarioustopics.blogspot.com

reply

[–] Darknessviking 12 years ago

i think the first one was better,but this one has some incredible stunts.
every time someone mentions jackies stunts,they seem to forget the "falling down on the bamboo-poles" stunt in the ending where he falls probably 20 meters hitting bamboosticks on the way down..

but...i think that because many critics puts this higher,it has only to do with that because people like the first one more,the critics has to like this one more to look special

reply

[–] Albatoss 11 years ago

I like this one better than the first one. Different strokes I guess.

reply

[–] seanparkerfilms 11 years ago

It's an alright movie, but on an action level alone I don't think it compares that favorably to the first. I too, keep hearing about how this is "one of Chan's best movies ever" (it's almost always stated alongside Miracles) and I just don't get it. It's good, but not rip-roaringly awesome fun like the original Project A, and almost completely lacks that sense of adventure as well. Nothing made this more clear than a double feature screening with some friends. Heck, that was many years ago and I still remember having to pretend that the sequel was just as good to make it less of a letdown.

The lack of Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung also disappoints a bit, and the people who step in as Jackie's sidekicks in this one don't fill that void nearly as well. I think if the whole film were designed as another "Three Brothers" movie it might have ended up better. But there are many who think this movie is the best film of his career, so to each his own.

reply

[–] BigBadDolemite 10 years ago

This movie reminded me a lot of Miracles which I loved by the way. I don't think those 2 are his best martial arts works but they are good films indeed. Only thing this and Miracles is missing are the epic fight scenes. They have great chases but they are missing the action that Project A pulled of so flawlessly.

The people that were disappointed with this film and something like Miracles are probably just missing the action. I mean this movie in particular has some great scenes like the diamond theft, everyone hiding in the house, and others where we see no great fight sequences. This is what most people want to see when they see a Chan flick so not seeing that is a bit of disappointment. But if you judge the films solely on the storyline and the great directing I can't see how this movie could be a disappointment.

reply