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The year after,
JC teamed up with his ‘big brother’ Sammo
Hung and returned as a TV chef in “Mr. Nice Guy”.
Shot entirely in Melbourne and featuring an English-speaking
Jackie Chan, the movie was yet another resounding success
for him. Its success outside the Asian market was also
an affirmation of his increasing popularity in Hollywood.
But
JC showed no signs of slowing down, returning in 1998
to play an amnesiac agent on a journey to discover the
truth behind his injury and his undercover mission in
Benny Chan’s “Who Am I?”. The next
year, JC took an unusual step by starring as a successful
rich entrepreneur in the romantic comedy “Gorgeous”
with the sultry Shu Qi. The movie which also featured
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in a comedic gay role wasn’t
as big a hit as his earlier action movies, but it signified
his reluctance to go back to his all-out action roots
in between juggling the success of his first major Hollywood
production, Rush Hour and his Asian titles.
By
the end of the ‘90s, state-of-the-art multiplexes
had established a foothold in the cinema market. The
days of grouchy aunties scribbling seat numbers on your
flimsy cinema ticket was near its shelf-life, and by
then JC releases could be found in most major cinemas,
in fact all. But still, when it came to his CNY offerings,
almost every hall was packed to capacity.
After
a decade of hits, JC went missing from the CNY movie
scene in the year 2000. There were some who attributed
it to his much publicized sex scandal with a TV actress
but the official word was that JC was tied up filming
his second Hollywood outing, Shanghai Noon. He bounced
back the year after with Teddy Chan’s The Accidental
Spy. Shot partially in exotic Istanbul, this action
spy thriller had a much more layered plot (courtesy
of acclaimed screenwriter Ivy Ho) than the usual JC
outing. Sadly, that also marked the last official JC
movie produced and released by the now-defunct production
arm of Golden Harvest.
2003 was the last year since that JC greeted us during
the CNY in the cinemas. That year saw the release of
the sequel to his successful Hollywood foray, Shanghai
Knights, starring Owen Wilson and our local TV starlet,
Fann Wong. It was also surprisingly one of his better
Hollywood efforts, containing his trademark humour and
breathtaking action sequences including a notably engaging
swordfight with Donnie Yen.
As
a new decade dawns, JC has decided to ring in the Year
of the Tiger with a tradition he left off eight years
ago. On 11 February 2010, JC will once again grace us
with his much-loved CNY greeting- a good ol’ action
flick called “Little Big Soldier” co-starring
pop singer Wong Lee-Hom.
Does
JC still have what it takes to be the action hero we’ve
grown to love and enjoy in the movies? We simply can’t
wait. Bring on the steamboat, the angpows (of course)
and give us a ticket to Little Big Soldier! Just minus
the tiring house visits if possible.
If You Missed Part One of Jackie Chan's Chinese New
Year Kung Pow!
Little
Big Soldier opens on 11 February 2010
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Mr
Nice Guy (1997)
Who
Am I? (1998)
Gorgeous (1999)
The
Accidental Spy (2001)
Shanghai
Knights (2003)
Little
Big Soldier (2010)
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