Rumble in the Bronx – Hong Faan Kui (1995)

Directed by: Stanley Tong | 90 minutes | action, comedy, crime | Actors: Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Françoise Yip, Bill Tung, Marc Akerstream, Garvin Cross, Morgan Lam, Ailen Sit, Chan Man Ching, Fred Andrucci, Mark Antoniuk, Lauro Chartrand, Chris Franco, Lance Gibson, David Hooper

It’s a fact that stuntman is a dangerous profession. Jackie Chan is not only an actor and kung fu master, but also does all his stunts himself. In his first American feature, he clearly had to prove himself. The fights are tight and hard, the stunts dangerous and he didn’t come out unscathed; halfway through the film, Jackie severely injures his left foot. And do you know what they did? Plaster over it and continue. Over the plaster is a sock on which his sneakers are exactly copied! You really don’t see it. ‘Die Hard’ in Chinese. Jackie wanted to break through in the States, that is clear. And that worked out nicely.

‘Rumble in the Bronx’ may not have broken any records, but at least it has been received quite positively by the public. And it has been the start of quite a successful American career for Chan. The funny thing about the movie is that it really is a Hong Kong movie (obviously dubbed), but shot in the States. The characters and situations are a bit exaggerated. At least, that’s how it comes across, we’re not used to it from American films. Or is it secretly a B-movie? Hmmmm… The gangsters are unusually hard, but at the same time a bit caricatured, a kind of Men in Black, but then bad, or like Agent Smith from ‘The Matrix’: men in black with sunglasses, guns, without humor and with a bad mood, so to speak. The punks that Jackie initially gets into trouble also seem a bit thoughtful. And that they ride dirt bikes, well, they really only do that in Hong Kong (check: John Woo’s films, such as ‘Hard Boiled’ and ‘The Killer’).

Fortunately, Jackie is always a charming figure, who you like to see and hear and not to forget: who likes to see you fight. In this film he clearly proves again that you can take him seriously as a martial artist, despite all the stupidity. Wow, that guy can kung fu! It is once again really enjoying all those beautifully executed fight choreographies and acrobatic feats.

‘Rumble in the Bronx’ as a film is not quite in balance. The fight scenes are tight, but the humor that characterizes Jackie’s films is limited. The violence is quite hard, while the bad guys also have something unbelievable and the story is a bit too farcical. The redemption comes out of the blue a little too easily and the ending scene is absolutely childish, not fitting for an adult action movie. Not a really bad movie, but still a bit too easy. Tip: in any case, keep looking at the credits, because they contain the ‘nice’ bloopers, a real Jackie Chan tradition.