Review of Project A (1983) by Chris W — 17 Nov 2012
"Project A," Jackie Chan's impressive Victorian era slapstick swashbuckler, is the brainchild of ideas brooding in the actor during his [first] forgettable stint in early 1980's Hollywood ("The Big Brawl," "Cannonball Run") and the need to transcend his previous accomplishments (sans 1982's "Dragon Lord" Chan's first iconic flop in the domestic market).
Golden Harvest Studios, despite receiving disappointing returns on their preceding Jackie Chan endeavor, spared no expense so the newly minted star could lavish his audience with an early colonial Hong Kong homage to a number of Hollywood's great physical comedies from the silent era.
A recognizable first in many regards "Project A" helped fuel the momentum away from Shaolin -- the temples and their inhabitants the fizzling subjects of popular Cantonese cinema by the early '80s -- as well as unite former classmates Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao on the first of three pictures that the trio headlined.
The net result is some of Chan's best laid plans that occasionally went awry as evidenced in the blooper reel over the end credit sequence (another first in the Jackie Chan cannon).
This review of Project A (1983) was written by Chris W on 17 Nov 2012.
Project A has generally received very positive reviews.
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