MY LUCKY STARS

Can you wish upon a star, and then actually find out where you are? Is it like wishing on a dream, inadvertently figuring out what you mean? Or then again, am I just trying to take the piss out of a song once sung by Rose Royce? Most probably. But I was encouraged to do so by Actor / Director: Sammo Hung; plus people like Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and James Tien. Especially in 1985, and for about 90-minutes

My Lucky Stars

THE STORY:

Now who are the last people on the face of the Earth you'd ask for help if you really needed it? Correct. My thought's exactly. That gang of misfits called the 'Lucky Stars'. You know who I mean, right? As there's: Teapot (Sammo Hung), the portly convict. Greaser (Charlie Chin), the conniving conman. Smokey (Stanley Fung), the miserable old sod. T-Bone (Eric Tsang), the funny-faced clown. Sandy (Richard Ng), who's a right nutter. And collectively, wherever they are all together, they either try to beat each other up, or perv at any pretty girl who may come there way.

Still, guess what police officer 'Muscles' (Jackie Chan) does when his partner, Ricky (Yuen Biao), is captured by some thieves? No. He does not star in another film with James Tien. Not yet anyway. Instead, he gauges the services of these five buffoons to help him find Ricky. That's what.

Granted, he does not do this by himself. Oh no. He calls Superintended Walter Tsao (Cho Tat-wah) first, and asks him to get Detective Barbara Woo (Sibelle Hu) to hire these plonkers to aide him. But then again, Walter and Barbra only manage to do that by framing them of a bank-robbery, flying them off to Japan, before spilling the collective beans, so to speak.

Well, it could be worse I suppose. They could also be captured by the same thieves who kidnapped Ricky, when they try to penetrate their gambling den. Right?

Oooops!

Ha! That's most probably why what next transpires all kicks off when a meeting is arranged between con and clown. As police men fight - females bite - joker's joust - and bad men are eventually deloused.

THE REVIEW:

Now to give me a bit of time to explain to you how I can describe 'My Lucky Stars', let me delay my thought-processes slightly by splurging some relevant filmic-facts first. (1) The costume Jackie Chan wore in the penultimate fight scene is featured in anime series, 'Dr. Slump'. (2) This was the first film in Hong Kong to pass the $30 million mark at the domestic box-office. (3) Although Stanley Fung's character, Smokey, was an undercover cop in the first film, 'Winners and Sinners'. This fact was neglected in this one. (4) Yes. The chap who plays T-Bone, Eric Tsang, is the same person who starred in the urban crime trilogy 'Internal Affairs'. (5) In the 1973 film, 'Rumble in Hong Kong', Charlie Chin played the hero whilst Jackie Chan played the villain. (6) Richard Ng's wife used to cut Bruce Lee's hair. (7) In the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards, Yuen Biao and Lam Ching-ying were nominated for Best Action Choreography for the work they did on this production. (8) Jackie's character of 'Muscles' is referenced in the 2004 comedy short, 'The Reaper'. (9) Sammo's brother played a henchman in this film, just as he did in the other Jackie / Sammo collaboration 'Heart of the Dragon'. (10) The croupier / bad-girl villain of this flick, Michiko Nishiwaki, is the first Japanese lady to hold the 'Women's Bodybuilding and Power Lifting Champion' for three years running. (11) Not only did Jackie, Yuen, and Sammo, go to same Peking Opera School together. But they also starred in the Bruce Lee film, 'Enter the Dragon', too. Sammo was the first person Bruce fought at the beginning of the film. Jackie was one of the guards he beat-up in the underground lair. And Yuen was one of the freed slaves at the end of it. Oh! And on a side note -- yep -- that was Bolo you saw in this movie playing the disgruntled husband.

OK, so now that I have all of that out of my system, how can I describe to you 'My Lucky Stars'? Well, if this film was an actual person, it would be a small sex-starved child who loves slapstick, pretty girls, bold colors, and kung-fu.

Listen not -- I am not trying to imply that this film is immature in any way shape or form. Oh no! Wait a minute. Yes. Yes I am. It is a very immature film, and that's most probably why I have watched it so many times, I have worn the DVD down to the ground.

You see, this is the type of a film that does not really rely on story, logic, or plot, to tell its tale. Instead, it concentrates more on tomfoolery, character, and action. Plus, if I had to be completely honest with you, half of this film is dedicated to 'having a laugh', two-fifths of this film is dedicated to action, and the rest of it is a rather simple story about some crooks helping the cops. Moreover, just to add that extra oriental flavor to the mix, the comedy in this adventure is what I would call of the 'Benny Hill' variety.

Now you know what I mean by this, right? The cast just jovially bumbles around from place to place, running away from busty women and mean looking men whenever the need presents itself. Oh! And while I am on the subject of women, here, check this out...

See what I mean by this film not taking itself too seriously? Not that this is a bad thing of course. It's just something you have to take into consideration if you want to see this funny oriental farce. Also, something else you should take into consideration, is that Jackie is not in it that much, and that the comedy does supersede the plot and the action quite a bit.

Still, it could be worse don't you know. It could be a remake of 'Karate Kid', ha!