"Dragonlord" sees Chan returning to his role of "Dragon" from "The Young Master". Not much has carried over from the first film though. "Tiger", his older brother, is nowhere to be seen; neither is the Marshall, his daughter or his son played superbly by Yuen Biao in the original film. Dragon does have the same master though - presumably all the other students have moved on to other things. (Dragon's laziness at training is portrayed heavily in this film, so maybe he's still studying!)

Originally titled "Young Master In Love", this film sees Dragon (for the first sixty minutes at least) pursuing a villager girl in various idiotic and slapstick ways. His rival for her affection is his friend (inappropriately named "Cowboy") played comically by the longtime Chan Stunt-team member Mars. We see various scenes where their silly schemes backfire. It is one of these scenes that we (thankfully) find "Dragon" in over his head.

This film is notorious in that it failed expectations at the box office. That said, I'm sure the expectations were pretty high, and I feel that this film has never had a fair judgment based on it's own merits. But even when I try to do this, I still feel that there is a problem with the film. It seems quite unfocused, sometimes rushed, and I think the action is too sporadic and not as brilliant as Chan's other work from this period.

The thing that really saves the film is the ending sequence. As in "The Young Master", there is a fantastic final reel that it full of incredibly exhausting action - you really feel every blow. And again, Chan goes up against the same rival from "The Young Master" (is it the same character?), and the timing and energy here is brilliant. Chan's style of using every last bit of his environment to help defeat his opponent - not just relying on pure physical ability - is as apparent here as anywhere else. The barn they fight in is full of clever little prop gags and improvisations. This is an absolute highlight of the film and one of Chan's incredible career.

It's not necessary to see the prequel before seeing "Dragonlord", in fact, it might even raise more questions than what it hopes to answer. But it must be said that the original film is the superior film, and "Dragonlord", with it's focus on girl-chasing and team-sports does seem baffling. Luckily, the few fight scenes it offers (plus a fantastic shuttle-cock scene) push it over the line as a must-see film in this genre.

Apparently this made it into the Guiness book of world records, for most takes done for one ... single take. Amazing but also understandable if you watch it. There are so many crazy scenes in here. And as one of the main actors say, many things where not even made secure for the performers. Like no padding on the floor ... not to mention no script at all, but actors being advised what to do, when they arrived on set. Now that makes a lot of "sense", considering how all over the place the movie is.

So while this may not be close to the best Jackie Chan has served us, it does include some amazing fight scenes (this is why you're mostly here for I reckon) and some interesting "sports" scenes. One is close to soccer/football, the other is a pyramid thing, that ... I don't even know what this is about, but hey it looks cool and you can almost feel the pain of anyone hitting the floor ... story is paper thin, but it is about protecting history and so forth. It doesn't actually really matter, as said no script was there to be seen. But Jackie Chan and the others are having quite a lot of fun. The comedy is silly when it ensues, but it gets also silly during some of the fight scenes, even if they are quite brutal at times too. So not what some might consider a classic, but any self respecting fan of Jackie Chan and then some, will actually like what they get served here

Of all the similarly-themed Chan flicks from the period (YOUNG MASTER and the like) I have to say that this one was my favourite. Made the year before he moved into bigger-budget period flicks, this is an inventive, thoroughly enjoyable Chan adventure, mixing together the best aspects of comedy and action whilst following a set, somewhat bizarre formula brought together in his earlier movies. Most of the film features non-stop comic hijinks, as Chan and his buddy Mars court the same girl and fall out over her, whilst there's a serious (if minor) sub-plot involving Chinese antiques being smuggled out of the country. Eventually, the plot less cross each other, resulting in a huge 20 minute fight finale in a barn, incorporating all kinds of major stunt work. Mars himself, usually in lesser roles in Chan's movies, shines in perhaps his best turn as the dim-witted friend who gets pretty fierce. Chan himself plays his typical bumbling happy-go-lucky character and his likability (is that even a word?) pays off in spades.

Perhaps the most original element of the film is the sports action, in which various teams play a game of football with one difference: they use a shuttlecock instead of a ball. Yes, it's as fast, furious and frenetic as it sounds, and makes for excellent entertainment just watching the skills of the players. The comedy is as broad as usual, one laugh involving somebody peeing over Jackie's leg, so you know the kind of harmless, childish tone to expect. The martial arts work is excellent with plenty of loose-limbed bad guys (led by Wong In-sik) who are EXTREMELY hard and solid work from the likes of Michael Chan Wai-man. Chan himself runs up walls, falls from railings, and spins in the air in gravity-defying shenanigans, highlighted in the lengthy final fight which is riveting and in my opinion, in his all-time top five action sequences. Fans will know what to expect and love this fast-moving, fat-free adventure.