The Plot:
Keung (played by Chan) is a young man visiting his uncle in New York, or more accurately, the Bronx. Keung's uncle is getting married and Keung is attending, however, his uncle is also selling his grocery store to Elaine (played by Anita Mui). Keung offers to help Elaine out for a week while his uncle is on his honeymoon. One day, a local gang enters the store and one of the members is caught shoplifting. Instead of admitting of shoplifting, the member, Angelo, tries to bully Elaine. Keung defends Elaine by beating up some of the members and telling them to leave the store alone. Later that night, Keung is on his way to his uncle's apartment (Uncle Bill let Keung live there) he witnesses a mugging. Keung breaks it up, but it turns out to be a trap. While running/fighting his way through thugs, Keung becomes cornered. It turns out Angelo, and the gang leader, Tony (played by Marc Akerstream) set up the trap to beat up Keung. The gang members attack Keung by hitting glass bottles at him, injuring Keung severely. Keung manages to go to the nearest place which happens to be the girlfriend of Tony. Nancy aka Tony's girl, (played by Francoise Yip) tends to Keung's wounds because her little brother recognized Keung. Keung awakens and heads over to the store, but is attacked by Tony's gang once again. Keung escapes and heads over to Danny's (Nancy's little brother.) Danny and Keung go out, and witness a car crash. Angelo and other member arrive to the crash and find out there are diamonds. Angelo goes AWOL and the evil thugs of White Tiger search for him. Nancy eventually falls for Keung and the two begin a relationship. Angered by this, Tony and his gang tear the grocery store apart. Elaine tells Keung who did it, but she shouldn't have relied on him. Keung and Nancy go to Tony's where Keung tells the gang to change their ways. They find Angelo, and uncover the diamonds sending Keung into a spiral of undercover missions and an epic showdown between a hovercraft and a Lamborghini.
The action. Jackie Chan movies always have entertaining fight scenes. Chan's stunts are always mind blowing and impressive to watch. I also enjoy Nancy. Yes, she's good looking, but she grows as a character and the movie shows that she's not really into the bad things that Tony does. Chan does a decent job as Keung. The movie shows us that Keung isn't some super amazing fighter who never loses, but shows us that he's vulnerable and can't always win. He's also a nice guy who stands up for what is right even if it's a little naive at times.
The Bad:
The story. Why did the movie decide to reveal to us who the real bad guys were so late in the movie? White Tiger and his goons don't come in until around the halfway mark, and it seems a little forced. I guess it's nice not to have a drug dealer, but the bad guys aren't all that imposing. Tony's gang. Bravo for Tony and his gang for not backing down, but eventually it comes to the point where Tony is trying to commit murder. The sad thing is, nobody bothers to call the cops until it's too late or they just avoid it. Is the Bronx really that bad of a place to live in? White Tiger's men. Man, these guys are dumb. For a bunch of professionals, they sure do a lot of rookie stuff. White Tiger even has to tell them how to do their job. There's two parts in the movie that show their incompetence. First, they call White Tiger up while Keung is doing undercover work for the cops. The man has to ask White Tiger what to do, since Keung mentioned Tiger. Tiger says to check for a wire. Second part, (still while Keung is undercover) they "look" for White Tiger's boat house by trying all the doors until one opens. That's literally a red flag right there. These goons are so inept, they didn't bother to check the place before Keung came? Idiots. Also, Danny's a tad bit creepy. He tells Keung how pretty his sister is several times. It's like a pimp trying to push a girl onto Keung or something. Danny's a nice kid, but the pushing your sister by acting creepy is creepy.
Conclusion:
Overall, Rumble in the Bronx is a good movie. If you like Jackie Chan movies and haven't seen this, check it out.
4 deflated hovercrafts out of 5
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