Film Roar

Operation Condor 2: The Armour of Gods (1986)

I thought I was about to see the sequel to the Jackie Chan action flick 'Operation Condor' when I rented Operation Condor 2: The Armour of Gods (1986), instead I was surprised to see a noticeably younger Chan in an earlier film that, while fun and exiting, is not as good as the Operation Condor I had seen in theaters ten years ago. A bit of internet research and I found out that the movie I had originally seen, Armour of God II: Operation Condor (1990), is actually the sequel to Operation Condor 2 but was retiled for an English releases since it was only released in the United States following the success of the second movie. Got it? Good.

Operation Condor 2 does not have either the full charm or action of Jackie Chan's later movies but is still a fun ride and worth watching for Chan fans. The Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) rip off script has Jackie as an adventuring archeologist kicking and punching his way through stereotypical bad guys as he tries to save both the ancient artifacts and 'the girl'. The natives at the opening of the film look like bad stereotypical caricatures of 'wild savages', the bad guys all wear black clothes and the head bad guy even has a cape with a high collar and huge pointing eye-brows (ala Emperor Ming) to make sure the audience knows just how bad he is. There are a number of plot loopholes in the movie (what happened to both the treasure and the girl at the end when the lair gets blown up?) and questionable acting, but frankly if you are watching this movie the dramatic value or fine acting you are simply in the wrong place. Enjoy the car chases and the high kicks, and then go watch Jackie's later and better films (Supercop (1992), Drunken Master II (1994), Mr. Nice Guy (1997), Rush Hour (1998), Shanghai Noon (2000)) for a fun night of comedy-fu.