Film: Operation Condor: Armour Of God 2
Release date: 19th November 2001
Certificate: 15
Running time: 102 mins
Director: Jackie Chan
Starring: Jackie Chan, Carol 'Do Do' Cheng, Eva Cobo, Shôko Ikeda, Aldo Sambrell
Genre: Action/Adventure/Comedy/Crime/Martial Arts/Thriller
Studio: Entertainment In Video
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong
One of Jackie Chan’s most successful early works, Operation Condor is charmingly humorous with a combined sense of Indiana Jones meets James Bond. Released back in 1991, the film is often forgotten today after Chan’s recent successes, such as the Rush Hour franchise. However, in Hong Kong, the film is known as the biggest martial arts epic ever made, receiving a Best Action Choreography nomination in 1992 from the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Starting on an unknown island in the Amazon, where natives and relics are common place, adventurer Jackie, code name Condor, consciously mimics Indiana Jones in entering a tomb to collect antiquities from some locals. They happily allow Jackie to take their treasure; although unknown to the witty adventurer, it is for a price. In a race to escape their sudden hostility, Jackie assembles a giant inflatable ball and bounces down their island away from danger. Short and sweet, the opening scene much mirrors opening sequences from James Bond films, giving the viewer a taste of who the main character is and what he is capable of. The sequence concludes with Jackie receiving information of a new mission, requesting he go to Spain immediately.
Recruited by Duke, a mysterious financier, Jackie is sent to track down some missing Nazi gold, supposedly buried in the North African desert by a German fleet in World War II. Partnering up with a witty, brazen UN representative, and a humorously scatty granddaughter of one of the German officers involved in burying the gold, Jackie and his team must evade numerous mercenaries, as well as two comedic treasure hunters, in a race to locate and retrieve the German gold...
Jackie Chan often plays the same character in all his films, and Operation Condor is no exception. Condor is a clever, likeable character with the tendency to get into dangerous situations due to those around him - much like Chris Tucker’s character often does to Chan’s in Rush Hour. The comical women in Operation Condor inevitably continue to create hazardous situations of which Chan has to fight his way out of.
Although playing the same character, predictability is not necessarily a bad thing. Chan’s comedic approach to combat and the action genre makes the film more enjoyable for different audiences, and his warm presence on screen allows viewers to become more involved with the character, and therefore the storyline. Chan clearly knows how to keep his audience happy with his own persona, however, the film does lack in other areas.
It is clear to any viewer that when writing Operation Condor, Jackie Chan used Indiana Jones as a template. The desert raids, treasure hunting and damsels in distress are unoriginal in their approach, however, Chan’s choreography and direction makes up for this in the many combat scenes. One in particular is featured in a wind tunnel, which contains some impressive, albeit humorous, stunts and choreography. Like all good Golden Harvest creations, Operation Condor demonstrates advanced cinematography skills in the presentation of combat.
Jackie Chan’s skills as a director are clearly what make the film a success. Much like the original martial arts films of Bruce Lee, close up camera shots of hand to hand combat, as well as wide shot stunts, mean the viewer can see that not only is Chan doing the stunts himself, but also that the hand to hand combat is perfect - choreographed down to the finest detail. They also make the scenes more realistic and enjoyable, rather than an afterthought on a computer, which sadly appears to be becoming a more popular way of portraying combat in martial arts films today.
The parallels to Indiana Jones continue in the villainous characters in Operation Condor. Some are humorous, whereas some are simply cringe worthy to watch. The gluttonous Nazi named Adolf portrays characteristics similar to the Nazis in Indie’s first film, Raiders Of The Lost Ark - only out for what they can get. The inconsistent baddie also, unfortunately, reflects Chan’s weak scriptwriting, as the character appears as though he would be more comfortable in a Sean Connery Bond film than a modern ‘90s action flick.
The scriptwriting as a whole is structurally inadequate, with more focus on creating humour than developing an interesting and original plot. Some characters are almost too stereotypical, like the two comedic treasure hunters Jackie and the girls often run into throughout the duration of the film. Their amateurish characterisation as comedic baddies is slightly awkward, and they even change in character at the end of the film.
The female characters are much better in their portrayal. Although Chan writes them as quite feeble, Eva Cobo De Garcia and Carol Cheng do a fantastic job in creating entertaining co-stars. Playing off each other in rivalry, although they may cause some disappointment to feminist viewers, their comedic approach to being helpless heroines works considering they are up against one of the strongest martial arts experts as the male protagonist.
A diamond in the rough, Operation Condor demonstrates Jackie Chan’s expert ability to combine speedy action choreography with expert direction and humour. With some beautiful scenes in the African desert and entertaining characters, this martial arts film is worth a watch, if only for the brilliant combat scenes. HC
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