The Magic Crystal (1986)
Director: Wong Jing
Starring: Andy Lau, Cynthia Rothrock, Max Mok, Richard Norton
Primary genre: Action
Wong Jing is not a director known for his subtle approach to filmmaking. Usually his numerous outputs bear pedestrian humor, thinly sketched plots and very “old school” female characterization. However, the action Hong Kong cinema of the 80s and early 90s was not known for catering to people’s sensitivities and feelings.
A product of a now bygone era, “The Magic Crystal” seeks to be a weird mixture of “E.T” (1982), Jackie Chan street style fighting and a kinda-spy like globe trotting adventure. Featuring kitsch aesthetics that would not look out of place in a poor “Indiana Jones” clone, “The Magic Crystal” won’t win anyone with its clumsy storyline and banal execution. As an example of the action 80s Mecca though, it shines consistently by delivering multiple set pieces throughout its (rather) long running time.
Under gorgeous Greek scenery (where they filmed without permission so the background extras are literally confused citizens and tourists alike), there is something exotic watching Andy Lau kicking ass next to the Parthenon (!). A foot chase going from Acropolis to Zappeion might not make sense geographically from those of us who are from Greece but it is a refreshing environment change from the typical Romanian, Londonian or Parisian sequences from other movies.
Boasting excellent stuntwork and several places that are used for trading blows, henchmen fly left and right with spectacular results: a face off inside a house is unexpectedly superb, a one on one fight in front of Zappeion makes for a very compelling skirmish while Richard Norton has the most screen time as a Western baddie here as opposed to his other Hong Kong entries (e.g., “The Millionaire’s Express” (1986), “City Hunter“ (1993), “Mr Nice Guy” (1997)) demonstrating his martial art prowess in an era that martial art flicks were not very popular outside of the Asian market.
The cast is great sharing the typical chemistry between goofiness and seriousness tip toeing between almost incomprehensible proceedings and mattering high school level exposition to move the plot. Andy Lau has tones of natural charisma (and two years later will deliver a spectacular performance in Wong Kar-wai’s “As Tears Go By“ (1988)) and Wong Jing as his buffoonery inducing brother-in-law gets some solid laughs. Norton and Cynthia Rothrock are clearly more martial artists than fully fledged actors and it shows but then again for a film that proudly displays a B-movie affection, their iffy acting does not come across as cringy or unintentionally hilarious.
“The Magic Crystal” does not require any additional analysis as it hardly has anything original or truly groundbreaking neither it is a multi-layered motion picture that you would think long after it end credits roll. Simultaneously, you cannot criticize with a straight face its various faults as the filmmakers are aware of their existence and choose to ignore them for the sake of entertainment. At the end, this is a solid martial art flick that stays true to its action roots due to its plethora of fight segments which will please the hardcore fans and might even allow newcomers to enjoy the pedestrian humour throughout.
B-movie martial art vibes
+Great fight sequences
+Great stunts
+Lau is a star in rising
+Greek locations
+Pedestrian humour
-Pedestrian humour
-Plot is practically non-existent
-Iffy acting