I suspect it may have changed nowadays, considering some of his mainstream hits, but there was definitely a standard journey when it came to discovering Jackie Chan movies when I was young. You would hear about him, perhaps seeing some clips of his major stunts and set-pieces in a video or TV special (hosted by someone like Chuck Norris). Then you'd probably see the likes of Police Story and/or Project A, maybe even an Operation Condor film. You would think that you'd never seen this action movie star before, not necessarily realising that he had joined in with the self-satisfied fun of The Cannonball Run movies. Then you'd somehow find out about how well he worked with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Which would lead you to the likes of this.
Wheels On Meals isn't a great movie, but it has enough great moments to make up for the many problems with the material. Chan and Biao play two friends who operate a food truck. Hung, who also directed the film, plays a private detective hired to find a beautiful young woman. That woman, Sylvia (Lola Forner), ends up staying with our two leads, at least until she can steal some money and a car to help get her somewhere safer. Meanwhile, some tough henchmen start to throw their weight around, leading to a third act that features the martial arts skills of our heroes, as well as some impressive movies from Benny Urquidez and Keith Vitali.
The comedy here isn't great, and nor are some of the attitudes on display. BUT, and this is all relative (of course, I think Wheels On Meals generally holds up better than a number of other martial arts films from this era. The comedy tends to focus on the friendship, and friendly competition, between the leading men, the treatment of female characters is done in a way that allows Biao and Chan, but particularly the former, to constantly aim for "white knight" status, and a couple of moments allowing Richard Ng and John Sham to cameo feel as if they could have been much worse. And saying "things could have been much worse" isn't necessarily the best thing to say about art, but it's also worth saying when you've sat through Jackie Chan movies littered with homophobia, including "jokes" about AIDS, and horrendous treatment of female characters.
Hung knows what he's doing when it comes to the direction, although I wish that he'd been allowed to throw a lot more action in here. The screenplay, written by Edward Tang and Gwing-Gai Lee, seems content to let Chan, Biao, and Hung play around onscreen while fans get to enjoy spending some more time in their company, but forgets how to make the most of them. As a fan though, I should say that I am one of those kept happy enough by the interplay and tom-foolery of the leads.
Whether skateboarding around to take food orders or struggling to fight back against Urquidez, Chan is on very good form here. Biao is slightly underserved, on the one hand, considering how I have seen him treated by other movies showcasing his acrobatic abilities, but it's good to see him sharing the screen while also being allowed to step forward as the main hero. Hung is aiming to be more comic relief than a proper third fighter, but he at least gets involved in the busy and impressive final round of fights. Both Urquidez and Vitali handle themselves capably, and Forner carries herself well through moments overstuffed with testosterone and lust.
If you want to enjoy these stars in a film with much better fight sequences then Dragons Forever is the film for you. This is a solid mix of action and fun though. It just doesn't hit the high bars set by these performers in many of their other respective star vehicles.
7/10
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