Mystery Fire...

Island of Fire (1990)

Despite the low opinion that Jackie Chan himself holds of this film, I still recommend it, and I’ve actually enjoyed multiple viewings of this movie. First off, let me say what this film is not, it is not a Jackie Chan movie. Yes, Jackie is in it, but nothing about it resembles a typical Chan film, and it’s best to watch it as an all-out action movie, with a star-studded cast, and a few interesting plot twists.

Island of Fire is a prison drama, the real star of the movie is Tony Leung Ka Fai, he plays a cop that uncovers a plot involving prisoners that have been executed re-emerging as very much alive, and committing assassinations. To get to the bottom of the mystery, Tony gets himself arrested, and thrown into prison. While behind bars, Tony finds that nothing is as it seems, and the closer he gets to the solution of the mystery, the more puzzling things become.

Amongst the prisoners are Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jimmy Wang Yu, and Andy Lau. Each of them do fine in their roles, but only Sammo, and Wang Yu have anything resembling something more than an extended cameo.

Director Chu Yen-Ping has been attached to some fairly loopy movies over the years, compared to some of his other work, Island of Fire will seem fairly tame, and straightforward.