Wheels On Meals

Wheels On Meals

Hong Kong B-movie wholesaler Tai Seng has one of its most memorable offerings in this reissue of 1984's Wheels On Meals, a minor classic featuring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao. Chan and Biao are happy running a Barcelona noodle shop out of their gadget-filled van until they run afoul of pickpocket and heiress Lola Forner and bumbling detective Hung. When Forner is kidnapped by mobsters who want her fortune… Well, slapstick hijinks, goofy stunts, and kung fu ensue. Sammo Hung directs this one, and although he's considered one of Hong Kong's greats, this is obviously an early effort; there are too many silly fat/butt/boob jokes, and too many Peckinpah-esque cuts during Chan/Biao action scenes that should have been left alone. But Wheels On Meals is still pretty good, mostly because its heart is in the right place, Biao is a decent sidekick, and Chan gets to fight Benny "The Jet" Urquidez in a match that, while it's a fairly conventional bit of Asian asskickage, will make your eyes glaze over in disbelief. It's not a must-see, like so many other films the three principals have made. But it's right at the top of Hong Kong cinema's second tier, and that's not bad at all.

 
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