Plot: Two police officers lead a team to stop poison laced narcotics from getting on the streets.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Chinatown Connection where we finally got to see the team up we’ve always been waiting for – Bruce Ly and Lee Majors’… son.
It’s not exactly classic action cinema but it’s good B movie fun with a sizable role from Art Camacho as a trigger happy police officer who gets sent to join Chan (Ly) and his “Kung Fu Cops” where they learn to use martial arts rather than guns to take down the bad guys.
Not much happens for the first half with Chan and new partner Houston (Majors) investigating some deaths of people who took poisoned cocaine. The final half hour is what makes it watchable as we get to see Chan (briefly) use nunchuks to take out the trash and there are several hand to hand fight scenes. They aren’t exactly mind blowing with several punches and kicks clearly not making contact but I’ve seen worse.
Any movie with Leo Lee as a henchman is always is immediately appealing but just once I want to see him actually win a fight; he was always so cool on screen and deserved to be more than just the guy who gets his ass kicked.
A lot of the acting isn’t the greatest (especially Ly’s dubbing) but I suggest doing a drinking a game while watching where you take a shot any time you hear a gong which seems to happen every few seconds. Lee Majors II is a ringer for his dad from the side profile; he didn’t have a big acting career only starring in a couple of films; he was decent enough and his character’s reckless shoot-out in a church during the opening will make you wonder why he didn’t end up in jail.
Fitz Houston makes for an enjoyable villain who starts off as a thug for hire but ends up becoming the big bad; his final showdown with Chan is a definite highlight.
Overall, after 30 years Chinatown Connection is the ultimate guilty pleasure; no one is going to say this is an amazing movie but it sure is a good time.