Magic Crystal is Wong Jing's bouillabaisse mix of takes on ET and Raiders of the Lost Ark with some Hong Kong martial arts thrown in for good measure. Andy Lau is a cop whose old buddy is an archaeologist in Greece and he comes across something. That something is wanted by the KGB (including Norton) and Interpol (including Rothrock). And that something is a green crystal/goo thing that can do magic stuff, and Lau's nephew Pin-Pin ends up with it. Hilarity ensues, as do a bunch of fight scenes, all culminating in us going back to Greece so this alien green goo thing can find its way home. All in a day's work if you ask me.
This is a really fun one--as if that synopsis above would tell you any different. The goofiness in the plot is a fun goofiness, and then when we get fights, they are at the best quality. Rothrock, Norton, and Lau all bring it in exactly the way you'd expect from seeing their names on the tin. The mix of goofy and exceptional come together in a kind of alchemy that just works if you're someone who loves a good 80s actioner, doesn't take yourself too seriously, but still wants to have things to take seriously. (That sounded about as convoluted as this plot.)
Rothrock, firmly entrenched in the 30 Club with her 35th film on the site, is on her way to the 40 Club quick. Off the top of my head I can think of at least one more that we have in the can for her. On the other hand, we've exhausted a lot of her newer, US-based stuff, so most of what we have left are her Hong Kong flicks like these, and there aren't many of those left either--and then it's a matter of tracking them all down. I don't think she needs to be in the 40 Club to cement her legacy, she's already one of the best to ever do it--and I think of all the great things she has on her CV, DTVC 40 Club is probably least of her concerns; but someone as great as she is, it'll be nice for us to get her there. This was another great performance from her, and while it's a very early role, she's still showing us why she's one of the best to ever do it.
The other Hall of Famer here is Richard Norton, who we haven't since since 2014 with The Blood of Heroes. Like Rothrock, his martial arts here is stellar. Unlike Rothrock, whose filmography we've pretty much exhausted, Norton has a good amount of stuff out there that we haven't gotten to yet, and it seems like a good portion of the older stuff like this is available on YouTube. As if I needed a reminder of how great Norton is, with so many Dolph, Seagal, and Adkins films I have in the can that need reviews, greats like Norton sometimes get left out, so seeing him in something like this is a great way to get him back on my radar. One note though: Norton is redubbed by someone speaking in what is supposed to be (I think) a Russian accent. If you're looking for that trademark Australian accent, that aspect will either make this funnier for you, or annoy you.
The real star of this is Andy Lau. I think this is the first film of his we've done here, but it's hard to know considering he's done 177 according to IMDb. I think my favorite of his other films is As Tears Go By, a Wong Kar-Wai film he did with Maggie Cheung. This, of course, is something totally different from a Wong Kar-Wai film, though to be honest, it would have been interesting to see what Kar-Wai does with a story like this. That's what makes this so great, is this story is so all over the place, and Lau is like Neo in the Matrix weaving his way through it all, which, at 25 may have been more impressive than some of the more serious roles he did later in his career when he was more seasoned. Selling Magic Crystal to the audience is no small feat, but once he does it, Norton and Rothrock and the rest of the cast were able to play off that, which makes this work in a much more fun way.
Finally, we've covered a lot of Asylum mockbusters here at the DTVC, and it's interesting to consider a film like this in a similar light. If only the Asylum could do a bouillabaisse rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET with some fantastic martial arts. That's where my calling a movie like this a "rip-off" does it a disservice. Yes, they're biting off established blockbusters, but there's something in the alchemy here that's not as cynical as the Asylum mockbuster, if you know what I mean. Also the martial arts scenes in this are so next-level that it doesn't really matter what kind of rip-off the story is when a film has that to hang its hat on. You can rip-off what ever you want if in the process you give us something new or inspired at the same time.
And with that, it's time to wrap this one up. The fact that you can stream this for free on YouTube is a great deal. Maybe someday it'll have a nice blu-ray release, but until that time, at least you can see it like this.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091532
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