Defence lawyer Jackie Lung (Jackie Chan) represents shady businessman Hua Hsien-Wu, who is accused of polluting a local fish farm owned by Miss Yip (Deannie Yip). To help him win the case, Jackie enlists two friends from the criminal fraternity, arms dealer Luke Wong Fei-hung (Sammo Hung) and cat burglar Timothy Tung Tak-Biao (Yuen Baio). Jackie also romances Miss Yip's pretty cousin Nancy (Pauline Yeung) in order to get inside information, but finds himself falling in love for real, resulting in a change of heart that pits him and his friends against Hua Hsien-Wu and his cronies.
For twelve incredible minutes, Dragons Forever shows Chan, Biao and Hung at their very best, in a blistering finale that sees the trio battling numerous bad guys in a chemical factory: our heroes perform amazing feats of acrobatics, punch and kick at jaw-dropping speed, bodies falls from gangways onto hard surfaces, and lots of glass is smashed. It's just a shame that to get there one must endure well over an hour of mediocre comedy and dull romance, interspersed by the occasional spot of less memorable martial arts to retain the attention of fight fans until the final showdown.
As a whole, the film really only warrants an average rating, but I'm happy to bump it up a bit for the main bad guys, the excellent Yuen Wah (who also played the memorable villain from another fave of mine, Eastern Condors), and the awesome Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez—never has eyeliner been so macho! 6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.
