Hong Kong Reviews Reviews

Film Review: Twinkle Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985) by Sammo Hung

Building up on the success of the two previous installments, and producer really went overboard with this one, which this time, takes place mostly in Pattaya, Thailand and features even more explosive (literally and metaphorically) action scenes. The most impressive fact, however, about the film, is its uncanny cast, which seems to feature the majority of the creme de la creme of HK action cinema, to say the least. Apart from the two aforementioned and the foreigners and , who form the main villain trio with , the movie also includes , , , , , , , , , , and , while in non-named credits as thugs, we stumble upon , and , to name the ones with the most significant roles.

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In order to let them all shine, writer Barry Wong implemented, once more, an episodic approach, while the central theme revolves around the members allowing Wang Yi-ching, a young man with information on a crime syndicate, to stay with them during their vacation in Thailand. In the meanwhile, policemen Muscles, Fung and one more (an unnamed Andy Lau) are fighting the aforementioned gang in Hong Kong.

The rest of the episodes focus on Swordflower breaking the heart of Frangolin Greens (yes, that is how Sammo Hung’s character is called in the film), Sandy dealing with voodoo magic this time and the rest of the gang playing a joke on him, at least when they are not trying to get in the pants of Wang Yi-ching, whose evident sensuality Hung and DPs Arthur Wong and Johnny Koo take as much advantage as possible of. Apart from Rosamund Kwan, however, the rest of the female actresses, also get to show their fighting abilities, with Michelle Yeoh taking part in a judo exhibition involving Sandy and Frangolin and Kara Hui playing a hard-boiled tour girl who gives Sandy a taste of a rather bitter medicine.

Lastly, the movie also includes a hilarious stage play sequence where Rosamund Kwan, Stanley Fung and John Sham (aka Wormgrass) also get to shine.

The action aspect is even more intense this time and not just focused on Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, who do get to shine once more, however, particularly in the scene in the warehouse in the beginning, where they face scores of enemies along Andy Lau. With Jackie Chan getting shot just before the final fight, however, the one who gets to shine also in the action sequence is Sammo Hung, who does a lot more than just fat jokes. Particularly his battles with Yasuaki Kurata, where he uses tennis rackets against his long knives and against Richard Norton are equally funny, brutal and intricate, with Hung highlighting his speed despite his weight and his uncanny abilities in action choreography. On a personal note, I remember watching “Iron Fists and Kung Fu Flicks” on Netflix, and Richard Norton saying, amazed, that the HK action actors did not care for any kind of safety measures, with Sammo Hung asking him to hit him as hard as possible in their duel in the movie, something that is more than evident to anyone who watches the film. Sammo Hung may exhibit a kind of ego here, since as a fighter he cannot lose in him movie, but the fact that he gets enough punishment, and the quality of the final product justify this aspect to the fullest.

“Twinkle Twinkle, Lucky Stars” is quite funny, includes more than impressive action pieces, and also functions as an encyclopedia of the actors who appeared on HK action productions at the time, an element that definitely adds to its value.

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

Panagiotis (Panos) Kotzathanasis is a film critic and reviewer, specialized in Asian Cinema. He is the owner and administrator of Asian Movie Pulse, one of the biggest portals dealing with Asian cinema. He is a frequent writer in Hancinema, Taste of Cinema, and his texts can be found in a number of other publications including SIRP in Estonia, Film.sk in Slovakia, Asian Dialogue in the UK, Cinefil in Japan and Filmbuff in India.

Since 2019, he cooperates with Thessaloniki Cinematheque in Greece, curating various tributes to Asian cinema. He has participated, with video recordings and text, on a number of Asian movie releases, for Spectrum, Dekanalog and Error 4444. He has taken part as an expert on the Erasmus+ program, “Asian Cinema Education”, on the Asian Cinema Education International Journalism and Film Criticism Course.

Apart from a member of FIPRESCI and the Greek Cinema Critics Association, he is also a member of NETPAC, the Hellenic Film Academy and the Online Film Critics Association.

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