Building up on the success of the two previous installments, Sammo Hung and producer Eric Tsang 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 Richard Norton and Yasuaki Kurata, who form the main villain trio with Fat Chung, the movie also includes Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Richard Ng, Kiu Wai Mai, Stanley Fung, Sibelle Hu, John Sham, Rosamund Kwan, Andy Lau, Kara Hui, Michelle Yeoh and Charlie Chin, while in non-named credits as thugs, we stumble upon Dick Wei, Philip Ko and Lau Kar-win, 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 Lucky Stars 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.
