Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Keong comes from Hong Kong to visit New York for his uncle's wedding. His uncle runs a market in the Bronx and Keong offers to help out while Uncle is on his honeymoon. During his stay in the Bronx, Keong befriends a neighbor kid and beats up some neighborhood thugs who cause problems at the market. One of those petty thugs in the local gang stumbles into a criminal situation way over his head.
Rumble in the Bronx is a fun, kinetic Jackie Chan vehicle that delivers exactly what fans expect: spectacular stunt work and inventive fight choreography set against an oddly Vancouver-doubling-for-New-York backdrop. The plot is thin and episodic, stringing together action set pieces with minimal narrative coherence, and the acting outside of Chan is largely functional at best. The cinematography captures the action clearly and Chan's physicality is showcased well, earning a solid mark. Novelty is above average thanks to Chan's unmistakable comedic-action style, which was genuinely fresh to Western audiences at the time of its US release, even if the formula itself is familiar. The ending, including a hovercraft chase sequence that strains credibility even for the genre, is entertaining but lacks real payoff or resolution weight.