Wo shi shei (1998)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Directors:

Benny Chan
Jackie Chan

Writers:

Jackie Chan (writer)
Susan Chan (writer)

Release Date:

17 January 1998 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Comedy | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Fight now. Ask questions later.

Plot:

A secret agent loses his memory after falling from a crashing helicopter. He is then chased by a number of other agency operatives, but he has no idea why.

Plot Keywords:

Helicopter | Secret Agent | Car Chase | Martial Arts | Central Intelligence Agency

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Who Am I?
Michelle Ferre	...	Christine Stark
Mirai Yamamoto	...	Yuki
Ron Smerczak	...	Morgan
Ed Nelson	...	General Sherman
Tom Pompert	...	CIA Chairman
Glory Simon	...	CIA Secretary
Fred van Ditmarsch	...	Airforce
Fritz Krommenhoek	...	Navy
Dick Rienstra	...	Army
Rinaldo van Ommeren	...	Army Assistant
Pim Daane	...	Marine
Jeremiah Flemming	...	Marine Assistant
Neil Berger	...	Secretary
Dik Brinksma	...	NAT Security Officer

Also Known As:

Jackie Chan's Who Am I? (USA) (cable TV title)
Who Am I?

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for martial arts action violence.

Runtime:

120 min | USA:108 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Ireland:18 | Netherlands:16 (video rating) | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Capelle aan den IJssel, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

In the rooftop fight scene, 'Bradly James Allan' doubled for Ron Smoorenburg's footwork.

Goofs:

Continuity: While fighting in the streets of Rotterdam, Jackie manages to lose both his shoes. He dons a pair of clogs to finish the fight and run away in, but for the rest of the movie he is wearing the original shoes again. In the Hong Kong version, there is a scene explaining this.

Quotes:

Morgan: [answering the phone] Who is it?
Who Am I?: No, it's Who am I?

Movie Connections:

References "Car 54, Where Are You?" (1961)

Soundtrack:

Ya Kuo Hu Di Ren (A Man in the Past)

uneven but interestingly plotted Chan fare with a simply AMAZING stunt at the end

As with Mr Nice Guy,this Jackie Chan vehicle is basically a Hong Kong production filmed in English with mostly western actors. It's actually an odd Chan film in some respects. For a start,the first third of the film hardly seems like a Chan film at all,apart from a few comic bits of business {Chan chased up a tree by a lion}which are mostly cut from the US version anyway. Even in shortened form,and with some good desert photography,the whole 'Chan finds himself among desert tribesmen' subplot seems an unnecessarily laborious way of getting into the amnesia story that becomes the main thrust of the story.

Nevertheless,after this the film becomes solid Chan fare with the same fast pacing of Mr Nice Guy. There's a great car chase and while the fights are quite short {as with most recent Chan films,he spends a lot of time running away from opponents},it's good to see Chan bashed about a bit-he looks very vulnerable in this film. Of course the acting is weak and some of the dialogue laughable {I'm not sure I agree with the reviewer here who says it was intentionally comic,but opinions differ!},while the intrigue of the amnesia/spy plot just becomes an excuse for the usual chasing around. However,one can almost forgive all this when the climax features a great fight on top of a skyscraper followed quite simply one of the most awesome and downright foolhardy stunts Chan has done. I won't describe it in detail,just see for yourself! You WILL be amazed.

There is a sense with Who Am I that the filmmakers attempted to tell a fairly complex story and then realised they were making a Jackie Chan movie and changed it accordingly,leaving a fair bit of confusion. Interestingly,Chan's original cut was around 3 hours long,and maybe that made more sense and balanced the two elements of the film better. Still,there's a lot of fun to be had here nevertherless. And just listen to Chan rap the part English,part Chinese theme song during the end credits.