I am a huge Jackie Chan fan. According to the almighty IMDB, he has acted in 89 movies at this time. I have now seen 26 of them. Half a Loaf is from 1980, so this is a very old movie. This was made when Jackie was first becoming very popular as a mainstream actor in China, I believe. According to the video store clerk, this is when his comedic style became popular. This movie is basically one of those weird 70’s style kung-fu movies that is very hard to take seriously. It has the washed-out color, the bizarre sound effects, and the awkward dubbing (if you get the dubbed version) just as you’d expect. Unfortunately, this is one of those movies where Jackie starts out without any Kung-fu abilities. He learns throughout the movie, and by the end he is an unstoppable kung-fu maniac I don’t feel bad giving away this plot element, as the storyline is barely interesting at all. The character development is not entirely missing, and Jackie is an effective comedian in many scenes. However, if you want to see him kicking ass, this is not the movie to see. Even the final battle scene, which is impressive, is nothing compared to some of his other movies.

Overall, Half a Loaf is really not worth seeing unless you are a hardcore Chan-fan. Maybe it would be funny if you were stoned or something, but this movie is really not for a general audience. I would highly recommend Dragons Forever. I rate it as my favorite Jackie Chan movie ever, and I’ve seen quite a few. Also see Drunken Master for some dated but utterly amazing Chan action. If you liked that, absolutely see Drunken Master 2, which was made 16 years later, but is the direct sequel. Do yourself a favor and avoid the dubbed versions! You lose a lot of the authenticity, and besides… they don’t talk during the fight scenes! I give Half a Loaf of Kung-Fu 2 stars.