Film

City Hunter

Name: City Hunter
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Released: 1993
Cast: Jackie Chan, Joey Wong, Kumiko Goto, Chingmy Yau Suk-Ching, Richard Norton

Other titles called City Hunter: the 2011 series (SBS).

City Hunter is a gleefully unhinged action-comedy that treats its plot like a suggestion box. Jackie Chan plays a womanizing detective on a cruise ship, juggling flirtation, slapstick, and gunfights with equal commitment. It's anarchic, earnest about its rom-com beats, and full of Chan's inventive physical comedy. For anyone who loves action that doesn't take itself seriously.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy Jackie Chan's physical comedy stitched into a loose, cheerful romance, where a gag and a fight scene can share the same breath and nobody minds the plot wandering off.

Skip it if you want tight plotting or a serious thriller, since the story is thin and the tone keeps swinging between goofy slapstick and stakes that never quite land.

What it asks of you: Roughly an hour and forty minutes of easygoing, scattered energy, with no need to track complicated threads; you can drift in and out and still be fine.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Police Story1985

The film that defined Jackie Chan's early brilliance: furniture-smashing action, rapid-fire comedy, and genuine heart. Chan's physicality and timing are impeccable, and the stunts are genuinely dangerous.

But The plot is thin and the comedy occasionally feels dated. It also predates the visual clarity of his later work.

Rush Hour1998

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker's chemistry is electric, delivering non-stop laughs wrapped around inventive action sequences. The buddy dynamic carries you through easily and the Hong Kong setting gives it visual flair.

But It's Hollywood-slick in a way that loses some of Chan's anarchic edge. Tucker's comedy isn't for everyone, and the plot is forgettable.

Police Story 3: Super Cop1992

Chan playing an undercover cop infiltrating a drug cartel with jaw-dropping stunts and a surprisingly solid thriller plot. He does a motorcycle jump onto a moving train. The action is genuinely breathtaking.

But The story demands you care about the scheme, which it doesn't make easy. The romantic subplot feels obligatory and underbaked.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from City Hunter

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Wheels on Meals1984

Both are wildly generous action-comedies that treat plot as an afterthought, prioritizing Chan's ability to make you laugh, cringe, and cheer in the space of a single scene.

Chan and Sammo Hung as street food vendors who stumble into espionage and action. It's Chan doing physical comedy at his peak—the final fight with the villain is a masterclass in using the environment. Criminally underrated.

But The plot is nearly nonexistent and slapdash. It's essentially a series of comedy sketches leading to a fight. You have to surrender to its shapelessness.

Drunken Master1978

A younger Chan learning Drunken Boxing from a grizzled master—pure kinetic comedy where the fighting *is* the humor. It's where his signature style crystallized, and the charm is irresistible.

But Subtitles and a less polished production. The opening act is slow and the dubbing on many versions is rough.

The Protector1985

Chan as a cop in New York protecting an older martial artist. The action is visceral and less choreographed than his comedies, grounding the film in genuine stakes and raw physicality.

But The tone wavers between serious and silly without quite settling either way. The plot is genuinely confusing and the supporting cast underperforms.

Rumble in the Bronx1995

Chan in New York (well, Toronto pretending to be New York) fighting gang members with weaponized props and buildings. It's purely a collection of setpieces, which is exactly what you want from a Chan vehicle.

But The story is negligible and the cultural awkwardness of the casting is hard to ignore. Many setpieces outstay their welcome.

The Young Master1980

An early Chan film where he directed himself, blending martial arts tournament intrigue with his comedic gifts. The finale is a genuinely inventive fight that presages everything he'd do later.

But It takes a long time to get going. The middle section drags and some of the humor is cringe-inducing to modern viewers.

Police Story 21988

More of what worked in the first film: escalating action, furniture as a weapon, and Chan's willingness to hurt himself for a laugh. The bomber plot gives it slightly more structure than the original.

But It recycles the formula without meaningfully improving on it. The climax feels repetitive and some of the action choreography is less imaginative.

Naked Lunch1991

Both films are structured around the loose, riff-based logic of dream logic rather than narrative. City Hunter meanders because it's joyful; Naked Lunch meanders because the mind meanders. Both ask you to surrender to chaos.

Cronenberg's adaptation of Burroughs is a hallucinatory descent into addiction and paranoia, anarchic and grotesque. It's not about following a story—it's about experiencing a fever dream. Peter Weller is mesmerizing.

But It's deliberately incoherent and deeply unpleasant to watch. The body horror is constant and disturbing. Most people find it an endurance test rather than entertainment.

The Guard2011

Both films find the romance and humor in partnerships between mismatched people (Chan and the cruise ship world; Gleeson and Mark Strong), using comedy as the primary language while letting genuine character warmth emerge underneath.

An Irish village policeman forms an unlikely alliance with an FBI agent to stop a terrorist plot. It's a buddy action-comedy with surprising warmth and genuine affection for its idiots. Brendan Gleeson is perfect.

But It's very Irish in its humor and pacing—understated where American films would shout. The politics are thorny and the tone shifts unpredictably. Slow-burn charm isn't for everyone.