Jackie Chan Adventures

What’s the Story?

JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES stars an animated version of everyone's favorite martial arts movie star, Jackie Chan, with all his trademark good humor, Chaplin-esque air of befuddlement, and remarkable martial arts skills. Joining him are his 11-year-old niece, Jade (intelligent, stubborn, and impulsive); his irascible uncle, owner of an antiques store and an expert in ancient artifacts; and his big-hearted but dim-witted sumo wrestler friend, Tohru. Together the four travel the globe, using Jackie's martial art skills, Uncle's knowledge of the supernatural, and Jade's courage to fight demons and evil spirits, sometimes on their own and sometimes for secret law-enforcement agency Section 13.

Is It Any Good?

Despite Uncle's best efforts to educate his companions about the magical dangers all about them, Jade's impulsive behavior often puts everybody in danger, and Jackie's low-key heroism must save the day. In one episode, on a visit to Uncle's hometown in China, they meet evil spirits trapped in a mirror who turn humans into their worst fears when set free. On another adventure, while at school in Australia, Jade takes a field trip to a haunted house, and her teacher is accidentally possessed by a sky demon's chi, or life force.

We see Jackie's martial arts abilities mostly in stunts rather than combat, and battles with supernatural forces are as often won by clever tricks as by brute force. (A scary demon, for example, is lured into a pile of mousetraps.) Lighthearted, entertaining, suspenseful, and humorous, this show may not be deep, but it's a lot of fun.