CITY Hunter has the kind of sophomoric humour that makes one wish the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority would come up with a new category: admission restricted to those under 12. This adaptation of the popular Japanese comic book is so silly while it may win Jackie Chan a new generation of fans, it will do little to hold the Police Story crowd. Chan is private eye Mang Po (known in Japanese as Ryu Saeba), a happy-go-lucky sleuth on the trail of a teenage Tokyo heiress (Kumiko Goto). The trail leads to an ocean liner and a band of international terrorists (headed by a villain named Mack Donald),allowing Chan and his beautiful ward (Joey Wong) to become involved in hair-raising action scenes. Even these are something of a letdown for Chan fans. Not that the star is not in top form. He allows himself to be pummelled and slammed to such a degree it is hard not to feel his bruises. But the action scenes are staged and shot in such a way as to mute their impact. One of the best gags has Chan battling the terrorists in a theatre while a Bruce Lee film is shown. It is the first time these two masters of kung fu have appeared ''together'' on screen, with Chan receiving inspiration from his predecessor. Unfortunately, the inspiration behind this scene is all but dissipated by jumpy editing and a failure to follow through on the underlying premise. City Hunter tries for an Airplane! -style effect, but lacks the outrageousness to pull it off. For the most part, Mang Po's adventures are fatuous rather than fun. A definite letdown for last summer's ''super cop''.
