A return to form for Jackie, but this could be way too sentimental for Western action audiences…
In a plotline dangerously close to an episode of CSI: Miami, (Game Over, season 3 since you ask – which aired a long time after the film) Jackie Chan returns to what he does best – madcap if not just plain stupid stunts that make the Jackass crew look like a bunch of big girls blouses.
Chan plays Senior Inspector Chan Kwok-Wing, one of the most decorated police officers in Hong Kong, and leader of one of the most successful squads on the force. Chan comes up against a callous gang of bank thieves lead by Joe (Daniel Wu, Purple Storm, One Night In Mongkok) – addicted to extreme sports, computer games and hitting as many cops as they can.
Tracking them down to their hideout, Chan and his team become the victims of a complex trap from which only he survives. Blaming himself for the deaths of his team, he descends into alcoholism, even alienating his girlfriend Sun Ho Yee (Charlie Yeung, Seven Swords, Dr. Wai and the Scripture Without Words) until the mysterious Frank Cheng (Nicholas Tse, Time And Tide, Dragon Tiger Gate), helps him get his life together to finally avenge their deaths and bring the thieves to justice.
Soon Chan is back on the case, finding the gang have even turned his colleagues murder into a computer game – but can he finally bring them to justice with just Cheng’s assistance? And just who is Cheng and why is Chan so important to him?
Slickly directed by Benny Chan (Divergence, Gen-X-Cops, A Moment Of Romance) New Police Story is a deliberate return to Jackie’s former glory – a reaction against the overprotective Hollywood producers who wouldn’t risk their lead stubbing a toe, let alone the reckless antics Jackie has gotten into in the past.
There’s a particularly thrilling chase across downtown Hong Kong begins with our thieves abseiling down a skyscraper with the help of a BMX bike and rollerblades – with Chan following using a pair of handcuffs – and ends with runaway bus that ends up slamming into a truck load of squeaky plastic ducks. The bus is one of several references to the original Police Story, which also include sliding down a pole, in this case a support to a conference building, only unlike the original this time supporting his colleague in his legs.
It’s breathtaking stuff because it looks so real, which it is ¬- there are even real explosions! – all making good, iconic use of Hong Kong. Yet this all rather jars against director Chan’s rather polished style, which often uses computer graphics, albeit not too obviously, to enhance the action. Somehow the film never captures the energy of those original movies, haphazard though they were. The intricate, well choreographed fight scenes are good, but somehow feel sluggish in comparison to those films.
Perhaps what really dents New Police Story’s chances as an action movie, at least to the Western male audience who would be most likely to want to go and see this, is Benny Chan’s tendency to wallow in sentimentally. Something he has shown previous films such as Divergence. Even for an Asian director he tends to ladle it on and, just when you thought there couldn’t be any more, ladle plenty on more besides. It gives Jackie plenty to work with; giving a fine performance that will surprise a lot of people – even if he does overplay the drunkenness for comic effect! Yes, away from Hollywood and most of his lighter Hong Kong movies Jackie finally gets to prove what he can do – one can imagine his Police Story character all grown up. It’s just the role Jackie should grow into in future, as he simply looks too old to be believable as the all-action hero – even if he is quite capable of it in reality.
Nicholas Tse is likeable enough, and Charlie Yeung seems to have been chosen for her likeness to Maggie Cheung, Jackie’s girlfriend in the original. Daniel Wu again gives a standout performance relishing his wicked character, though again Benny Chan and writer Alan Yuen seem to want to turn up the sentiment factor as a back story needlessly provides us with an excuse for his behaviour. The central plotline of our hero making his way back from the abyss of alcoholism is itself a Hollywood cliché (wasn’t it the plot of at least one of the Lethal Weapon movies?)
New Police Story really does constitute a return to form for Jackie Chan after so many average movies with several sequences that are worth the admission price alone, but such over sentimentality will definitely alienate much of its core audience. Shame, as this has a lot going for it, and hell, can Jackie still cut it or what?
DVD details
Distributor: Hong Kong Legends (UK)
The new two-disc set from Hong Kong Legends boasts a high quality sound and picture transfer, but sadly little in the way of bonus material that will really get you excited...
The second disc includes trailers, good interviews from director Benny Chan and much of the cast (which are exclusive to this edition), all of whom have only kind words to say about Jackie Chan – but sadly there's nothing from the man himself. A 'Making of' featurette is also included, along with a whole section devoted to raw footage from behind-the-scenes.
Enlightening as this might be, again the menu production from Hong Kong Legends leaves much to be desired – simply labelling them 'scene 1', 'scene 2' and so on... hardly intuitive!
Considering the wealth of materials available on the Hong Kong and US DVD editions of the film, later of which even included a scene commentary from Jackie, HKL once again appeared to have missed a trick making this edition desirable to those who already have either of the above. (And let's face it, it's taken so long for the film to be released in the UK that's bound to be an awful lot of JC fans!)
