New Police Story

Year:2004
Director:Benny Chan Muk-Sing
Cast:Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse Ting-Fung, Charlie Young Choi-Nei, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin, Daniel Wu, Dave Wong Kit, Andy On Chi-Kit, Terence Yin, Hayama Hiro, Coco Chiang Yi, Deep Ng Ho-Hong, Ken Lo Wai-Kwong, Tony Ho Wah-Chiu, Timmy Hung Tin-Ming, Hung Tin-Chiu, Andrew Lin Hoi, Carl Ng Ka-Lung, Samuel Pang King-Chi, Mandy Chiang Nga-Man, Maggie Lau Si-Wai, Asuka Higuchi, Liu Kai-Chi, Yu Rong-Guang, Kenny Kwan Chi-Bun, Steven Cheung Chi-Hung, Wu Bai, Tats Lau Yi-Tat, John Sham Kin-Fun, Winnie Leung Man-Yi, Philip Ng Won-Lung
Description:
Finally,
Jackie Chan returns to Hong Kong! And no, those Twins
Effect movies don't count. New Police Story
represents a watershed development for longtime HK
Cinema fans. First, it marks the Chanmeister's return
to Hong Kong Cinema after too many American or American-influenced productions. Second, it reunites
Jackie Chan with director Benny Chan, who was responsible
for arguably Jackie Chan's last decent Hong Kong film,
Who Am I? Excitement would be an understandable
response.
However, blind excitement
may be too great. While a polished, entertaining,
and suitably glossy action picture, New Police
Story is still quality-impaired compared to Chan's
greatest works. Plus, it comes with an extreme price:
collusion with the Emperor Entertainment Group's band
of questionably talented popstars. Chan's primary
co-star is EEG badboy Nicholas Tse, and his co-stars
include EEG products Dave Wong Kit , Charlene
Choi , Kenny Kwan , Stephen Cheung
, and Deep Ng .
The film also co-stars a virtual who's who of young
Hong Kong actors, meaning somebody out there was working
overtime during a marketing meeting. While his paycheck
may be awash in music industry kickbacks, the inclusions
do the movie little favors.
But enough griping.
The obvious Jackie Chan meets Gen-X Cops marketing
aside, New Police Story is a suitably entertaining
action picture that presents the aging Chan in a new
light: as an aging cop whose life takes a precipitous
tumble. A decorated cop, Chan Kwok-Wing
meets his match in a vicious group of young thugs,
who kill cops for fun and "x-treme" satisfaction.
After Wing boasts that he'll snag this group of young
punks in three hours, the group proceeds to dismantle
his ten man squad with expert precision and more than
a little stylish flair. Among the dead cops is Wing's
future brother-in-law , a factoid that leaves
Wing crying and drinking his guts out...or perhaps
the reverse. Either way, he becomes a broken guy.
Enter young Frank Cheng , an overly-sprightly
young cop who makes it his personal mission to bring
Wing back from the brink of self-destruction. Will
he succeed? And will EEG sell records as a result
of this old-young merger?
The answer to that last
question is unknown, but the former one is easy: of
course he will! This is a movie after all, meaning
the presence of the ultra-cute young cop is enough
to bring Wing back to supreme cop status, and enough
to get the girls swooning. As young Frank, Nicholas
Tse eschews his usual bad boy act for a happy-go-lucky
comic relief persona that the young actor handles
with surprising facility. His dialogue is sometimes
cheesy and clunky, but it's easy to like Tse when
he isn't preening like his popstar status requires.
It's also easy to like Charlene Choi here, especially
since she gets so little screen time that her whiny
girlishness is reduced to only one or two scenes.
Sadly, the much-vaunted return of Charlie Young, who
plays Wing's girlfriend Ho-Yee, is in a disappointing
flower vase role that gives the charming actress little
room to maneuver. Basically, she shows up, looks concerned,
occasionally cries, then becomes imperiled. New
Police Story may gun for modern hipness, but some
of the content is strictly out of the Dark Ages.
Equal simplicity is
applied to the bad guys. Made up of Daniel Wu, Terence
Yin, Andy On, Hayama Go, and Coco Chiang, the gang
of evildoers is given pseudo-understandable psychosis
by the screenplay. This group isn't really bad; they're
more like misunderstood kids who've simply taken their
disaffection too far...into murder and completely
over-the-top crime sprees. While some minor seriousness
is proffered in this theme of rich kids gone bad,
the performances all err on the cartoony side. These
bad seeds overact with abandon, flailing their arms
and mugging ferociously. The performances are more
than a little over-the-top, but there are bright spots.
Andy On demonstrates a welcome physicality in two
flying fists encounters with Jackie Chan, and Daniel
Wu gives his limited range a full workout. As disaffected
leader Joe, Wu gets to smoulder and preen like a miniature
knock-off of Francis Ng梬ith generally effective,
though ultimately overrated results. Wu recently won
the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor for
New Police Story, which is odd considering
that his performance wasn't that noteworthy. It's
not a bad performance by any stretch of the imagination,
but Best Supporting Actor?
Still, taking the Golden
Horse Awards selection committee to task is not the
big deal here. No, the big deal is Jackie Chan, and
how he handles being a middle-aged action star among
a cast of young and less-wrinkled kids. The answer
to that: not bad at all. Chan still manages a few
terrific stunts and fight sequences, and though there's
a bit more cutting than ten years ago, the effort
is appreciable. Chan also takes his elder statesman
role and gives it a surprising weight and dignity梬hen
he isn't overacting. Chan gives his character heavy
emotions, but his acting has matured little from the
overacting, sweaty displays of manly emotion that
have marked nearly every Chan performance since the
early days of his career. Chan puts his character's
emotions out there for everyone to see, but the effect
can sometimes be more embarrassing than affecting.
However, this is the
moment where the masses should rise up and say, "Come
on, it's just a movie! Don't be so harsh!" Well,
for once the masses have got it right. Despite the
gripes and the groans of New Police Story being
not as good as previous Jackie Chan works, it does
succeed at being an efficient and entertaining action
adventure film. Director Benny Chan gives the film
polished style and flair, and Jackie Chan certainly
works overtime to produce an entertaining, and sometimes
even emotionally engaging commercial film. Jackie
Chan is undisputably one of the world's greatest entertainers,
and New Police Story is further proof that
the man will go to great lengths to thrill, entertain,
and perhaps simply placate his fan base. The man has
made concessions to insure lasting stardom, but hasn't
forgotten to plug Hong Kong with every ounce of spare
time that he has. Despite the massive flop that was
Around the World in 80 Days, Chan didn't have
to make New Police Story. But he did, not only
to satiate his home audience but also to further the
careers of some kids who could use the boost. Whether
or not his charges will ever hit it big is debatable
,
but let's put it on the table: Jackie Chan tries.
And with New Police Story, he mostly succeeds.