New Police Story
cast: Jackie Chan
The good: Jackie Chan
The bad: Hong Kong films just needs a bit more polishing
Arriving at a time when standard action flicks seems to have reached its demise, New Police Story offers a somewhat refreshing, if a bit pointless, take on the dying genre.
Jackie Chan plays the most prolific senior detective in Hong Kong. However, a new breed of disenchanted, rich young adults starts to wreak havoc upon the city -- robbing banks and engaging in shootouts against the police force. In what seems to be a routine stakeout, Jackie and his team gets ambushed and in the process, he’s the only one who gets out alive.
The movie then proceeds to tell Jackie’s story as he walks around like a drunken fool and later, as he returns hesitantly to the force to take care of some unfinished business with the renegade new group. Of course, all this is told through the usual wacky Jackie Chan action style, combining blazingly-fast action choreography with funny antics. Jackie’s trademark walk is, of course, ever present. Surprisingly, the funny antics in this film have been greatly toned down vis-à-vis his other movies. This move comes in favor of a decent yet underwhelming dramatic gloss featuring a mix of unintentional humor and a bit of sadness in Jackie’s crying scenes. Maybe he’s just not cut out for drama, so he should, for me, stick to what he does best -- kicking butt, making fun of enemies, and walking funny.
Yet, for all his lack of dramatic skills, Jackie remains the top action-humor hero in Asia. There’s something, dare I say, magical (I just attracted a few thousand gay mail) in him and the whole movie benefits from it. The movie, in itself, is good and highly enjoyable. The plot is understandably pointless but the riveting action scenes and sky-high production values (wait till the bus scene) carry the film to exciting heights. (3/5)
*Fun fact: What’s my favorite Jackie Chan? That would be the film Who Am I?
The good: Jackie Chan
The bad: Hong Kong films just needs a bit more polishing
Arriving at a time when standard action flicks seems to have reached its demise, New Police Story offers a somewhat refreshing, if a bit pointless, take on the dying genre.
Jackie Chan plays the most prolific senior detective in Hong Kong. However, a new breed of disenchanted, rich young adults starts to wreak havoc upon the city -- robbing banks and engaging in shootouts against the police force. In what seems to be a routine stakeout, Jackie and his team gets ambushed and in the process, he’s the only one who gets out alive.
The movie then proceeds to tell Jackie’s story as he walks around like a drunken fool and later, as he returns hesitantly to the force to take care of some unfinished business with the renegade new group. Of course, all this is told through the usual wacky Jackie Chan action style, combining blazingly-fast action choreography with funny antics. Jackie’s trademark walk is, of course, ever present. Surprisingly, the funny antics in this film have been greatly toned down vis-à-vis his other movies. This move comes in favor of a decent yet underwhelming dramatic gloss featuring a mix of unintentional humor and a bit of sadness in Jackie’s crying scenes. Maybe he’s just not cut out for drama, so he should, for me, stick to what he does best -- kicking butt, making fun of enemies, and walking funny.
Yet, for all his lack of dramatic skills, Jackie remains the top action-humor hero in Asia. There’s something, dare I say, magical (I just attracted a few thousand gay mail) in him and the whole movie benefits from it. The movie, in itself, is good and highly enjoyable. The plot is understandably pointless but the riveting action scenes and sky-high production values (wait till the bus scene) carry the film to exciting heights. (3/5)
*Fun fact: What’s my favorite Jackie Chan? That would be the film Who Am I?
posted by NaCl at Thursday, July 21, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home