Review: New Police Story

UK Release: 13th October 2006

Technically, this isn’t a sequel to Jackie Chan’s original Police Story movies, but it still counts as a satisfactory return to his Hong Kong roots.

He plays a veteran cop who descends into alcoholic self-pity after his unit is wiped out by some extreme-sports-loving, hi-tech thieves. However, a persistent young man (Nicholas Tse) posing as his new partner eventually raises him from his stupor and together they set out to track down the gang.

At times, this thriller may be a little too melodramatic for its own good, but after the lightweight fluff Chan gets stuck with in Hollywood, that actually makes a pleasant change. Chan and director Benny Chan execute some nifty action set pieces, Tse makes for a good foil for the star and Daniel Wu excels as the disturbed young gang leader. Not vintage Chan, but certainly his best for some while.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 15
Running time 122mins

Review by John Ferguson

News: Jackie Chan

Despite now being comfortably into his fifties and having broken pretty much every bone in his body at some point or another, Hong Kong’s biggest star continues to churn out action flick after action flick, and still insists on doing all his own stunts. He has already completed work on two more Hong Kong movies since this week’s New Police Story wrapped, and is currently filming two more – this time English language – flicks.

The first of the Cantonese films was period-piece The Myth (yet to be scheduled for release in the UK), an unusual choice for Chan as he normally prefers present-day locations for his kung-fu antics, then Rob-B-Hood, again for New Police Story director Benny Chan, with Chan on more familiar action/comedy ground as a thief forced to cope with looking after a baby. It too has yet to be scheduled for a UK release.

Of his English-language movies in the works, the third installment of his popular Rush Hour series, due next summer, will doubtless be more of the same silly banter as he does all the fighting as he and the wisecracking Chris Tucker get mixed up with a bunch of Chinese Triads in – of all places – Paris. Giving himself a bit of a break, Chan is also voicing “Master Monkey” in the promising-sounding Kung Fu Panda, alongside Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Ian McShane and Angelina Jolie, due July 2008.