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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
(3.5 STARS) Welcome Back to Hong Kong, Jackie! He Can Still Deliver the Exciting Stunts and He Is 50 Years Old! , June 16, 2006
After the disappointing `Around the World in 80 Days,' Jackie Chan went back to his roots in Hong Kong film industry. What is amazing is that Jackie (who is over 50 years old) can still do the death-defying stunts, as is seen in this film. The fact that his best films are made in 1980s cannot be denied, but `New Police Story' delivers its goods with Jackie and some of the new faces from Hong Kong.
The story is given a new touch in `New Police Story.' This time Jackie plays a veteran Hong Kong police officer Wing, whose overconfidence leads to a botched raid. Feeling guilt deeply, Inspector Wing, now disgraced, is given to drink until a young `police detective' named Fung appears before him. With a help from Fung, Wing again begins to hunt the culprits responsible for the deaths of his men.
[NEW BREED OF VILLAINS] As in his `The Myth,' Jackie's answer to the recent boom of wuxia (Chinese period martial arts films), in `New Police Story' Jackie Chan clearly intends to do something different. The baddies of the new film are a bunch of masked young gangsters, who can rob and kill as if it is a video game. As a fan of Jackie's actions, I can swear that this is very unusual choice. For in many cases the villains of his films may have been assassins or gangsters, but they never acted like spoiled kids. It is certain that deaths are sometimes depicted, but not in this violent way. Violent, in this case I mean, for Jackie's film. The decision of director Benny Chan (`Who Am I?') would divide the viewers' opinions, but it is certain that he and Jackie are trying to seek a new direction.
[ACTIONS] But you want to know the actions. Good news is that Jackie is still alert and agile, and can move like when he was in his first `Rush Hour.' Considering the fact that he is now over fifty, this is just incredible. There are two outstanding scenes here; one is Jackie climbing down the vertical wall of a tall building in a very unique (and dangerous) way, followed by Jackie hanging on the roof of a runaway bus in the street of Hong Kong. The other is in a Lego showroom, where he shows a bone-crunching fighting against one of the baddie.
[ACTING] This may not interest you, but Jackie does another new thing, and that is acting. Well, of course he must have been doing that for long, I know, but what I mean is he takes more time to reveal the complex nature of the character he plays, to show his ability as actor. There is even a love interest for his character.
[SUPPORTS] Some of Jackie film fans seem not to remember the names of the supports, or you just don't care. For `New Police Story' Jackie assembled great cast. Nicholas Tse as mysterious Fung is a standout among them, and so is Daniel Wu as the leader of the gangs. Among the fighting scenes, Andy On shines who was wasted in deplorable `Black Mask 2.' As to the female players, after the 8 years' retirement Charlie Yeung comes back as love of Jackie's inspector, giving the rather generic story a human touch, and very busy (and very cute) Charlene Choine from the popular duo Twins also appears.
`New Police Story' may not be the right place if you are going to see Jackie Chan films for the first time. It is overlong, sometime unnecessarily serious and violent, and Jackie's stunts, thrilling as they are, are not his best. Having said that, I must say it is a welcome addition to the works of one and only Jackie Chan, far better than any recent English-speaking films of his.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chan has still got it, July 2, 2006
Jackie Chan, sick of how Hollywood has typecasted him as a the "stuntman clown," returned to Hong Kong to film this Benny Chan directed saga which was to be a "serious Jackie Chan film." New Police Story was to show that Jackie Chan also possesses serious acting chops, aside from his now world-famous Buster Keaton-inspired slapstick. New Police Story, overall, is a success. It is a good action film; however, with that said, there is really little about it to recommend it above Jackie's other HK films. If one is not familiar with his other HK films though, such as Supercop, Police Story I, or Drunken Master II, then New Police Story will seem like Chan's masterpiece, as it is FAR better than any of his American films (which are all terrible). Chan plays a cop whose team is wiped out by a gang of young, well-armed cop killers. They pull off robberies and then wait for the police to arrive only so that they can kill them off. Chan's team gets a tip off regarding the whereabouts of this gang's hideout, and upon going there discover a warehouse full of traps, very reminiscent of the house in Saw II. Chan is unable to save his team, and subsequently becomes a guilt-tortured wash up and a drunk. When he is shown vomiting and passing out in an alley, it is very obvious that Chan is really vomiting (the man does do all his own stunts!) Though New Police Story is a more serious film in terms of Chan's character, this does not mean that the film is devoid of humor. Here most of the humor comes from Nicholas Tse, playing Chan's often-annoying sidekick, who is mostly there for comic relief. The fight scenes in New Police Story are good, but nothing to write home about. Tse, though obviously a talented martial artist, looks far too puny and wiry to actually land a harmful blow to anyone. Also rather noticeable is that though the film strives to be more serious in tone, Chan and his fight team seemingly cannot escape the fact that their fight scenes are still exactly the same--not really brutal and often filled with Chan's trademark comic and awkward exchanges of blows. At the end of the film the guy from Tsui Hark's excellent film Time and Tide has a brief cameo. It's a true shame that he didn't play Chan's sidekick, rather than the twerpy Nicholas Tse. All-in-all, New Police Story IS a good action film though, and is definitely worth owning, ESPECIALLY if you've only seen Chan's crappy American films.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This movie is one of jackie chan's best movie!!!!, May 31, 2006
This movie is great action movie ever. This movie shows great of jackie chan's actions. I do have this dvd. I agree with the people to buy this movie, also this movie is the best action movie. I want you know this movie is awesome. They do hardcore actions. Even Jackie chan sliding on big builing in HONG KONG. I am big fan of jackie chan. I have all of his dvds but this movie is best action movie since rumble in the bronx or supercop. You have to watch that movie!!!!
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