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12 of 13 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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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jackie Chan passes the baton?, May 7, 2005
Longtime fans of Jackie Chan -- that is, those of us who were fans pre-Rush Hour -- know that his craziest stunts have always been reserved for his Hong Kong productions, no doubt due to the conservative nature of American films' insurance companies.
However, in recent years, Jackie has been trying to lay the groundwork for his post-action career by taking on roles with minimal action so that he can display his acting prowess, which has often been overlooked by "pure" action fans. He has shown great depth from time to time, and recent films like "Gorgeous" eschew almost all martial arts action in favor of real acting.
In "New Police Story," Jackie appears to pass the baton to his young costar, Nicholas Tse. I compare this film to "Drunken Master" or one of Jackie's other early films in that it is a master/student story, except that here, Jackie is the master on his way to retirement.
Jackie is Hong Kong inspector Wing, a 'top cop' who is disgraced when he leads a raid against a gang of rich punks that goes horribly wrong. After falling into a drunken depression, the younger brother of on of the fallen cops from the raid (Tse) steps in to help Wing find revenge -- and peace with himself.
Jackie has a number of dramatic scenes in this film and he carries them well -- I almost forgot it was Jackie Chan and not Chow Yun Fat or another Hong Kong actor known for drama. Jackie has a few action sequences, but he seems to allow Tse to carry out a lot of Jackie-style "goofy fights" in his stead (using his own coat as a weapon, etc.). I should mention that this is a very dark, violent film, quite unlike the usual Jackie Chan fair. Of Jackie's prior work, only "Crime Story" comes close, and this film is far darker.
All in all, this film is well worth seeing, although I suspect only Jackie and/or HK cinema fans will truly enjoy it. 4.5 out of 5 stars!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Much Funner Than the Originals, December 27, 2009
I've long been a fan of Jackie's films. He breathed new life into the genre like no other with his humorous style of combat; and it's inspiring to still see him move like he does at his age. The action in The New Police Story were just as fun as most of his lighter films; and the stunts were typically incredible, just as you expect from a Hong Kong production that isn't stiffled by Hollywood politics and/or insurance. And despite the more dramatic seriousness of Police Story, with a little Drunken Master mixed in, I found myself laughing much more than I expected. Aside from a few sequences that demand a little further explanation, The New Police Story was about as much fun as my favorite Chan films. The only real disappointment of the Blu-ray was that Lionsgate didn't include a lossless track for the original language. A lossless audio option is provided for the dub track; but only lossy audio is included in the original Chinese. That said, since I had a guest that doesn't like reading her movies, I opted for the dubbed track when we watched it and was surprised at the fidelity. The translation was word-for-word the same as the subtitles in the approx 5 minute portion of the film I compared the two. And the harmonics sounded very natural and dynamic. That Jackie did (most) of the voice dub for his character himself, further helped to make sitting through the dubbed track, not only bearable, but enjoyable.
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