Police Story

Poor Jackie Chan. He works so hard to gain our love and approval, our applause and accolades. He risks life and limb, doing stunts that make normal men faint at the mere thought of doing it themselves - breaking bones and doing insane comedic stunts all to make us laugh in awe and wonder. And yet he consistently gets laughed at, his movies get panned by “serious” film critics, and people always smirk and/or grimace when you suggest renting one of his movies.

But to be honest, I can see where they’re coming from. If you get the right Jackie Chan movie, like Drunken Master 2 or Supercop, it’s a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours. Jackie is like a human slinky, getting in and out of predicaments without breaking a sweat, taking on dozens of opponents with no more that his fancy footwork and a few handy props. But if you get the wrong Jackie Chan movie, even diehard fans will be wincing before it’s halfway over. Police Force is somewhere between the two extremes. It contains some of Jackie’s most insane stunts and martial artistry. But it also contains plenty of cheese and schlock.

Jackie plays a police officer named Kevin Chan. Assigned to capture a drug dealer named Ku, he starts the movie off with a bang - a downhill carchase through a housing development. In the process, he captures Ku’s secretary, Selena (Brigitte Lin). The twist comes when he is assigned to protect Selena before she is called to witness in Ku’s trial. Of course, Ku can’t have that so he sends his thugs to dispatch Lin. On top of that, Kevin must deal with his girlfriend, May (Maggie Cheung), who is not to pleased at the idea of Kevin watching over Selena. Of course, Jackie hams it up for the camera, getting into embarrassing situations and generally making a fool of himself in the process.

However, the movie’s final third takes a darker twist when Kevin is accused of killing a fellow officer. Wanted by both the police and Ku’s men, the movie escalates until the final confrontation in a shopping mall. Now, let me just say this: if you’re watching Police Story and start to get a little frustrated, just be patient because you shall be rewarded. The fight in the shopping mall gets extremely vicious. Jackie’s comedic persona disappears and it becomes an all-out brawl, complete with Jackie’s trademark stuntwork.

There are several scenes that just make me wince. Watching Jackie fall over balcony, crash through a wooden lattice, and hit the concrete floor (I even think he bounces) is painful to watch. But to watch him get up and shrug it off… I tip my hat to the man. This is Jackie at his finest, doing things that ordinary people like you and me would never dream of doing. Just be patient, my friend. Police Force can be painful to watch at times, especially if you’re not used to Jackie’s humor. But just be patient, because Jackie makes it all worthwhile in the end. And noone, not even his biggest detractors, can contest that.

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• Jan 25, 2004, 12:00am