New Police Story (2004) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | New Police Story (2004) |
| Director | Benny Chan |
| Screenplay Writer | Alan Yuen, Felix Chong |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay; reboot of Police Story series) |
| Lead Actors | Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Charlie Yeung |
| Cast | Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Charlie Yeung, Daniel Wu, Charlene Choi, Terence Yin, Andy On, Coco Chiang |
| Genre | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller |
| Release Date | September 24, 2004 (Hong Kong) |
| Duration | 2h 3m (123 minutes) |
| Budget | ~HK$130 million (approx.) |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | ~$23 million (approx.) |
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Summary
Jackie Chan’s return to Hong Kong cinema couldn’t come sooner. There’s some kicking and punching and stupid stunts and it’s terrific.
Review
About twenty minutes into this movie I realized why I was enjoying myself so thorougly Jackie Chan was doing what Jackie Chan should be doing. He was rappelling down a building, chasing after a bad guy. After some serious career missteps in the States with Rush Hour 2 and Around The World In 80 Days, he went back to Hong Kong and and his roots by making a quasi-sequel to the popular Police Story films of the 80s and 90s. His character name is about the only holdover from the previous movies, whose final installment was released in the States as the enjoyable, if slight, First Strike.
New Police Story is a fine return to form for Jackie, who may be a half-century old but still has the sensibilities of a 20 year old with ADD. The plot is standard fare for these sorts of things after his squad is killed by a group of video game addicted rich kids who rob banks, Jackie’s an alcoholic wreck with a year’s paid leave to burn off. It’s only after Nicolas Tse informs him that the force needs him back to help stop the same robbers from more crimes that he sobers up and does all the things we want Jackie to do get the girl, kill (or disarm in a spectacular fight scene or five) the baddies, and save some lives.
This isn’t a great film the story makes Oceans Twelve look like Citizen Kane and Ben-Hur had a baby, to start, and outside of Charlene Choi, anyone who isn’t the two leads is a cliche looking for a spot to make itself known. But it still managed to almost singlehandedly make up for the uniform awfulness of his American ouvre through sheer exuberance of the stunts and the charm of the leads. Recommended if you’ve enjoyed any of his previous work and wanted to see if a 50 year old Jackie still has it he does and in spades.
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