I have always been a fan of Jackie Chan's older movies. From Fearless Hyena to Project A Jackie Chan had captivated me with his amazing stunts and great stories. His American movies are hit and miss to me, more misses than hits. Shanghai Noon, The Tuxedo, Shanghai Knights, The Medallion and Around the world in 80 days all have a special place in my heart right next to the health films in high school featuring diseased genitalia. In my opinion the original police story is the best movie Jackie has stared in. This Is why I was so thrilled to hear that Jackie would be making New Police Story and it would be a Hong Kong production. (Even though it has no connection story-wise to the original)
Here is a rundown of the movie. Inspector Wing (Chan) is one of Hong Kong's top cops, very confident and capable. So when a highly organized gang of bank robbers challenges the police to catch them, Wing and his specialized team go right after them. What Wing and his team don't know is that the gang's hideout is setup to be a big game of cat and mouse. When all of the team is captured except Wing they decide to challenge his abilities and wager with his men's lives. Wing is confident, but this is a game that he can't win. Flash forward some months later; Wing spends his days drinking himself away. He believes it was his overconfidence that killed his team, so do his fellow officers. He wants nothing to do with the police force. Then a young officer named Frank literally picks Wing up out of the gutter and convinces him that the only way he can redeem himself in the eyes of his fallen men is to join him and catch the robbers.
This is the best movie Jackie Chan Has made since 1988.
I'm going to let that marinate for a minute. It completely blows away any movie he has recently done, including both Rush Hour movies. All of the Fight sequences and stunts were excellent and then some. The acting was impressive; this film has Jackie at his most dramatic. The other actors were great too, even cute little Charlene Choi from Twins Effect. My only beef is that the humor that had been a staple of Police story 1 & 2 has been toned down much in this chapter of the series. Otherwise, New Police Story is a great story with action and emotion.
It is great to see the Jackie Chan we all know and love.
4½ out of 5. The Best from the best.
