Police Story

Starring: Jackie Chan, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung, Yuen Chor, Bill Tung, Ken Tong, Chi-Wing Lau
Directed by Jackie Chan, Chi-Hwa Chen
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Comedy
1985

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A police officer (Jackie Chan) gets involved in a deadly case involving an influential drug lord.

Review:

Tim: Police Story is widely considered a classic Hong Kong action film. Jackie Chan stars and directs a movie that balances a blend of action and comedy. I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it, but I'm not sure I loved it as much as many critics did. It's undoubtedly a success, but it has some drawbacks, too.

The largest appeal of the film involves some jaw-dropping action sequences. There's no doubt Jackie Chan is one of the all-time great action stars. What he puts his body through is brutal, but it gives his films a sense of realism that is missing from many Hollywood movies. In this film, you'll hear people talk about the big scenes. For example, the opening scene, which involves multiple cars driving downhill, through the middle of a shantytown. That scene was indeed incredible, considering it was practically done. It kicks the film off well and it's hard to take your eyes off a screen. The bus scene following is good and gives us a chance to see Chan in action, putting himself at great risk for our entertainment. The climactic scene at the shopping mall is the most famous. It involves an unbelievable amount of destruction. I lost count of how much glass is shattered during that fight scene. The big stunt involves Chan sliding down a pole covered in electric lights. It's stunning and the movie wisely gives us multiple angles to appreciate what Chan did.

While those scenes are stunning and famous, I was more intrigued by some smaller scale ones. There's a scene where Chan fights people in and around two cars. It's not as flashy as the big scenes, but it features remarkable action work by Chan. The highlight for me is when he flips on the roof of one car, runs, jumps and dropkicks a bad guy through the broken windshield on the other car, landing on his back on the hood. It's a small moment in the grand scheme of the film, but it's exceptional and speaks to Chan's brilliance as a physical actor. The one scene is when Chan is in the police station, answering multiple phones. It's a comedic scene and one of the funniest ones. Still, while much safer than nearly all his other stunts, it still features some incredible work by Chan. He's able to be funny while pulling off a few impressive moves. Those scenes stand out to me as great indications that we're watching something special with Chan.

I suppose my biggest complaint about the film is that it feels like a vehicle for Chan, verses a really good movie on its own. You watch the film and you're transfixed by what this human being can do on screen. You think about the multiple takes it took to achieve some of these visual stunts. You think about the danger Chan subjected himself to. You think about his willingness to laugh at himself. You walk away from this movie blown away by Jackie Chan. You just want to continue watching him, regardless of what it's in. Police Story puts all of Chan's strengths on display and we are entertained. But, is this a good movie? I didn't care about the characters. The plot felt thin, oftentimes pushing credulity just to set up another cool sequence. The comedy was sometimes hilarious, but a great deal of the gags fell flat. That gives the movie an uneven quality. A few scenes drag on too long, especially in the middle. The movie doesn't do a good enough job of establishing the characters or getting us invested in the story, so we spend some stretches just waiting for Chan to do something incredible. Those aren't the marks of an especially strong film.

Now, I did enjoy Police Story. I had a blast marveling at Chan and what he was able to do on screen. No one was ever better at that. The movie felt too uneven to me. The action was far better than the comedy. The story and characters were a bit too weak. So, in the end, I liked Police Story but I never loved it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Police Story 2