Police Story 2 (1988)

By 1988, Jackie Chan had set a seemingly insurmountable high standard for action filmmaking with the 1985 crime actioner POLICE STORY still setting the benchmark. But if hindsight hadn’t shown how well Jackie and the addition of action goddess Michelle Yeoh could improve on the series with blockbuster third installment SUPERCOP, one might have thought Jackie was turning Hollywood with POLICE STORY 2.

Like some of Jackie’s classic kung fu fights, the film is a rambling, overlong production that is sometimes thrilling but will also likely challenge the action fan’s tolerance for non-action. In making this criticism I am specifically referring to the original 122-minute version previously only released in Hong Kong and now available on DVD in the U.S. from Dragon Dynasty. The previous international cut was 30 minutes shorter because it dropped a lot of the dialogue scenes that I am referring to. While I’m usually a champion of the director’s vision for a movie, I can’t defend the extended non-action scenes in this version. They do show off Jackie’s improved directing ability and are entertaining when the leading stars interact, yet often we’re forced to watch supporting players doing too much mundane police work like tailing suspects or sitting on stakeouts with no immediate payoff. Other problems are related to unnecessary scenes that could have been implied or just dropped altogether. The way I see it, this is Jackie Chan trying a little too hard to make a Hollywood-style action film that balances action with story. However, over the years Jackie has managed to balance his broad taste in comedy, drama and action far better, particularly in HEART OF THE DRAGON and MIRACLES.

This excessively drawn out plotting is all the more disappointing given that the film also contains a healthy measure of what fans do love so dearly about Jackie Chan. At times, the film peaks with jaw-dropping stunts and some of the finest sparring from the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. Jackie’s irreverent sense of humor also shines through in scenes ranging from Maggie Cheung’s emotional tirade in a men’s shower room to a number of comical references to the previous film that build on Jackie’s onscreen relationships with all the returning cast members. Yet these moments are stretched thin from a script that’s burdened by far too much bland cop movie convention that midway through seems to take over the whole production.

The film picks up right where POLICE STORY left off. For trashing a squatter village and a mall, despite having put crime boss Chu (Chur Yuan) behind bars, the hot-headed Ka-kui (Jackie Chan) is busted from detective to uniformed traffic cop. When Chu is released early due to health problems, his crony John Ko (Charlie Cho) begins harassing Chan and his girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung) in what amounts to a pointless sub-plot. The only real benefit is that it provides a running joke involving the colorful antics of Charlie Cho who keeps getting his glasses shattered by Jackie.

After getting in a publicized city park brawl with John and his thugs, Ka-kui quits the force after being chastised by his boss Raymond (Lam Gwok-hung). But when a gang of thugs led by John Cheung blow up a mall and threaten to do worse unless they receive a large sum of cash, Ka-kui is persuaded to cancel a vacation with May in order to return to work and head up a task force to nap the criminals before they strike again. Ka-kui’s relationship with May is not only on the rocks as a result, but her life ends up in danger when the gang kidnaps her to force Ka-kui to be a bomb-strapped cash courier. As the plot finally hits the ride stride towards the end with some DIE HARD motifs, Ka-kui struggles to keep the cash out of the hands of the baddies, keep himself from getting blown up and rescue May.

Returning co-star Maggie Cheung gets a much larger role in this sequel. She had yet to become the superstar we know her as in films like IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and HERO. So she’s still playing Jackie’s goofy girlfriend, even though some attempt is made to further flesh out her character and relationship to Ka-kui. Interestingly, this is the only entry in the series that doesn’t feature a second leading lady to get in between May and Ka-kui since POLICE STORY had Brigitte Lin and SUPERCOP had Michelle Yeoh. It is worth noting for old school wuxia buffs that Lisa Chao Chao, co-star of films like THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967) and THE TRAIL OF THE BROKEN BLADE (1967) has a small role as May’s protective aunt.

In order to top the action in POLICE STORY and the films released in the three years leading up to this sequel that include ARMOUR OF GOD, Jackie ramps up the pyrotechnics and rapid-fire fisticuffs significantly. The film features some of the craziest fire stunts ever seen in a Hong Kong movie. The fact that the villains are hiding out in an abandoned fireworks factory pretty much ensures that audiences are going to be treated to some truly explosive action. Of course, it all has to be woven tightly into the stunt and fight work. The best examples include the use of super-sized Bang Snaps, which when tossed at opponents, explode into a flash of fire that has to be patted out, or as the outtakes show, put out with a fire extinguisher. Another amazing and unique scene has Jackie zipping through a clear plastic chute that explodes and catches fire before he gets to the bottom. To top it all off, the film ends very well with the entire fireworks factory getting blown to pieces.

Jackie and his team of veteran stunt performers deliver several outstanding fight sequences. The first one of note is set in and around a park playground. The team makes excellent use of the monkey bars and other fixed paraphernalia while wielding batons. In later scenes, stunt team member Benny Lai emerges as the star villain, memorable not only for playing a deaf-mute with a taste for explosives strapped to radio-controlled cars, but also for unleashing amazing leg work against Jackie. He has the lightweight build of fellow Hong Kong stuntman Yuen Wah and this undoubtedly adds to his ability to deliver lightning-fast, “No-Shadow” style kicks.

As Hong Kong productions of the ’80s go, POLICE STORY 2 is quite impressive. Extensive use of locations around Hong Kong and extra care in directing lots of extras really help to breathe life into the film. The camera work, editing and sound are all above standard. Jackie reuses the excellent theme song he sang in the original.

If Jackie had just tightened up the script before shooting and trimmed out some of the fat such as the side story with Chu, there would be little to complain about. As is, in its uncut format, POLICE STORY 2 is perhaps the only Jackie Chan movie where I have felt the urge to hit the fast-forward button on more than one occasion during the first viewing. However, the excellent action scenes go a long way in making the movie palatable. As a nice bonus, the film ends with some of the best outtakes of Jackie’s career.