New Police Story

[JohnnyWalker]

Μια ωραία περιπέτεια για τους fun του Τσακι Τσαν.

Περιγραφή

Ο επιθεωρητής Γουινκ είναι ο πιο σεβαστός και ο πιο αφοσιωμένος μέσα στο σώμα της αστυνομίας, ένας θρύλος της εποχής του.Είναι υπευθυνός μιας ομάδς με τους καλύτερους ντετέκτιβς και καμιά υπόθεση δεν είναι τόσο σκληρή που να μην μπορούν να την καταφέρουν.Όλα αυτά μέχρι τη στιγμή που θα κάνει την εμφάνισή της μια συμμόρια από κλέφτες και θα ληστέψει μια τράπεζα.Ο Γουινκ θεωρεί εύκολο την καταδίωξη και τη σύλληψη των ληστών, αλλά το απρόσμενο θα συμβεί.Η ομάδα του Γουινκ θα πέσει σε ενέδρα και όλοι οι άντρες του θα σκοτωθούν.Μπορεί να αντέξει τις ενοχές και τις τύψεις και να κάνει αυτό που ξέρει καλύτερα?Η πραγματική μάχη μόλις ξεκινάει.....

Σκηνοθεσία : Τσάν Μπένι
Πρωταγωνιστές : Τζάκι Τσάν
Χρονολογία : 2004
Δίσκοι : 1
Διάρκεια : 110 λεπτά
Οθόνη : Widescreen 1,78:1
Ήχος : Dolby Digital (5.1)
Στρώσεις : 2
Γλώσσα : Κινέζικα
Ελληνικοί Υπότιτλοι : Ναί

Προσωπικά μου άρεσε η ταινία.Η δράση που έχει με τον Τσάκι να κάνει τα ακροβατικά του είναι ευχάριστη και μαγευτική (ο άνθρωπος παρά την ηλικία του είναι αίλουρος).Η ποιότητα εικόνας είναι άριστη με ελάχιστο (ή μηδενικό θόρυβο) και ο ήχος το μόνο που σε χαλάει είναι τα κινέζικα αλλά και αυτά δεν είναι τόσο ενοχλητικά ύστερα από λίγο.Αξίζει να την δείτε.

 

[JohnnyWalker]

Ένα ξένο review από το www.kungfucinema.com

Premise: Inspector Chan (Jackie Chan) loses his entire team including his future brother-in-law when a raid on cop-killing bank robbers goes bad. Months after the incident, a rookie cop (Nicholas Tse) convinces the despondent inspector to return to the case.

Review: Although related to Jackie Chan's Police Story series in name, in Jackie's presence and in its explosive stunts, New Police Story finds Jackie in a whole new and edgier story that puts him firmly back into familiar territory after five years of slummin' in Hollywood as the token Chinese kung fu and comedy buddy. It's Chan putting his heart and soul into fast fights, wild stunts and an engaging, if plot hole-riddled story with a solid cast and crew to back him up for what turns out to be one of his best movies in recent years.

Ever looking for a new angle, Jackie Chan has been itching to play more dramatic roles in hopes of turning himself into an "actor" in the public's perception and not just an aging action star. New Police Story is a step in that direction with a sophisticated script by Hong Kong action film standards, although a number of missteps keep Jackie from succeeding entirely.

The story begins with Inspector Chan at a cliched social low point, alone and drunk in a dark alleyway. Flash back a year and he's up to more heroic pursuits like saving a hostage from an enraged investor. A short time later, five masked and fearless bank robbers rappel off a skyscraper roof and steal a huge bundle of cash, only to sit and wait for police to arrive. We soon learn that the robbery was only a ruse to draw out the police and shoot them to ribbons with heavy assault rifles. These seemingly-deranged criminals are led by Joe Kwan (Daniel Wu), the emotionally unstable son of a senior police commissioner and abusive father who has left him with a seething hatred for the law. His accomplices are thrill seekers and also the offspring of rich and powerful parents which has left them disaffected and directionless, making them willing conscripts for Joe's nihilistic rampage. They include ex-US Marine Fire (Terence Yin), martial arts expert Tin Tin (Andy On), video game programming ace Max (Hayama Go), and Joe's girlfriend Sue (Coco Chiang). After overwhelming the police with superior firepower, they make their getaway to a hideout and with little more than three hours notice, set up a trap for the arriving Inspector Chan and his team. Chan's team is wiped out with sadistic flair, the criminals turn the debacle into an online computer game, and Chan takes leave and retreats into drunken despair. Enter Frank Cheng (Nicholas Tse), a budding police investigator transferred to the case who drags Chan back as his partner for reasons unknown. From here on, Chan begins to piece his life back together by resuming his relationship with Ho Yee (Charlie Yeung), sister of one of the officers slain, and by tracking down the criminals who are planning another cop-killing heist.

So what makes this Jackie Chan flick any better than the last five or six that he's made? Well, for one thing, it's not a comedy. Although humor has been a calling card for Jackie over the years, it was always best when paired with his outrageous physical stunt work which he understandably has had to reduce due to age and Hollywood safety restrictions. Here, Jackie spends most of the film haunted by the deaths of his men and his fear of facing the woman he loves, but let down by allowing her brother to die. Jackie turns in a convincing performance full of tears and angst. On the opposite side is Daniel Wu who plays a character who is also haunted by memories, but ones of mental and physical abuse by his father. There are a couple of moments in the film where Wu draws out some powerful emotions that really connect. On the side there are other characters with their own pains. One is a former cop hiding a dark secret and another lives with the childhood memory of seeing his father die before him. All of this drama is tightly woven together in a layered story that unravels as the movie progresses to reveal motivations and agendas, both good and ill. In other words, not all is as it seems.

The more important aspect that makes this movie good is the action which is all nicely done and works on different levels. There is the sheer shock of seeing youths shooting up cops with assault rifles like it was a game and then following that up is the chaos and intensity of seeing a police raid turned into a sick game of life and death where Jackie Chan is forced to play along for the sake of his wounded men. Then there is the extreme or urban sports angle that Jackie has often experimented with in his films like the skateboard scene in City Hunter. In this case, we have youths who like to roller blade or BMX bike down the sides of buildings while attached to a safety line to control the speed of their descent. Of course this comes into play when Jackie gives chase to one of the criminals. This scene seamlessly segues into a clear nod to Police Story when Jackie hops onto the roof of a runaway double-decker bus that takes out a lot of shop fronts before crashing into a truckload of rubber ducks.

For combat, Jackie's main opponent is Andy On whose past films include Black Mask 2 and Star Runner. I can't say much for his acting, but he has some great moves. A highlight of the film is when Andy and Jackie have a rematch in a Lego retail store for some gratuitous, yet entertaining product placement. Wires are used at least once, but the fight is mostly the two trading furious blows and, well... Legos. There are a couple other fight scenes including Jackie's first encounter with Andy as he attempts to save his team and a cramped barroom brawl with Jackie and the lanky Nicholas Tse going against thugs. Maybe it's just me, but Nicholas and his thin frame look incapable of convincingly putting any of his opponents down regardless of how flashy his moves are.

In a way, we have a bit of a psychological drama going on amid a more traditional Hong Kong action movie. It's mostly dark, but bits of humor pops up here and there, some of it more welcome than other bits. Charlene Choi, one half of the Twins, is added for levity but is not welcome. Even though she plays a police officer, she's basically the same bubbly, yet whinny character she plays in every movie I've seen her in and here it's plain annoying.

Luckily, the rest of the supporting cast is much better and helps to fill out the movie and give it a life of its own apart from the fight between Jackie and the criminals. Charlie Yeung is Jackie's romantic interest and in film has a strong and regale persona that plays well opposite Jackie who is notorious for shying away from onscreen romance. I really enjoyed the relationship between Jackie's and Nicholas' characters. You don't know what their real connection is till the end, but it's well developed and touching. Nicholas seems miscast early on, but it all makes sense later. One of my favorite actors, Ru Rong-guang has a great mini role as a rival to Jackie's character which adds a little more tension. Then there is Dave Wong Kit, son of Taiwanese kung fu star Wong Hap who didn't leave much of an impression in Legend of the Flying Swordsman, but comes out shining here as Sam Wong, one of the police officers who first responds to the first heist and a friend of Chan with sizable gambling debts. His character is pivotal to the story and he plays it well.

New Police Story definitely has a lot going for it. It's full of tension, great action, and high production values. The musical score is usually what Hong Kong filmmakers seem to pay the least attention to, but in this case Tommy Wai constructs a memorable mix of synthesizers, horns and vocal work that adds more than just background filler. It's unfortunate that director Benny Chan lets some of the melodrama get out of hand, as when Jackie and Charlie share a quiet moment over a bomb. For his part, Jackie tends to overplay his anguish a little. Another problem are plot holes or just plain old stretches of the imagination and there are plenty if you're paying attention, like why only ten carefree police officers would be sent to the hideout of heavily armed and very dangerous killers who had just gunned down fellow officers. But in the end, it doesn't really matter. Like Who Am I? and Gen-X Cops, Benny Chan directs New Police Story as an action movie first and a drama second. As long as that's understood, there's not much to complain about, especially when Jackie Chan is still zipping down flaming ropes or crashing through bus windows.