Jing cha gu shi 2013

I have watched many of Jackie Chan's films in the past. I am a fan of how he combines his awesome martial arts skills and stunt work with precise comedic timing. We see a different Jackie Chan in "Police Story 2013", he gets darkly serious here.

Sad to say, I have not seen any of the five other Police Story films of Chan before. Not even the first one, which Jackie himself considers his best in terms of the action. This Police Story is not really related to the other films, so it does not really matter if you have seen the others or not.

The film opens with a shocking scene of Jackie Chan actually pulling the trigger of a pistol to his temple. From there we will get pulled into a tale of Captain Zhong Wen, a man torn between his dedication to his duty as a policeman and his duty as a father.

Zhong's rebellious daughter May introduces him to her boyfriend, Wu Jiang, who runs a very popular avant-garde bar. What was supposed to have been a family meeting turned out to be an elaborately-planned violent hostage-taking drama borne out of a tragic incident that happened five years ago.

Jackie Chan is much older now, but his action skills are not diminished. He gets to fight with a champion mixed martial arts fighter in one very long and brutal one-on-one fight scene. Awesome fight scene. His dramatic acting skills are wrung out here as well because of the dilemmas and tough decisions his character had to face. There was no hint of comedy in this Jackie here. We only see the old Jackie Chan smile and laugh in the outtakes over the final credits.

His daughter May was played by pretty young actress Tian Jing, whom I just saw in "Special ID" just last week. Too bad she did not figure in a fight scene in this film. But she was much better here in terms of her acting because of her character's arc. Tian actually looked a lot like Filipina actress Kim Chiu in this film.

The villain is played by award-winning Chinese actor Liu Ye. He plays his disturbed and vengeful character with much depth, with so many intense confrontation scenes with Jackie.

The direction by Sheng Ding was a little sloppy, with a lot of off-focus shots left in the final print. The story-telling and the script were quite neat in terms of the details, considering this tale went back and forth from previous events interjecting into present scenes. There were some welcome moments of comedy but they were not from Jackie.

Overall, this is a very good action film held together by an excellent dramatic story, with just the right amount of comedy to keep things interesting. Jackie Chan is really still at the top of his game, even at this age (he turns 60 in April this year). He should not be retiring soon. We still expect a lot from this talented man.

Because of his dedication to duty and the demands of his job "Senior Inspector Zhong Wen" (Jackie Chan) has essentially neglected his wife and daughter for years. As a result, when his wife is seriously injured in a car accident he arrives at the hospital much too late and this causes his grief-stricken daughter "Miao" (Tian Jing) to want nothing more to do with him. However, sometime later things seem to change when Miao calls him and sets up a meeting at a night club. Unfortunately, when he gets there he is knocked unconscious and is taken hostage along with his daughter and several other people. It soon transpires that the kidnappers want more than just money and Senior Inspector Zhong Wen is the key to their plans. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this is yet another movie which focuses on the serious side of Jackie Chan. And while he certainly performs well enough I believe that this trend has somewhat diminished the overall entertainment value of his films. It's just not the same without the humor that normally accompanies the martial arts and action. Likewise, the technique used to tell the story resulted in a slow pace which didn't help either. In any case, this wasn't necessarily a bad film by any means but it clearly wasn't up to the typical standards of a Jackie Chan movie and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

We had seen Jackie doing incredible stunts in his career and it is time for him to move on doing something different. While the movie opening was quite loose and uninteresting, as the story slowly unfolds, it captured my heart and emotions. I must admit that Jackie actually act better than many action stars. I personally think that he has quite successfully transform himself to an actor not merely good at action but convincing in his role as well. This is not the usual good-and-bad-guy movie, and fighting scene is really minimal. There are many moments in this movie that clearly demonstrates a bravery of man and heroic act without expressing though action scenes with huge budget and CGI. It is so natural that fighting is really unnecessary in this movie. I am happy that Jackie has found a new way to blend his action talent with drama, only if the script is good, and this is a better one than Shinjuku Incident.

As a long time JC fan and movie buff, I found the fast paced editing too distracting. Why the editor decided to hack even dialog sequences into constantly shifting angles and tiny bits is beyond my knowledge of film making. The director and photography certainly covered ALL the bases, but editing tried too hard to evoke or imply action where it was not needed, or, at other times, cover for poorly directed choreography. I do understand JC is not a spring chicken and that plays a role in edits. Still...could be handled more concisely without jumping edits. Seemed as if the editor was a character at times. Hmmmm.

The story was fairly solid, production values were very high. Acting was spotty at times due to seemingly weak characterizations in the script. The premise had merit, though the finale was not entirely consistent to such.

Again, it was the frenetic editing and confusing camera direction that distracted from the core elements of the story/narrative and knocked two stars off the review. At the same time, two stars added for seeing JC in a serious role and incorporating family values regarding a single father trying to amend his relationship was great. There is, as always, tremendous talent there. As to those that criticize JC for this effort, I'd suggest they be more gracious toward a man that is evolving on personal levels, and one who strives to entertain at all costs. Go Jackie!!

It must be said that the anticipation for a Jackie Chan film has changed over the years. Chan himself had announced in last year's Chinese Zodiac 12 to be his last film with major action in it. We cannot go in expecting to be wowed by death-defying stunts or exhilarating fight choreography anymore. Instead of fights, he has chosen to switch into the dramatic.

Police Story 2013 is not a continuation of the original Police Story series, the title is in name only. Chan's character Zhong Wen is not Chan Ka-Kui, Jackie Chan's Supercop character from the original Police Story series. Zhong Wen is not hotheaded, not prone to solving conflicts with violence or even a great hand-to-hand fighter. The only similarity both characters share is their whole-hearted belief of the law and their obligation to do the right thing. Otherwise, Zhong Wen is a dramatic character exploring themes of old age and dealing with the consequences of being a poor father, and therefore it is a role that the older Jackie Chan naturally fits into. In comparison to Chan's dramatic turns in The Karate Kid remake and The Shinjuku Incident, this performance is the most honest.

The fights, which are not choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, are shot close and choppily edited. And sadly, there are not that many of them. For Jackie Chan fans that are hungry to watch a good fight or a stunt will be disappointed. Originally there were not going to be any fights in the film.

Director Ding Sheng, who previously worked with Chan on Little Big Soldier, constructs some tense moments and keeps the audience guessing with red herrings. Liu Ye plays the villain in true scenery chewing fashion, the cat-and-mouse game between Liu and Chan is the price of admission. Jing Tian, having been played the most annoying female police officer in Donnie Yen's Special ID earlier this year, fares much better in a more fleshed-out role. I'm curious to see what part she will play in the upcoming Chow Yun Fat-Wong Jing God of Gamblers rehash From Vegas to Macau.

As for the hostage situation itself, the bickering hostages are very annoying and it begs to question how they would be able to yak on the way they do without risking execution. The final reveal in the mystery plot is pedestrian, as one would expect a more epic conflict. Immense effort has been made to shift things to a ground level and while it succeeds at creating a gritty realism, it works against the film in terms of payoff. With a back catalogue full of dangerous stunts and action scenes, who could imagine a Jackie Chan movie made so humbly and low- volume?

Police Story 2013 ultimately is an incidental addition to the Jackie Chan canon and does not hold a close candle to the original Police Story series -though much better than the awful New Police Story-, but I did not expect it to be either. It was entertaining for its running time, but I won't watch it again. The 3D is a shameless cash grab as minimal design has been put in and it is counter-productively dulling down its colorful cinematography. Overall the average Jackie Chan fan might be happier to see it as a rental. Nothing here is worth being angry or disappointed over.

You might be thinking, why am I being so forgiving? Why am I giving Police Story 2013 a pass? The answer: I am not ready to live in a world without Jackie Chan movies in it.

For more reviews, please visit my film blog @ http://hkauteur.wordpress.com