Police Story 2: Codinome Radical

"Police Story 2" is a movie that mostly shows Jackie Chan's serious side. His performance is relatively mature and restrained, and he allows his character to be portrayed as not only brave, smart and determined, but flawed and selfish as well (his scene with Maggie Cheung after the fight in the playground is a key point). There is less slapstick and more plot than usual for a Chan movie; less emphasis on comedy and more on action. The action sequences are superb, and that deaf-mute guy with the incredible martial-arts skills is one of the most memorable villains Jackie ever had to face (literally: I had seen the film only once before in 1997 and I still remembered him clearly). (**1/2)

The first half hour or so of "Police Story II" is easily it's best and it seems as if the sequel to the original action masterpiece is going to be almost as good. Unfortunately once Jackie goes undercover it starts to drag, and the film struggles to recover.

It's still enjoyable stuff though, but it's so hard to live up to the original, particularly when you're making it in such a similar way, "Supercop" made the right move by making it much different to it's predecessors. It's great to see Maggie Cheung with a larger role though. I refuse to acknowledge "First Strike" as part of the Police Story series; it doesn't even have Maggie! By the way, never ever watch dubbed/P&S Jackie movies (e.g. video store copies). God-awful!

After reading many reviews and most of the comments on IMDb.com I must say that some people don't have a clue what they are talking about. I mean if you give a review of a Jackie Chan movie you don't have to talk about the plot (even if it is a good one). Because most of the Jackie Chan movies are not about a plot, there is no message from Jackie for you to think about. At least this concerns the films he made before he was indoctrinated by motherland China. He is about the action, martial arts and dangerous stunts. The bigger the better. In short mind blowing spectacle. He tries to show you different skills and stunts in each movie he makes and he has been managing to do this for a very long time. Naturally old age has caught up with him. Although it has to be said that old Jackie can do more than any average person on this planet. So despite what you think of his political views he does deserve some credit. It is a real joy to watch him in action and furthermore he wants you to be entertained. So if you are giving a review of a Jackie Chan movie than talk about the action. Especially since this is where Police Story really shines at. This film contains the most memorable fighting scenes made by Jackie in his entire career. And that is saying something. In my opinion it is even better than Police Story 1 since it doesn't allow itself to be distracted by infantile comedy as much as in the first. But don't worry if you love the good old slapstick comedic bits. There are still plenty around. Even after so many years the action is amazing. It holds up like it has been made yesterday. It is far superior to his work in Hollywood (Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon)! I have been a fan of Jackie Chan fan since I can say Jackie Chan and I can be very critical about his work (especially his American movies). But Police Story 2 is an action movie that deserves praise simply because it his one of his best, a real classic!

Police Story 1 was a masterpiece, Police Story 2 is good, its that simple. Its just not as good as the original, but how many sequels are?

The plot is simple, Mr.Ku is out for revenge and a series of bombs have been set off in Hong Kong, so its up to Jackie and his regulars to investigate. May played by Maggie Cheung is once again the damsel, who's in distress by the way.

The fights and stunts are up to form. The fight scene in the park is just magnificent. About a dozen henchman grasping various metal objects are after Jackie, who uses everything from climbing frames to see-saws to fend them all off.

What the film lacks is interesting dialogue, conversations are just boring and the Chinese jokes are untransaltable into English. Jackies character is depressed and all uptight, not as fun as in the original, but the guy did go through hell in the first movie, so I guess its understandable. The pace of film is also too erratic, one minute its a rollercoaster, the next minute its like watching a melodrama.

Anyway, the action is still top notch and this film paved the way for Police Story 3 SuperCop, which gained recognition in the U.S with a theatrical release.

NEW POLICE STORY II packs a violent confrontation between Jackie and an evil bunch . This stirring story about the cop named Chan Ka Kui of the Hong Kong precinct is well played by Jackie Chan. Chan Ka-Kui or Kevin Chan(aka Jackie) is a Hong-Kong cop, who scores his first big hit by virtually single-handedly apprehending and arresting a big drug- lord in ¨Police story I ¨ . In spite his success at capturing delinquents , Kevin Chan's unorthodox approach to his work as a police officer sees him removed to the traffic branch . While the crime boss recently out from prison is harassing Kevin and his sweetheart . He then plans to take a journey to Bali with his girlfriend named May (Maggie Cheung) , but while he's at a travel agency in a shopping mall, some police agents see him and report that the mall is under a bomb threat . Unable to resist the urge to get involved in officers work, Ka Kui orders the policemen to sound the fire alarm and have the mall cleared, and agrees to take responsibility for the decision . After that , the police staff (Supt. Li played by Kwok Lam) is contemplating reinstating Kevin to help them catch a group of bombers trying to extort from building owners . Then Chan looks for vengeance against the ominous villains at a cat and mouse game.

This exciting movie is packed with intrigue, thrills , unstopped action , suspense , overwhelming stunt-work and lots of violence but with humor . Jackie Chan is top notch as one army man fighting a group of heinous criminals and as always he makes his own stunts like is showed on the final fake-shots . Awesome , incredible stunts and brief comic touches , as usual ; the picture is better constructed than Chan's predecessors films . The lighting-paced storyline slows down at times , but frantic action sequences make up for it . Spotlights movie include a stirring car pursuit , Jackie jumping over a bus ,impressive and interminable fights with Chan dangling and downing , a mall blow-up and a breathtaking final explosion and other extraordinary action sequences in James Bond style . This is a phenomenal action movie distinguished by nicely cinematography of the spectacular sequences , and contains agreeable sense of humor such as previous entries . In this outing Jackie teams up again to prestigious actress and fine action star in their own right , like Maggie Cheung . This is a passable action movie distinguished by ferocious sequences , and packs silly sense of humor as well as Jackie's subsequent entries . Furthermore , moving and thrilling original musical score fitting to action by J Peter Robinson . The picture achieved success in USA and around the world . However , Jackie Chan's failed at Box-office in his American debut ,¨Battle creek brawl¨ . Chan is a hard-working actor and director throughout his long and varied career .He went on playing ¨Cannoball¨ , ¨The protector¨ and "Rumble in the Bronx", until getting all American success with ¨Shangai Knights¨ , ¨The tuxedo¨ , ¨Around the world in 8days¨ and ¨Rush hour¨ trilogy , and of the course the recent ¨Karate kid¨. Of course , his big hits were ¨The Police story¨ series that won the Golden Horse Award, a Chinese version of the Oscar , the first was titled ¨Police story(1985)¨ directed by the same Chan , it was a perfect action film for enthusiastic of the genre ; the following was ¨Police story 2(1988)¨also pretty violent and with abundant humor touches. It's followed by ¨Supercop¨ or ¨Police story 3¨ and finally, ¨Police story IV : Crime story. The picture is lavishly produced by the great Asian producers Raymond Chow and Golden Harvest production and compellingly directed by Jackie Chan . Rating : Acceptable and passable , the picture has its sensational moments here and there , but also pretty violent and with abundant humor touches mostly provided by its agile star , the super Jackie . It's a perfect action film for enthusiast of the genre .