Her Fatal Ways 2

And so our non-standard route around this franchise reaches its conclusion with a look at the first sequel.  Will it be as special as the first film?  Will it have the humour of the third?  Or will it fall a little short as the fourth?

I’m glad to say that “Her Fatal Ways 2” is actually pretty darn good.  Shih-nan starts the film back on the mainland, having been rewarded for her exploits in the previous film by being made something akin to a Chief Constable.  Her nephew still assists her, but the gang is bulked up by a beefy if possible simple Martial Artists, Tiger (Michael Chow – in a very fetching false beard).  The cousin of her love interest from the first film, who also happens to be a Police Officer (Waise Lee) gets involved with a murder, which leads on to another visit to Hong Kong, and drug/gun running and triads!

The set pieces are of a good quality – and interestingly even those which are repeated in the third outing (Karaoke and Airplane Flights) still work well and are amusing enough second time around (well for me anyway!).  The addition of Michael Chow works well, not just in the physical/action scenes, but also as another comedic foil – he works especially well in a couple of scenes he shares with Alfred Cheung.  What makes all these films stand out to me is the way the comic set pieces are never stretched beyond the point they cease to be funny – the joke stops when it is made and the requisite chuckles have been extracted from the audience.

What is less successful is the romantic angle – Waise Lee’s character never really sparks with Do Do, and whilst it does work when he is making her uncomfortable with his physical presence, the charm from the first movie is absent.  Only for a few moments when she is asking after his cousin do you really get that emotional undercurrent which served the finale of the first film so well.

The other interesting thing is how competent Shih-nan has become, along with how much more seriously (for comic effect) the ESP talents of her nephew are.  They really come to the fore in both a casino scene and in the final shoot out.  It actually feels correct that this should be so, and stops the film becoming a constant fish-out-of-water joke fest.

Again the subtitles are pretty poor, and I do wonder how much of the word play I am missing out on.  Many of the conversations make little sense in English, and I am certain I am not getting a lot of the cleverness of Do Do’s lines.

However – it is Highly Recommended – not the sheer class of the original, and maybe not as funny as the third, but certainly well worth a watch.

Her Fatal Ways 4

Welcome back dear readers to what has rather unexpectedly become “Her Fatal Ways” week here at ThingsFallApart.  Still struggling with the subtitling on the second film, I decided to dive straight on in to the 4th film in the series – albeit with lowered expectations.  It seems that an attempt to continue the franchise Do Do-less with “His Fatal Ways” was an unmitigated failure, so the gang have been put back together to see if there is life in the old dog yet.

Sadly, “Her Fatal Ways 4” doesn’t quite hit the mark.  Mostly because it makes little sense on any level.  For some illogical reason Cheng Shih-Nan (Carol ‘Do Do’ Cheng) has relocated to Hong Kong.  This doesn’t really scan with her attitude in previous films (and lets face it, this is no more than a year or two after the third film).  But still it does enable us to enjoy more ‘fish-out-of-water” set pieces for the first half of the movie.  She and her Nephew are struggling to adapt to the culture, and the demand to be conversant in English.  Nepotism eventually gives her a job running a security firm, and she gains a dose of confidence.  She meets an English man in the apartment above hers, and a little romance blossoms.

And then the film really starts to lose consistency.  I am really not that sure what the story behind the second half of the film is.  It seems that she is being set up by the Hong Kong Police in order to gain influence on her Uncle, once 1997 comes along.  Except there are also a bunch of mainland criminals that are also involved in a kidnap attempt on her Cousin (and the General’s daughter, Sandra Ng).  Nothing makes much sense at all – and I am pretty sure it is not because of the awful subtitles (and I know they are awful, as even the English spoken in the film – of which there is a fair bit – is translated pretty miserably).  Somewhere, there is a good idea, but the execution is woeful.

That’s not to say the film is utterly without merit.  Again there are a number of very funny set pieces – always involving Do Do.  But this is like some kind of parallel universe version of the character.  The physical comedy is still top notch, and her way of delivering a withering line is still there, but I can’t shake the feeling that this isn’t  the Shih-Nan I have come to adore.

In fact it is noticeable that for a large chunk of the film, she isn’t even around at all, checking in with some utterly charmless supporting characters.  There is also a lot of failed jokes, mostly around nationality.  Michael Miller is the English love interest – although he seems to spend a long time telling everyone he is Scottish.  But the actor himself – he is actually Australian.  This in a nutshell gives you an idea about what is wrong with the film.

It also actually has a couple of decent action sequences – nothing special, but they do give the movie a lift which at times it badly needed.

Yet, still I liked it.  I could laugh for hours at Do Do’s comedy singing, and her knowing way of mangling language.  She brings a class to proceedings that possibly the film does not deserve.  I’m glad however that I did watch the films out of order, as if I had watched this last it might have soured my memories.

Mildly Recommended.

Her Fatal Ways 3

Well, you can’t deny that the reviewing staff here at ThingsFallApart (i.e. Me) are nothing if not idiosyncratic.  After being seduced by the genius of “Her Fatal Ways”, I decided to check out the other 3 films in the franchise, but not for me the usual route of watching them in sequence.  No, I thought I would start with number 3, and then go back to the second film later (actually, to be brutally honest, it was more to do with the different formats I was able to get the films in, and complexities in converting them to the iPad, but to blame myself rather than the technology seemed far more interesting).

So, what does the “Her Fatal Ways 3” give us?  To be honest, more of the same really - Shih-Nan (Carol 'Do Do' Cheng) and her assistant Hsaio-Sheng (Alfred Cheung – whom I shamefully neglected to mention is also the director of all the films in the franchise) are sent back to Hong Kong (via an accidental foray into Taiwan) to oversee security for a visit by a mainland Chinese official. 

So once again we get a series of vignettes, poking fun at the differences between the Mainland and Hong Kong (with the added opportunity to bring in the Taiwanese situation), in that same even handed way that the first film managed things, except 1997 is a couple of years closer now.

I’ll be a little controversial now.  This is actually joke for joke funnier than the original.  Sure it helps that we are playing with a well defined world here, but some of the scenes are side-splitting, even to an outsider like me.  Want to see the most awful display of Karaoke ever, by two people acting utterly ignorant of just how bad they are?  Want to see Shih-Nan in a bikini – worn over the top of her street clothes?  Maybe you are interested in seeing an early-ish performance by Anthony Wong, replete with Mullet, trying not to laugh out loud at the antics on display?  This film has all that.  And more.  I could go on listing them all – but I don’t think I have seen a better telepathy scene done comically before.

The film does fall prey to occasionally lacking in scene-by-scene logic, sometimes being a set of amusing set-pieces that don’t necessarily follow on.  But I think that may be a feature of Hong Kong cinema in general, so I am going to let it slide.

Sadly the subtitles do lack once again, not just in the translation, but I am sure several of the jokes make much more sense when performed in Chinese – this is always the case with wordplay.

It does lack that nice emotional moment that we got at the end of the original, although it is mentioned in a nice meta-way in the final scene.  I also very much enjoyed the scene where the Chinese Official is petitioned by the political arm of the Hong Kong Police, desperately asking for their current job not to be held against them post 1997.  Once again, the film manages to not demonise the mainlanders (although you could argue that this is weak from the director – I prefer to think of it as an open and honest hope).

Most of all though, this is just confirming that finally I have found something new in Hong Kong cinema – a comedy actress that I find truly funny.  Many more Do Do Cheng films will be consumed by this reviewer.

Highly Recommended.

Capsules – Returner, Lifting King Kong, New Police Story, Her Fatal Ways

Another little set of mini-posts, usual rules apply!

Returner

That most of unusual of things, a successful Asian science fiction movie.  Lovingly inspired by the dystopian time travelling “Terminator” via the more human touch of “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”, “Returner” is the tale of A time-travelling Anne Suzuki coming back to the present to enlist the aid of Takeshi Kaneshiro in avoiding an Alien takeover of earth.  By turns exciting and touching, with some quality SFX that belies the budget, this is a wonderful little movie.  It manages to avoid the complexities and paradoxes by not delving too deep into time travel, spending much more time on the burgeoning friendship between two people that are opposites in so many ways.  Bonus marks as well for never straying into the potential creepy. 

Highly Recommended.

Lifting King Kong

A superior Korean sports film, that on the face of it is about a Coach (and former Olympic Bronze Medallist) who trains a bunch of misfit girls to become weightlifters.  It maybe tackles too many storylines, and is awfully hurried at the end, but is far far better than I expected.

It maintains interest by not only having a small poke at the Korean School system, but also the modern obsession with looks and appearance, whilst not laying on the normal clichés of this kind of story too thickly.  It is very broadly based on a true story, taking some major story points from the life of a real-life Coach, but laying on top a completely fictitious set of events. 

Beom-su Lee puts in a very interesting performance as the coach, moving from disenchanted loner to a caring teacher as the film progresses.

My main criticism is that the film does seem to end awfully abruptly, leaving some of the storylines dangling, but surprisingly Recommended.

New Police Story

A modern update on the Jackie Chan classic covered a couple of weeks ago.  Boy what a difference 20 or so years can make.  We revisit Chan’s character in a more modern time, wracked by grief and alcoholism over the loss of his team by a bunch of nihilistic modern youths led by Daniel Wu.  Glossy and sleek, exciting but rather downbeat.  The fun of the first movie is gone, but the introduction of Nicolas Tse adds some often needed lightness to proceedings.  It will never be timeless, as it is firmly stuck in a mid-1990’s world of online computer games and extreme sports that will look dated in 10 years time. 

Jackie Chan is getting on a bit now, so it lacks a lot of the physical side of his previous work, although there is a brilliant updating of the Bus stunt from the original, and product placement aside, the fight in the Lego bricks is undoubtedly exciting.

Criticisms aside, it is an interesting and exciting update to the series, but only gets Recommended as it has lost a little of the charm which made the original so exciting.

Her Fatal Ways

My first foray into the films of Carol “Do Do” Cheng, and a delicious little number it is too.  She plays a mainland security officer escorting a prisoner to Hong Kong.  Cue lots of Mainland vs. Hong Kong conflict – although interestingly, it is far more balanced than I expected. 

Do do is brilliant, humorous both physically and in her delivery, but also showing some nice little touches (her small seduction by something as simple as a lipstick, and her obvious attraction to “Big” Tony Leung).  She really is a stranger in a strange land, but also searching to find the links between the two societies.  This isn’t a bumbling Inspector Clouseau, sure she makes mistakes, but often her more forthright approach gets results.

Being an early 1990’s Hong Kong film, the subtitles are pretty horrendous, and to be honest I suspect a lot of the wordplay is lost on me, but as usual I think I coped OK.  Occasionally the film is frustrating as it does sometimes try and tell a sexual joke that is maybe a little too “adult".

What I really liked was though that although humorous mileage was made out of the ideological conflict between Mainland China and Western Hong Kong, it never veered into outright hostility.  This is 1991 Hong Kong, which is starting to understand the changes which are going to happen as part of the 1997 handover.  The characters are mirrors onto their own societies on both sides, showing both the good and the bad.

The final sequence is also surprisingly touching, eschewing both the ideology and the comedy for something a little poignant and ultimately human.

Highly Recommended.

On…. Magic Kitchen (Or How I Learned How To Stop Collecting And Love Asian Cinema)

This isn’t going to be a normal review, so a little explanation is in order.  I have been toying for a little while with writing a few articles to supplement the reviews and capsules.  I have a couple in the pipeline, and well, I hope my readership enjoys these more rambling posts.  They will be tagged with “On….”, and I hope they may be a semi-regular occurrence.

As I have mentioned a couple of times before, five or so years ago, I was heavily into buying just about every film I had recommended to me.  It started with J-Horror, but started to spill over into other genres.  Interestingly, there were very few films from Hong Kong, but for some reason I ordered this film.  I had no idea what it was to be honest, but it came in a lovely big Hardback Package, with silly things like fridge magnets and an apron.  But when it arrived, I realised that things had gone too far.  This particular DVD had acted as a catalyst that made me realise my addiction.  It wasn’t the films I was after, it was the ownership.  So the film went unwatched all this time.  The DVD then got lost, found in a garage clear-out, and eventually sat on my bookshelf. 

Two and a half years ago I met my best friend, and she managed to re-spark my interest in Asian Cinema.  Giving me a different focus, and a different context, widening my horizons, and basically inspiring me to write this little blog.  She continues to act in this role to this day, and for anyone that does enjoy my meandering musings, spend a moment to thank her for the inspiration.

I digress.  I reached a point a couple of weeks ago, that I realised I had to get this monkey off my back, and decided to pop in into the DVD player and see what it was that had affected my life so.

“Magic Kitchen” is the story of a talented yet uninspired Chef, and her struggles in love both letting go of the old and embracing the new.  We also follow the romantic-ish journeys of a couple of her friends, all against the background of her entering an Iron-Chef style TV show in Japan.

It’s ok.  This was my first exposure to Sammi Cheng, who apparently was once the queen of Hong Kong cinema (although, yes she was in “Infernal Affairs”),  and she is a charming and funny actress.  The problem is that the whole film comes across as a Sex In The City-lite, populated on the whole by very narcissistic individuals that it is hard to care for.  The highlight for me was recognising so many faces from the Hong Kong films I have seen in the last couple of years – something which would have totally passed me by when I originally bought the film.  It is occasionally amusing, but little more.

And I guess this is where I make my point.  This love of Asian Cinema is now more than a quest to own DVDs, or see the latest Cult blockbuster.  Now I yearn to understand, to connect the dots, to see the bigger picture.  To see this film and suddenly get a smile because I recognised a quite unusual Anthony Wong cameo, or because I thought Sammi Cheng looks like Miriam Yeung - and to then discover that Miriam is called the “new” Sammi, well these are little things that show me how much I have changed.  In a good way.

So whilst “Magic Kitchen” will probably never be watched again by me, and if it gets lost again, I doubt I will even notice, it will always be an important bridging point for me.  Its the Asian film where my recent past links to my present.

And that I think is the point of my blog.  It’s about my interaction with a different world.  It isn’t necessarily about film A being better than film B.  It is about how the film affects me.  That’s why I don’t tend to give films a specific rating.  Sure, a great performance, or brilliant direction will never go unrecognised.  But if one scene can capture a moment, can talk to me in a special way, then that is worthwhile.

No, not worthwhile.  Much more than that.

Bedevilled

Another grim little tale from Asia, this time we are looking at an interesting film form Korea.

“Bedevilled” starts with us spending some time with  Hye-won (Ji Seong-Won), an attractive young woman who works approving loans.  It is quite clear very quickly that she is a cold fish, utterly disconnected from people, lacking basic empathy.  She has witnessed a rape, but her willingness not to be involved stops her identifying the perpetrators.  She fights with a fellow worker over work, and when sent home on “gardening leave” she just sits in her apartment drinking Guinness.  Eventually she decides to visit a childhood haunt, an Island where she spent her holidays.  She reconnects with Bok-nam (Seo Young-Hee), the young playmate she had.  Bok-nam has lived on the island all her life, and has been trying to contact Hye-won for years, and is delighted to see her old friend.  However, it transpires that Bok-nam is having a hard life – abused physically and emotionally by the small community there.  Her husband (Park Jung-Hak) is the worst but not the only culprit.  The abuses continue, eventually ending in tragedy, and then into a revenge-driven bloodbath.

Director Jang Cheol-Su has previously done some Assistant Director work for Kim Ki-duk, and you can certainly see a common eye at play here.  The film is beautiful, even when it is depicting some quite hideous things.  Even down to the film poster, which I think is my favourite for many a year.

The thing I most enjoyed however, is given away when you know the films original Korean title – “The Whole Story of Kim Bok-nam's Murder Case”.  You see, just like Janet Leigh in Psycho, the film starts with a character that isn’t really the main focus of the film.  After 30 minutes Hye-won becomes a supporting character, and the show is turned over to Bok-nam.

Hye-won is however an utterly fascinating character. She may be undeniably beautiful but she has no empathy, she is always an observer, and never acts to help others, no matter how little effort it might take her.  We do see the occasional crack (like when she is apologising by txt to her colleague, only for events to drive her back into her shell again).  We never really understand why she is like that (one flashback may provide a hint).  She is like the audience – voyeurs, unable to directly interact with events unfolding.

The two girls are just so different.  Hye-won is detached and pale – Bok-nam is dark, earthy and a creature of emotion.  She is capable of great love, and desires to be loved by others.  Even when she finally cracks under the strain, she is more human than Hye-won is ever capable of being.

It is hard to categorise.  It is definitely not a Slasher, or even a revenge horror – it is much more of a drama – with a bloody climax. The gore is not as much as some reviewers make out (one beheading and a rather long finger gnawing not-withstanding).  In fact it is not the rampaging acts of violence that are really the horror here, it is the physical and emotional torture Bok-nam goes through that truly shocks you.

However, despite all this, the film lacks something.  There are no characters that you can fully connect with,  Everyone has faults, and so I found it hard to get invested in the unfolding events.  It lacks charm and wit, basically giving us a never ending stream of unpleasant people being horrifically unpleasant with each other.  There are no moments of tension relieving humour, something I think is necessary in such a film.  Only at the very end does any kind of alternative emotion get the chance to be played out – the heart-breaking ending when Hye-won finally opens Bok-nam’s letter.

And for that reason, it doesn’t quite make the list.  It is totally worth seeing, but I think it would be hard for someone to ever want to re-watch the film.  So Recommended certainly, but with that common desire that something really special could have happened here, and it just fell short.

99–Confessions

I really wasn’t expecting to be writing this film at number 99.  I had other plans, because I really know what I want at number 100, but I am not sure I am in a place where I can do that yet.  Hey ho though, I am sure I’ll work something out (like saving it to film 150)

But this is an astonishing film.

“Confessions” tells a compelling, occasionally horrifying story.  We start on the last day of term as Teacher Yuko Moriguchi (Takako Matsu) announces to her unruly class that she is about to resign from being their teacher.  She then progresses to tell the class of her life story, specifically the recent death of her young daughter.  The class slowly starts to listen to the tale unfold, as it becomes clear that she has not only discovered that her daughters death was no tragic accident, but rather the act of two of her students.  Without naming them, she makes their identities clear, leaving them on the bombshell that she has laced their milk with HIV infected blood from her husband.  The film then continues and revisits the story via the confessions of the other protagonists – the two male students she has identified, and a fellow female student.

The film develops themes that have been explored in other recent Japanese films (that I so want to discuss here) such as “Battle Royale” and “Suicide Circle” – themes such as juvenile delinquency, the breakdown of the structured family unit, disconnectedness from society and so on.  This makes it a hard and emotional watch.  This isn’t a film with any counterpoint – there are no characters to smile at, even the over enthusiastic replacement teacher comes across as a pitiful figure.

It is also a film about Mothers, with an interesting lack of any real father figures (one father is portrayed as weak and uninterested, the other actually has his normally deified manner portrayed as a weakness).  We have a mother who is struggling with loss, another who would go to any length to protect her son, and yet another who struggles with her abilities/failings to raise her son.

The opening 30 minutes are stunning (Moriguchi calmly tells the story to an unruly rabble that slowly settle down when they understand what she is telling them, all the while she is going about her normal duties – watch it with the sound down and the subtitles off and you would hardly know the horror of what she is telling them), and I doubted that the film could continue on in this vein, but it succeeds in spades.  Each subsequent confession gets time to be explored, adding layers and explanation to the developing drama.

Director Tetsuya Nakashima has been on this blog before with his wonderfully colourful and inventive “Kamikaze Girls”, which could not be further from this film in tone.  This is a film drained of colour – yet it still contains his hallmarks of interesting shots and imagery, and even more so in the soundtrack – a barrage of brooding and eventually climactic pieces including Radiohead (a band I actually cannot stand, but works so wonderfully well here).  This man is a talent and I will be watching his career with interest.

Every performance is outstanding, not only from Takako Matsu (who really only bookends the film), but from the young cast too.  The sociopath, the loser, the nihilistic young girl are beautifully realised.

“Confessions” was actually presented as Japan’s entry for the Foreign Language Oscar this year, but was not selected in the final shortlist.  The fact it wasn’t is quite shocking, but I suspect the subject matter of infanticide, and more importantly a potential school massacre are taboos that Americans still can’t deal with.

Despite that, for my money, this is one of the best films I have seen in a long time.  If I had that time machine, it would have been that missing Japanese entry in my Top 10 of the year.  And, it is something uniquely Japanese.  And for my UK readers – the film is getting a small release this month – if you get the chance, I urge you to check it out.

The highest of recommendations.

Mini-Posts–Troubleshooter, Deserted House, Grand Prix, Drunken Master II

As usual an attempt to catch up on a few things that may or may not deserve posts on their own. (Note, some of these mini reviews I have cribbed from my own posts over at the Far East Films Forum – but I think plagiarising myself is acceptable).  Also please forgive the lack of IMDB links for the first three films – they just aren’t there yet!

Troubleshooter

Another classy Korean Thriller.  Sol Kyung-Gu is certainly watchable, as are the numerous familiar faces that pepper the screen. The problem is that it all seems awfully familiar, the ex-cop reduced to being a PI, trapped in a conspiracy that he has a limited amount of time to resolve, a cute but annoyingly precocious kid, betrayals, etc. The core idea of the central conspiracy isn't awfully well realised either.  It's better than OK, its just not original enough whether you are comparing it against Western, Asian or even Korean films.

Deserted House

I really liked this film... back in 1999 when it was called "The Blair Witch Project".   Back then it was exciting and fresh, doubled with the first real use of the internet and viral marketing that I can remember. But this Korean version adds little.  Set in a derelict factory, we follow a film crew spend the night with 3 young amateur ghost hunters.

It does have potential, the location is certainly unusual, and the cast are not pretty pop stars. But frankly, it takes an hour to even raise a scare. So there is every chance you will be sound asleep before the action happens. I need a lot more than people telling me about scary events for 55 minutes while being shaken around by the worst cameraman in Korea.

It does get bonus marks for the final 20 minutes which are genuinely exciting, if you can see through the murk and the screams and the heavy breathing.  The thing is it adds nothing new since the BWP started this 11 years ago, and there is nothing vaguely Korean or even Asian about it.  In fact, even when they do sort of suggest a long hair girl ghost (yawn), the person behind the camera shockingly asks "What colour hair?".  In Korea?  Really?

It's ok for what it is, maybe if you have a 1h 20m whole in your schedule, but an awful disappointment for me

Grand Prix

A sports cum romance movie starring IRIS's Kim Tae-hee. It is ok for what it is - a typical Korean romance: girl jockey has accident and kills horse ; gets morbid about it; goes on a trip; meets a guy who is a bit of a twat; despite this they fall in love; she rediscovers her love of horse racing; mixed up with cute little girl who misses her mum and a couple of old people who have borne a grudge for decades even though they love each other.

Now I am not a horse racing aficionado, but I really struggled with this because of the stupid way the subject of horse racing was covered (and yes I know I am a pedant).  I am reminded of the Mitchell and Webb skit where some film writers make a film about Cricket - but obviously know nothing about the sport.   This is awfully like that - This is a world where Jockeys only ride one horse all season. This is a world where the twat-guy is obviously going to be a huge personality in the Horse Racing world (he had broken into the much bigger world of Japanese Horses), yet this girl did not recognise him. I could go on, but I think you get my point.

So despite those annoyances, this isn't bad, just Korean Cinema by the numbers really.

Drunken Master II (aka The Legend of Drunken Master).

Trying again to catch up with the Jackie Chan phenomenon, I watched this one in a slightly different way to normal.  I caught this on one of the Sky HD movie channels.  And for the first time in a very long time – I watched a film dubbed rather than subtitles!

Actually, that experience was not as bad as I expected, as quite a lot of Hong Kong films use dubbing for one reason or another with regards to various Chinese dialects.

The film though is not bad at all – a somewhat different Wong Fei-Hung interpretation than that which I am used to from the “Once Upon A Time In China” series, but I can deal with that.  Basically we have some pretty fun action, some comedy that balances on the hilarious/dire divide, with a little anti-English sentiment spread on the top. 

The highlight for me was actually the fun Anita Mui performance as Chan’s Step-Mother – adding a good counter balance to Chan’s personality.

But as I say, not bad at all, but I would be surprised if anyone considered it essential viewing.  I actually found information about the film far more interesting than the film itself (although it has cleaned up spectacularly in HD) – That Chan did his own English dub (albeit phonetically); about the various international versions; and about how possibly the definitive version just does not exist.

98 Police Story

I get it now.

Although my love affair with Asian Cinema has gone on a lot longer than I probably realise, there always used to be 3 Superstars that I tended to avoid (probably because of their general awful American output).  Jet Li I have already been able to not only forgive, but seriously appreciate and John Woo might have to give me a little more time (but there are films on the to-watch list).

Which leaves us with Jackie Chan. 

I am not sure I can really explain why I have had this odd issue with the man.  He seems personable enough.  He appears incredibly popular.  I even enjoyed a couple of films that he has appeared in, but I never ever say his name on the poster as a reason to watch a film.

I am a fair man though.  I asked best friend a few months ago of for a list of some of Jackie’s better efforts, and a list was supplied.  A gap in the movie schedule opened up, and I thought I would start with one of his widely regarded classics – 1985’s “Police Story”.  This may well have been the perfect choice, because right away – everything clicked.

“Police Story” is one part action mixed with two parts comedy.  Chan plays Kevin Chan, a pretty decent cop who is assigned the job of protecting a key witness (Brigitte Lin) from the machinations of the Crime Organisation she is going to deliver evidence against.  At the same time he has to keep hold of his girlfriend (Maggie Cheung), who understandably is a little confused by another beautiful woman being bought into her world.  The stakes keep getting raised, and eventually Kevin is framed for the murder of a fellow (but corrupt) Officer.  Wacky Hi-jinks ensue!

The film opens and starts with some spectacular action set pieces.  In fact I was pretty blown away by the opening sequence enough to settle down and decide to view the movie objectively.  By any standard, this is top notch stuff, and I don’t need to bore you or myself with the details of how Chan and his stuntmen hurt themselves making it.

But it works.  More surprisingly is what happens next also works for me too.  You see, this isn’t a wall-to-wall action film, but also a comedy.  A funny one.  My opinions on Hong Kong comedy are well documented (I usually just don’t get it), but this one made me smile and laugh.  Silly wordplay and visual tomfoolery all work wonderfully.  One sequence involving Chan manning multiple telephones (one questionable ‘joke’ about rape aside) not only is well done, but it does not outstay its welcome, and moreover, actually has a funny punch line.  Sure it is obvious stuff, but it works.  Another scene actually really does not work in English, but when it is referenced again some 20 minutes later, it becomes hilarious.

Chan is actually quite a complex character.  He isn’t a superman, he actually seems committed but not the sharpest knife in the drawer.  He can also be an utter fool about his girlfriend.  Yet the character does change and grow as the film moves on, culminating in him becoming quite the loose cannon. 

The casting works well here – even though Lin and Cheung play little more than eye-candy to be placed in peril, they have the screen presence that can help carry a film.  Lin actually has far more to do, even getting involved a little in the closing action.  But they both help stop the film being dominated by Chan, which I think is important here – as the other male characters are not compelling enough (although to be fair, the initially annoying Kwok-Hung Lam gets one of the best moments of the film, along with probably the best line).

At the end of the day, this is an excellent film, and has opened my eyes to maybe just what early Jackie Chan’s star-power was about.  He not only starred-in, but directed this film.  It isn’t the flashiest, but the story is easy to follow – not always the case in mid-1980’s Hong King cinema.  I’ll be continuing to explore Mr Chan’s output with a little more expectation now.

Recommended.