Police Story 2 Reviews

This sequel may be a bit thin on plot, but who cares when Jackie Chan is at his daredevil best? Because of the trouble he got into in his previous adventure, Hong Kong police officer Kevin Chan (Jackie Chan) has been demoted to traffic duty. While working, he is visited by his nemesis, Tom Ku (Cho Yuen), out of jail after only a few months. Ku makes veiled but obvious threats against Kevin and his girlfriend, May (Maggie Cheung). After Ku's men begin to harass May and her mother, Kevin starts a public fight with them. When he is reprimanded by his mentor, Bill Wong (Bill Tung), and by-the-books Superintendent Lee (Kwok Hung Lam), he submits his resignation. Overjoyed at his decision, May takes Kevin to a shopping mall to buy tickets for a vacation to Bali. The mall receives a bomb threat, and Kevin takes over from the indecisive officers on the scene, evacuating the area just before the bomb explodes. To May's outrage, Wong and Lee coerce Kevin into investigating the bombing, the first in a series by a group who want $10 million in "protection" money. When Kevin's investigation threatens to put an end to their plans, the terrorists kidnap May. Kevin comes in search of her, and they capture him as well. Torturing him with explosive squibs and threatening to torture May as well, they force Kevin to agree to pick up the ransom money--and attach a timebomb to him just to make sure. Kevin gets the ransom, but on the way back to the warehouse manages to disarm the bomb. He frees May and battles the terrorists in a fight that culminates in the spectacular explosion of the warehouse. If POLICE STORY II is a step below its predecessor, it is because it offers less of a story on which to hang the mayhem (changing bad guys halfway through was a poor idea) and because that mayhem is a bit less spectacular. But in some ways, this is the better film. The pace is much smoother, and if there are fewer moments that make you sit up and go "Wow!," the overall level of action is higher: Chan seems to be in motion from beginning to end. At this stage in his career, Chan had decided to start downplaying his martial arts skills to concentrate on stunts and less personal violence. So it's a bit disappointing that his final fight scene with high-kicking Benny Lai, which evokes similar climactic scenes from WHEELS AND MEALS and DRUNKEN MASTER II, ends with Chan turning his opponent's main weapon--explosive squibs--against him. Still, the film moves at a fairly breathless pace, and remains among Chan's best. That's Chan singing the song under the end credits, which (as do all of his post-1970s films) features outtakes of the stunts that didn't work. Included among them is Maggie Cheung cracking her skull in a stunt from the film's climax. Though she managed to do a retake before being taken to the hospital, she was replaced by an obvious double for the end scenes. (Violence.)