New Police Story (San Ging Chaat Goo Si) (15)

Dir: Benny Chan, 2006, Hong Kong, 124mins
Cast: Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Mak Bau

Having made a decent go of it in Hollywood with Shanghai Noon (2000) and the Rush Hour series of films, Jackie Chan returns to his Hong Kong roots and the long-running Police Story series. Marking a turn away from the frothy thrills of previous instalments, New Police Story starts in far darker territory, with Chan haunted by the deaths of his men at the hands of some thrill-seeking bank robbers. Estranged from the police force and his girlfriend, Chan only snaps back into action when a young rookie Frank Cheng (Tse) enters the scene and helps him rediscover his purpose.

So far so formulaic, but as is so often the case with Hong Kong cinema the kinetics more than make up for the clichés. Director Benny Chan keeps the adrenaline levels high as Chan crashes his way through one set piece to another. Even at the age of 52, Jackie Chan is still the master of the big stunt and knowing that there isn’t any green screen or CGI at work only makes matters more exhilarating. While he does defer some of the stunt work to younger members of the cast, Chan’s age does bring about some fresh elements to the story, as a generational battle develops between the honest old cop and a bunch of bored rich kids who use crime as a recreational supplement to their video gaming and extreme sports.

Games form a central motif of the film, be it the bloody high scores kept by the gang as they remorselessly gun down policemen or the gambling addiction of bent copper Sam (Samuel Pang). Explicit questions are asked about the effects of videogame violence, with the desensitised youths notching up kills as Chan is left to deal with the human consequences of their play. Several key scenes take their inspiration from video games, with the gang’s hideout being the most obvious example of blurring the lines between real and virtual violence. It’s a warren-like maze of traps and pitfalls, all controlled by a geek at a PC who remorselessly clicks buttons to dispatch his on-screen enemies. Later, the sight of Chan driving a double-decker bus through the city centre brings to mind the gleeful property destruction of Grand Theft Auto (1998) and the film climaxes in a Mario-gone-mad brawl amidst the brightly coloured blocks of an in-store Legoland.

But while the bodies pile up there’s never any danger of the audience becoming as desensitised as the murderous gamers. Yes, the action is used to entertain the audience, but the consequences of violence are never glossed over or ignored. While the gunfights and explosions are undoubtedly the main attractions of New Police Story, it’s the genuine relationships between the characters that endure long after the final shot is fired.

More film reviews by Tom Alexander:
I SAW BEN BARKA GET KILLED
TENACIOUS D: THE PICK OF DESTINY

DVD Reviews:
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Tom Alexander