Police Story 2 (1988) [Film Review]

Police Story 2; or, Punch Harder

     Stop crying, okay? Look, the fireworks are beautiful.

Three years after the release of his classic smash hit, Jackie Chan returns with a blast to the role of Inspector Chan Ka-kui in Police Story’s direct sequel, simply known as Police Story 2. Is this movie a worthy follow-up to the first part or just a bland patch-up of rejected pitches? Let’s find out below.

Release Info

Directed by: Jackie Chan Starring: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Bill Tung

Language: Cantonese Original Title: 警察故事续集 Runtime: 101 min

 

Synopsis

The sequel picks up where the original film left off. After the violent apprehension of Chu Tao (Chor Yuen), inspector Ka-kui (Jackie Chan) gets demoted to a traffic cop due to causing too much damage. In the meantime, Chu Tao gets out of jail on the pretense of being terminally ill. Chu’s right-hand man, John Ko (Charlie Cho), begins to harass Chan and May (Maggie Cheung). Crushed by the thug’s persistence, Ka-kui quits from the force, but he is quickly reinstated as bombs start to blow up in shopping malls. Ka-kui’s mission is to hunt down the bombers who extort money from businessmen.

 

Jackie Chan’s Bombastic Strike

Back in 1988, Police Story 2 was only a second sequel which Jackie had made to his own movie (the other being Project A II from 1987), which clearly shows that he wanted to develop his greatest cinematic successes at that time. Perhaps that is why Police Story 2 starts off rather disappointingly and confusingly as it directly recaps the events from the first movie in the opening credits and then leads the viewers to think that the main villains are the very same bad guys from the original Police Story.

 

This confusion lasts for about 25 minutes and it drags the story down in spite of great stunts done by Jackie and his team, but all of a sudden, the plot takes a 180 degree turn and we see Jackie meticulously investigating criminal bombers. It is at this moment where everything picks up and the sequel surpasses the original with its spectacle of pure action.

 

The only disadvantage of this movie is the misleading first act with the return of Chor Yuen and Charlie Cho. I suspect this was due to the fact that Jackie initially wanted to make a really direct sequel story, but then the idea fell through so Edward Tang combined two different scripts into one. Then again, I may be wrong. Jackie’s old classic stuff is known for being created backwards: action set pieces first and then building the plot around them.

 

Apart from that, I think that Police Story 2 excels in many places which the first part failed to grasp. For instance, the complexity of the relationship between Ka-kui and May is fleshed out perfectly. Ka-kui is a cop at heart, but May cannot afford to live in constant danger. The couple finally reconciles while being subjected to sickening tortures by the terrorists. This in turn pumps up the sense of grittiness as Jackie gets geared-up in an armed bomb-jacket. Of course, Jackie’s cartoonish shenanigans (especially in the scenes with Maggie and Hong Kong version of Charlie’s Angels) is still preserved, nonetheless, the viewers can feel that the stakes are real as Ka-kui is on the run to save his life. Not to forget about the awesome final battle at an abandoned factory.

 

Speaking about the performances, Jackie does a much better acting job in this sequel. Maggie Cheung has a bit more of screen time, but she still seems to be slightly underused in the whole trilogy. Lam Gwok-Hung and Bill Tung return as Ka-kui’s superiors. In addition, Wu Ma appears in a cameo as a shopping mall cop, which is a nice treat. Also, John Cheung, Ben Lam, and Benny Lai do splendid work as the imposing villains of the piece.

 

Recommendations

If you liked the original Police Story, the sequel is a safe choice. I did not memorise it well after all these years, but an evening re-watch blew over all of my doubts. Police Story 2 is a better law-enforcement tale and it’s definitely worth checking out on free Saturday. However, make sure to grab a copy with the original Cantonese audio track. Inspector Ka-kui will not let you down.

Overall score: 9/10