Project S: or, A Forgotten Spin-off
If I do manage to clinch this deal, I will take you to
America. I gave you my word.
After reviewing the Police Story movies last year, I knew
that there was more to the series than the original trilogy, but I simply did
not have enough time to get round and check out other instalments. I can be
safely said that there were 4 movies which followed after Police Story 3: Super Cop. The first of these, in a chronological order, was Project S which
came out only a year after the premiere of part 3. A somewhat underrated and
unremembered film which very well deserves to be counted as part of the series.
Release Info
Directed by: Stanley Tong Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Yu Rongguang, Emil Chau, Athena Chu
Language: Cantonese Original Title: 超級計劃 Runtime: 98 min
Synopsis
Michelle Yeoh reprises her role as Inspector Yang Chien-Hua.
She is a tough and diligent officer who works for the PRC’s law enforcement.
What is more, she is in a relationship with a former Vietnam veteran, David
Chang Fung (Yu Rongguang), who moves to Hong Kong in order to start a better
life. A little while later, Hong Kong is plagued with a series of thefts.
Inspector Yang is called in to assist and she begins the investigation. Is her
love interest involved in the crimes? Will she be able to stop the gang of
robbers and their elaborate bank heist?
Once a Cop
I heard about this movie for the first time in the early
2000s when I read some disapprovingly bitter article about the Police Story
series on some shady site. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to check out the movie
10 years later. The movie is great and the awesome Michelle Yeoh proves to be a worthy
replacement for Jackie Chan as the main lead.
Even though the year 1993 marked the decline of Girls with Guns genre’s popularity, Project S still holds up to the standards of a proper
action flick. One can vividly see that Golden Harvest poured a lot of money
into the film’s budget which was responsibly used by Stanley Tong. The movie
starts right off the bat with a fast-paced credits sequence (Yukari Oshima's
cameo!) and swiftly moves on to other explosive set pieces and nicely choreographed
fights, which are interrupted only by sweet and tender moments between Michelle
and Rongguang. All of that is accompanied by a catchy music score by Richard Lo
(cue: music video in the middle of the movie).
It has to be mentioned that Jackie Chan appears in a brief
cameo role as Inspector Ka-Kui in a drag chasing a jewellery thief (Eric Tsang)
who is dressed up exactly like him. Nevertheless, Jackie’s appearance was quite
exploited by some distributors who shamelessly slapped his face on the front
cover of the movie, even though he shows up for three minutes at best. In
addition to this, Project S suffered from a whole slew of alternative titles:
Once a Cop, Supercop 2, Police Story IV, and (my favourite) Police Story 3 Part
2, Supercop.
Regardless of the marketing, Project S is primarily a
Michelle Yeoh vehicle. This is her last true Girls with Guns movie and it is a
real shame that she was not involved in any more of these little gems from the
1990s. It is a pleasure to see her beating up bad guys in a flash and fire tons
of bullets. Her performance is enhanced by the towering presence of Yu Rongguang
as the villain-ish lover with a code of honour. In the supporting roles we can
also spot Athena Chu and Louis Fan before the days of their fame. Alain
Guernier, who plays a sophisticated mastermind behind the heist, is evidently a
foreigner taken from a street, but he comes off as a convincing criminal in his
one-time performance. Additionally, Bill Tung reprises his role as Uncle Bill
Wong from the previous Police Story films.
Recommendations
All things considered, I recommend this movie to anyone who
is interested in good old Hong Kong action for a Saturday evening. This movie
has everything it needs in order to entertain you: shootouts, car chases,
rooftop jumps, but most importantly, it has Michelle Yeoh who is the sole
reason to check Project S out. I wish that Stanley Tong could keep making more
of these back in the day instead of focusing on the American market.
Overall score: 9/10
