Series Review: Police Story

The only thing I don't really like about this movie is probably the first 15 minutes. The cops trying to catch the guy in the squatters houses was really badly set up. Fortunately after that we're treated to a back-and-forth between awesome Jackie Chan action and awesome Jackie Chan comedy for the rest of the movie spare a bit of boring cop shit.

The theory behind this one was clearly "less comedy, more cop shit" because the humor of the first film is almost completely missing. Besides 2 good fight scenes there isn't much here. Even the final action sequence is a let down, though no less impressive.

Staying more akin to Police Story 2 we're treated once again to a humorless, muddled, cop film. Pretty much everything I said about Police Story 2 stands for this except the action is even more underwhelming.

Police Story 4: First Strike is actually a bit of a step up from Supercop. The action scenes are a bit better (including a great scene with a ladder) and some of the humor is back. Like all the sequels, too much screen time is devoted to the convoluted storyline but the big problem is that once again, the final action sequence is underwhelming. Underwater fight scenes are terrible. Just saying.

This modern reboot of the Police Story series takes a more dramatic and personal angle than previous entries and is better for it. The story focusing on Inspector Chan instead of muddling everything with internal affairs helps keep a constant flow so the film is pretty consistent in terms of entertainment. There's certainly more action in this one than previous sequels but none of it is particularly fresh. Actually having decent plot and character development is definitely what keeps it above the other sequels but New Police Story is still living in the shadow of the original.

SERIES BEST TO WORST:
1. Police Story
2. New Police Story
3. Police Story 2
4. Police Story 4: First Strike
5. Police Story 3: Supercop

OVERALL RATING: 3/5