Police Story 2 (1988)

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Police Story 2 (1988) – J. Chan

Almost anything would be a let-down after the exciting thrills of Jackie Chan’s Police Story (1985) but I have to admit that Police Story 2 is pretty lacklustre.  But never fear, because Police Story 3: Supercop (1992) would soon redeem the series with even more breathtaking stunts than before.  It is worth noting that Jackie was also making the Project A and Armour of God/Operation Condor series at the same time.  So, the fact that Police Story 2 contains proportionally less exciting stunts than other films from the same time doesn’t really reduce the Jackie Chan awesomeness quotient.  And if you only know Jackie from later efforts such as Rush Hour or beyond, then you are really missing out.  After starting in Bruce Lee’s shadow as an extra, Jackie worked his way up to the top of the Hong Kong industry, starting with gems like Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master (more or less straight kung fu) and then hitting his stride in the 1980s and early 1990s with the different series mentioned above that made him a true action star focused not just on fighting but on daring stunts which he always always performed himself (and put the accidents and mistakes into the end credits reel).  Here in Police Story 2, he is again taunted by evil bad guys Mr. Chu and John Ko, variously supported or fired by Uncle Bill and Raymond (his superiors on the force), and in danger of being dumped by lovely May (played by a young Maggie Cheung).  Of course, in the end, Jackie triumphs over all the obstacles – but he does get pretty beat up in the process.  The big stunt is a fireworks factory getting blown up!