Written by Linda
March 15, 2009
"In the script there's only one word at the end: Fight."
This is the first time I've seen a montage at the beginning of a movie. I was a little confused... was this a trailer? A preview? Has the movie started yet? Wait... this IS the movie! Imagine if every sequel bothered showing the "greatest hits" of scenes from the previous film right at the beginning. That would sure save us a lot of time having to re-watch films in a serious just to figure out what was going on!
The opening montage of Police Story 2 shows Jackie Chan doing a variety of stunts, like sliding down a 3-story chandelier and getting into multiple ass-kicking fights with presumed bad guys. To save the trouble of people like me trying to interpret these scenes, the first new scene in Police Story 2 shows Jackie sitting through a debriefing by his superior police officers. Yada yada yada... this all went wrong in the first movie, they say, so we are demoting you temporarily to being a traffic cop to keep you out of trouble. Jackie's girlfriend Maggie Cheung is quite pleased with this new arrangement... it is, after all, a whole lot less dangerous. In fact, they can finally go on vacation together for the first time in years! But sooner can you say, "The bad guys are back... and, in fact, there is a whole new gang of different bad guys!" Jackie is sucked back in to the police force doing what he does best: kicking some serious butt.
This is one of those films where it is not really worth delving too deeply into the plot, as plot is really not what it's all about. This is one of those popcorn movies where you say, "Remember that fight scene in the playground? That was awesome! Remember how that shopping mall blew up, but Jackie cleared everyone out in time? That was cool. Remember the climax fight in a five-story fireworks warehouse? That was REALLY awesome!" In typical Jackie Chan style, Police Story 2 is also infused with lots of humor (including even a fart joke or two!) as well as impressively choreographed action scenes that still rank high above what much of Hollywood continues to produce. The closing credits, as usual, remind of of how dangerous the stunts are, as you see Jackie getting repeatedly hurt, and Maggie Cheung famously getting her own bleeding scalp attended to after her own accident while performing in one action sequence.
The Special Collector's Edition DVD contains many extra treats, including a fun "Location Guide" with Hong Kong film "expert" Bey Logan (who is clearly excited to revisit the filming locations almost 20 years later in a much-changed Hong Kong), feature commentary from Logan and American director Brett Ratner, the Hong Kong theatrical trailer, alternative outtakes, and more. But the real gem on the DVD is a half-hour or so piece called "Stunts Unlimited: The Legendary Police Story 2 Stunt Team". A whole slew of stunt men from Jackie Chan's original stunt team, tell anecdotes from the shooting of Police Story 2 and about being part of Jackie Chan's celebrated team. They tell of competition (and one-upmanship) with Sammo Hung's stunt guys, and reflect with quotes like, "Well, I was in a lot of pain..." and "At that time our reputation was more important than our safety..." Their stories are crazy, as they tell of the crew's inexperience with fire scenes (for the famed explosions of the police station and the warehouse), as well as the constant danger from the stunts. One comment said it all about these celebrated Jackie Chan films: "In the script there's only one word at the end: Fight." The stuntmen's stories are jaw-dropping, and make you want to immediately rewatch Police Story 2 again.
