Jackie Chan’s back on home turf in this Hong Kong cop yarn that, despite the title, isn’t a sequel to the other Police Stories. The main difference is the low premium on laughs, which amplifies the absurdities on show. Exhibit A: our man outrunning a huge explosion while pushing a trolley piled with corpses.
Still, Chan makes a fair fist of all the red-eyed emoting he’s required to do as his guilt-ridden super-plod is coaxed out of drunken shame and joins the hunt for the hateful punks who whacked his colleagues. He may leave the upside-down abseiling to younger partner Nicholas Tse, but he’s still the sprightliest fiftysomething on the planet, getting stuck into set-pieces that involve rooftop chases, runaway buses and the pièce(s) de résistance, a rumble in a Lego showroom. Not a Chan classic, but it beats his recent English-language forays with one hand behind its back.
Verdict:
NO VERDICT
