Inspector Chan (Jackie Chan) is given the task of protecting wealthy property developer Wong Yat-Fei (Law Kar-Ying) when a gang threatens to kidnap him. Unfortunately, the kidnapping succeeds and Chan is left to rescue the magnate with only his partner Hung (Kent Cheng) as support. However, Hung is not all he appears to be, and Chan suspects that his loyalties are somewhat divided…

This is a film purporting to be a true story. It’s a true story only in the way that, say, Brian De Palma’s the Untouchables is a true story – i.e. pretty much the whole thing except the central premise is made up. Even the name of the victim has been quite understandably changed.

This is also a Category III film. I’m not exactly sure of the criteria needed to make a film attain a Cat III rating, but I always assumed it meant that you had to make sure your film made as little sense as possible with plot holes you could drive an articulated lorry through. Words like “Naked”, “Sex”, “Rape” and “Murder” in the title helps as well.

However, Director Kirk Wong’s Crime Story makes sense for the most part, and he must have been rubbing his hands with glee when Jackie agreed to take part after Jet Li declined. Chan gives a strong performance in one of his rare humourless roles, which also sees the usual Jackie Chan style action taking a back seat. Ever since Jackie’s accident in 1986’s ARMOUR OF GOD, he had been trying to branch out into less action-orientated projects to prolong his career (not to mention his life!). However, as was the case with the superb MR CANTON AND LADY ROSE, the general public was not ready to see an action-less Jackie, and this film under-performed at the box office.

The story of the kidnapping works well for the most part, although is fairly implausible at times (the gang resuscitating Wong’s wife with a car jump-start kit for starters!). In some prints, there are captions running alongside the subtitles when a police officer is injured or killed letting you know their name and what happened to them. I don’t know the case well enough to comment on if these events actually occurred, but if they did it seems a little insensitive.

SPOILER
It should also be pointed out that the ending of this film puts a somewhat romantic spin on the end of the real life tale. In the film, Wong Yat-Fei is rescued and given a new identity, never to be seen again. In actual fact, although the case remains unsolved, it is more likely that the man upon whom Wong Yat-Fei is based was killed by his kidnappers.
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Of course this is not one of Chan’s best films, but it certainly entertains and is surprisingly still better than the rather sterile NEW POLICE STORY, which this film is often compared against.