NEW POLICE STORY (2004)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Super 35)
Sound format: Dolby Digital

A disgraced cop (Jackie Chan) is encouraged by a younger colleague (Nicholas Tse) to pursue the Internet-obsessed thugs who murdered an entire police squad.

Dark-hearted addition to the "Police Story" series (a 'sequel' in name only) which signals its defiance of old traditions from the very first scene, in which Chan stumbles into an alleyway and pukes copiously before collapsing in a drunken stupor. Director Benny Chan (A MOMENT OF ROMANCE) energizes Alan Yuen's fast-paced script in no uncertain terms, and is reunited with several cast members from his recent blockbuster GEN-X COPS (1999), including Daniel Wu (ENTER THE PHOENIX) as the thuggish gang leader rebelling against a lifetime of abuse at the hands of his policeman stepfather, and teen idol Tse (genuinely charming as the young cop who - literally - picks Chan out of the gutter and restores his self-respect). Charlie Yeung has the thankless role of Chan's much younger love interest, and gorgeous Andy On (so memorable in the otherwise routine BLACK MASK II) kicks butt as a member of Wu's criminal fraternity who defeats Chan in open combat.

The film's tone is much rougher than anything Chan has done recently, established by a harrowing sequence in which he's forced to play a series of 'games' with Wu and his cohorts in order to save the lives of his devastated squad members, and his subsequent remorse is played with great sensitivity by Chan, who becomes overwhelmed by guilt and depression (hence his drunken despair in the opening scene). Action set-pieces are fast and stylized, and there's a memorable climactic showdown on top of the Hong Kong Convention Center, spoiled only by blatant - and intrusive - product placement. Otherwise, this is top-notch entertainment all the way, conceived and executed with genuine cinematic flair.