A rich industrialist is kidnapped. It's the second time, and the police of Hong Kong know that even if his wife pays the ransom, she won't necessarily get her husband back. Inspector Jackie Chan is assigned to the case, and partnered with Detective Kent Cheng, a veteran of kidnapping cases. Their attempts to recover the man will take them to Taipei and back to Hong Kong, and uncover corruption.
It's a dead serious movie, even with all the firefights and massive explosions, not the sort of mixed serious/light-hearted movies that Jackie Chan is so well known in for this period. That's because it was originally to star Jet Li, but when the Triads killed his manager, Li decided this was not a good time to make a movie about organized crime. As a result, the set pieces, the gun battles, the fights, are serious and deadly-looking affairs, even when you can see how they could have been slanted for comedy. Chan demonstrates that he is quite capable of adapting to this sort of movie; as I have remarked in other reviews, it's easier to do drama than comedy.
A couple of subplots have obviously been trimmed to concentrate on the serious story. What remains is quite compelling on its own terms.
It's a dead serious movie, even with all the firefights and massive explosions, not the sort of mixed serious/light-hearted movies that Jackie Chan is so well known in for this period. That's because it was originally to star Jet Li, but when the Triads killed his manager, Li decided this was not a good time to make a movie about organized crime. As a result, the set pieces, the gun battles, the fights, are serious and deadly-looking affairs, even when you can see how they could have been slanted for comedy. Chan demonstrates that he is quite capable of adapting to this sort of movie; as I have remarked in other reviews, it's easier to do drama than comedy.
A couple of subplots have obviously been trimmed to concentrate on the serious story. What remains is quite compelling on its own terms.