Xin jing cha gu shi (2004)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Benny Chan

Writer:

Alan Yuen (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 September 2004 (Thailand)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

Inspector Wing of the Hong Kong Police Force has become the victim of a gang, led by the evil Joe. When his entire team is killed...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Drunk | Marriage Proposal | Robbery | Cop Impersonation

Awards:

7 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Jackie Chan	...	Senior Insp. Chan Kwok-Wing
Nicholas Tse	...	Zheng Xiaofeng
Mak Bau	...	Negotiator
Tak-bun Wong	...	Robber
Winnie Leung	...	Female hostage
Eric Kwok	...	Male hostage
Deep Ng	...	Rocky, Wing's team member
Kenneth Low	...	Kwong, Wing's team member
Tony Ho	...	Chui, Wing's team member
Timmy Hung	...	Tin Ming - Wing's team member (as Hung Tin Ming)
Tin Chiu Hung	...	Chiu - Wing's team member (as Hung Tin Chiu)
Carl Ng	...	Carl, Wing's team member
Andrew Lin	...	Hoi, Wing's team member
Samuel Pang	...	Sam, Wing's team member
Philip Ng	...	Phillip, Wing's team member

Also Known As:

New Police Story (Hong Kong: English title)
San ging chaat goo si (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

Cantonese | English | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | USA:R | Malaysia:U | UK:15 | Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Philippines:PG-13 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

China Film Group

Trivia:

Jackie Chan himself filmed an explosion scene. When the fiery police car came sliding dangerously close, the crew jumped out of the way and tried to pull Jackie out of harm's way. But Jackie yelled, "No! Don't run!" and continued filming what turned out to be a spectacular piece of action.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first time we see Wing take out his cellphone in a bar, he was holding a Nokia 7610. Next, when he calls his girlfriend's number outside her apartment, he is holding a Nokia 6600. Soon after, we see him holding his Nokia 7610 again. Just as he enters his girlfriend's apartment, he is using the Nokia 6600 again. From then on, he just uses the 7610.

Movie Connections:

References Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

Soundtrack:

September Storm

Wing wants to forget his past. I want to forget this movie.

In New Police Story, Jackie Chan plays Police Inspector Wing, a cop who witnessed the tragic murders of his entire police squad by a cop-hating gang of punks, one year ago. Now a perpetually miserable drunk, he is persuaded to return to reinforce justice and avenge the deaths of the people on his team.

I read feedback regarding this movie in which people called it things like "the cheesiest movie I've ever seen" and "bad". Ignoring these reviews, I chose to give the movie a shot because I've liked practically everything I've seen from Jackie…even the Tuxedo(parts of it only and just for him). I figured these comments were exaggerations. Well, barely ten minutes into the movie I noticed they might not be such gross exaggerations after all.

New Police Story has an okay plot, really, but the important factors that help to make an action movie great like acting, screenplay, chemistry, stunts, and creativity were all lacking(a lot). Unlike many of Jackie Chan's movies which expertly blend comedy into action and drama, New Police Story takes itself WAY too seriously in coming off as an intense crime drama and I laughed on the inside(and cringed on the outside) whenever I witnessed elongated 'dramatic' scenes. Not to mention the horrible, painfully bad script. I have no idea how people in this movie could say some of these lines with such conviction; I know if it had been me, I would have groaned internally. As an example, Jackie's partner has a recurring line where he yells "you are the MAN!" to Jackie at random awkward moments and it's just so lame. Nicholas Tse who plays him is not much of an actor and whenever he tries to be funny in the movie, he fails miserably.

I also quickly became bored of the movie after the first hour (the movie is two hours long). The plot itself gets really redundant and it just felt too long for me. This movie is also the first of Jackie's in which I see him overacting…one particular (long) scene made one part of me laugh while the other part wanted to crumple up and die. Don't' even get me started on the horrifically bad actors playing the gang (who wear cheesy masks). Most importantly, the fight scenes are boring and unimpressive. It's like no one even tried to make the movie innovative in any way at all!

I can't say I'm surprised with the lack of enthusiasm Jackie seems to have for this movie either, judging by the behind the scenes footage on the DVD. I also wouldn't recommend buying the DVD because the extras mostly suck and I didn't care to watch the making of the movie. I watched the English dubbing session with Jackie which showed him dubbing scenes of the movie in English. It was kind of funny and entertaining. The gag reel at the end of the movie is also the worst I've seen from his movies, but it's not much of a surprise. I'm a big fan of Jackie's but I would suggest that unless you are prepared for a bad, boring, and barely watchable movie, you should skip this.

Here's to hoping Jackie rises above his disappointing career slump.