Jackie Chan’s quest to be more respected as an actor continues and one of his newest attempts is Police Story 2013. Much like the last Police Story film, it has nothing to do with the rest of the series and it tries to have a darker tone than Jackie’s usual comedic style. When I first saw the trailer, I was pretty excited for this movie. I usually enjoy seeing Jackie doing something new and it seemed like Police Story 2013 would be a great movie. It’s also the first time that Ding Sheng and Jackie Chan would work together since Little Big Soldier which is probably my favorite Jackie Chan movie from the past 10 years. Police Story 2013 was a box office success in China, but it’s received mixed reactions from critics and audiences.
This time, Jackie Chan plays a Mainland cop named Zhong Wen who goes to the Wu Bar to see his daughter, Miao Miao (Jing Tian). The owner of Wu Bar and Miao Miao’s boyfriend, Wu Jiang (Liu Ye). The party at the Wu Bar then turns into a hostage situation with Wu Jiang holding the guests captive. It at first seems that Wu Jiang only wants money, but it turns out that the hostages are all tied in with a tragic event that happened long ago.
This time, Jackie Chan plays a Mainland cop named Zhong Wen who goes to the Wu Bar to see his daughter, Miao Miao (Jing Tian). The owner of Wu Bar and Miao Miao’s boyfriend, Wu Jiang (Liu Ye). The party at the Wu Bar then turns into a hostage situation with Wu Jiang holding the guests captive. It at first seems that Wu Jiang only wants money, but it turns out that the hostages are all tied in with a tragic event that happened long ago.
Since the film got such mixed reactions, I didn’t really know what to expect when I was going to go see it. The film had a limited release in the US and I was fortunate enough to catch a screening of it at The Arena Cinema in Los Angeles. I ended up really liking this movie, but I’m not going to pretend like this movie doesn’t have some noticeable problems. First off, the hostages are annoying. These characters are way too calm. Though they’re being held captive by people with guns, they almost act as if this is an everyday occurrence. There’s isn’t a whole lot of tension in this movie because it really seems that the people who are in danger don’t really care. The ending is one of the only scenes where they seem genuinely scared, but having the boring hostages is a huge mood killer.
Despite this film trying to have a darker atmosphere, it feels more light-hearted than it should've been because of the brief comic relief. Occasionally, it works, but most times, it feels totally unnecessary. My biggest problem with this movie is that it isn’t dark enough. The story sometimes feels like another Die Hard-scenario movie, but nothing terribly creative is done and there not much tension or suspense to keep the audience very engrossed.
Despite this film trying to have a darker atmosphere, it feels more light-hearted than it should've been because of the brief comic relief. Occasionally, it works, but most times, it feels totally unnecessary. My biggest problem with this movie is that it isn’t dark enough. The story sometimes feels like another Die Hard-scenario movie, but nothing terribly creative is done and there not much tension or suspense to keep the audience very engrossed.
Another flaw that people have with this movie is that there’s a lot of talking. And there is, but I never really thought of this movie as an action movie. I always saw this movie as a crime-drama. The conversations aren't riveting or anything, but they aren’t boring. There’s a 15-minute long scene at the end where the characters talk about an incident that they were all involved in. Everything is revealed slowly and whenever another character speaks, they might as well be saying “But wait, there’s more!” But I still thought this scene was very interesting. It cuts to flashbacks of the event and shows how the scene could’ve happened alternatively. The final reveal is slow, but I thought it was well-written and it builds up an intriguing finale.
There are some action scenes that are sometimes unnecessary, but I thought that they were exciting and fun. Sure, they could’ve been left out, but I did find them entertaining anyway. It would’ve been better if these flashbacks showed us more about the characters (and sometimes they do), but I still enjoyed them. The action in this movie is great, but Jackie sometimes shows his age, but it's amazing that his 60-year-old-self can still do some of the stuff that he did in this movie. The editing is sometimes jumpy, but I still thought they were cool action scenes.
There are some action scenes that are sometimes unnecessary, but I thought that they were exciting and fun. Sure, they could’ve been left out, but I did find them entertaining anyway. It would’ve been better if these flashbacks showed us more about the characters (and sometimes they do), but I still enjoyed them. The action in this movie is great, but Jackie sometimes shows his age, but it's amazing that his 60-year-old-self can still do some of the stuff that he did in this movie. The editing is sometimes jumpy, but I still thought they were cool action scenes.
Police Story 2013 certainly has its problems, but so did the other films in the series. All of the films in the Police Story series are enjoyable enough that you can sometimes look past their flaws. I thought this movie was no different. Some of the flaws do stand out in this movie (some major flaws), but they didn’t prevent me from having a good time watching this movie. The effort that went into crafting the story is noticed and it succeeds at being a decent crime-drama. It isn’t Police Story 1, it isn’t The Dark Knight, but it’s still a worthy entry in Jackie Chan’s filmography. But still, this movie could've been much better if it abandoned the comedy and instead was a full-on dark thriller. Maybe next time.
Images from HKMDb and Film Smash
Images from HKMDb and Film Smash