SUPERCOP
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Jackie Chan, Michelle Khan, Maggie Cheung, Ken Tsang, Yuen Wah, Bill Tung. Screenplay: Edward Tang, Fibe Ma, Lee Wai Yee. Director: Stanley Tong. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
Imagine a country where few people had ever seen an Arnold Schwarzenegger film (it's hypothetical, work with me here). Imagine that ERASER was the first of his films to get a wide release there, and that it became a moderate success. If you have the rights to COMMANDO, TRUE LIES, the TERMINATOR films and all the rest, think of what a gold mine you would suddenly find yourself sitting on. That is Miramax's good fortune after RUMBLE IN THE BRONX finally became Hong Kong action legend Jackie Chan's American breakthrough, and RUMBLE was supposed to be one of Chan's weaker efforts. SUPERCOP has the same high-flying action as RUMBLE, a much stronger story, a bit less of a sense of absurd fun, and presents the distraction of terrible dubbing.
In SUPERCOP, Jackie Chan plays Kevin Chan, a Hong Kong police detective selected for a dangerous undercover assignment. Working in conjunction with the Chinese government, and their Chief of Security Yang (Michelle Khan), Kevin infiltrates a drug ring by helping one of its leaders, Panther (Yuen Wah) to escape from prison. With Yang posing as his sister, Kevin is brought into the cartel's inner circle, including its ruthless leader Chaibat (Ken Tsang). The only potential problem: Kevin's girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung), who is unaware of his assignment, and inadvertently threatens to blow his cover.
SUPERCOP is actually the third film in the popular POLICE STORY series, but that is almost as relevant to the story as it was when Steven Seagal did UNDER SIEGE 2. Jackie Chan, for the most part, is about a persona, not a character. His goofy grins and self-deprecating manner make him a uniquely likeable action hero, and his ability to get out of impossible situations often seems as much a product of resourcefulness as sheer physical ability. As amazing as some of his fight sequences can be, he is just as appealing in scenes like the one in which he is taken by Panther to the home town of his undercover identity, and forced to improvise with the assistance of several "family members" he has never seen before.
Chan's sense of humor is such an asset that it is unfortunate SUPERCOP doesn't integrate it into the story very smoothly. In many ways, SUPERCOP is a straightforward formula action film of the kind we tend to see a lot of in America, with evil drug lords, can-you-top-this stunts and a minimum of distracting characterization. When director Stanley Tong decides it's time for comic relief, he tends to stop SUPERCOP in its tracks for funny business like the aforementioned visit to the phony home town, or for a squabble between Kevin and may which results in the ever-popular shove into a swimming pool. RUMBLE IN THE BRONX may have been silly, but it was silly start to finish, and Chan's fight sequences were part of the humor. SUPERCOP feels more divided, half Jackie Chan the action hero and half Jackie Chan the clown.
To give SUPERCOP its due, there are some significant ways in which it is more than a typical American action film, and nowhere is that more evident than in the presence of Michelle Khan (Michelle Yeoh to her Hong Kong fans). Capable female action stars are a non-entity in Hollywood, but Khan packs a wallop both literally and in her screen presence. Yang never seems to be just a foil or a sidekick for Kevin; she is a partner, and saves his skin as often as he saves hers. She also gets two of SUPERCOP's best stunts -- a leap onto a moving truck, and a motorcycle jump onto a train -- providing just some of the thrilling action moments typical of Chan's films. It is also a lean and mean 85 minutes; American action directors could take a lesson in efficient editing.
Action has always translated well on an international level, which makes it all the more annoying when making a film like SUPERCOP acceptable to American viewers requires dubbing which seems to have been recorded in a tin outhouse (although a theme song by Devo is almost as baffling). If Miramax is serious about making Chan's films an American staple, they should consider investing in some decent sound mixing. Solid efforts like SUPERCOP will continue to build Jackie Chan's audience; now it's time to bring on the big guns. Anyone for POLICE STORY 1, 2 or 4?
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 Chan's encounters: 7.
-- Scott Renshaw Stanford University http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~srenshaw
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