JACKIE CHAN'S FIRST STRIKE
[POLICE STORY 4]
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
Hong Kong, 1995 Release date: 1/10/97 (wide) Running Length: 1:28 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Cartoon violence, brief nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Jackie Chan, Jackson Lou, Chen Chun Wu, Bill Tung Director: Stanley Tong Producer: Barbie Tung Screenplay: Stanley Tong, Nick Tramontane, Greg Mellott, and Elliot Tong Cinematography: Jingle Ma Music: J. Peter Robinson U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema Dubbed into English
Jackie Chan as James Bond??? Take away the superspy guns and gorgeous women, and that's exactly what JACKIE CHAN'S FIRST STRIKE (released internationally as POLICE STORY 4) offers fans. It's all here: cool cars, neat gadgets, and globetrotting adventure (locations include Hong Kong, the Ukraine, and Australia). In fact, given Chan's undeniable gift for mixing physical comedy and nimble, no-holds-barred action, one might reasonably expect FIRST STRIKE to out-Bond Bond, except for one small detail -- this movie lacks even the semblance of a plot.
But the virtual absence of a story isn't the biggest problem. After all, no one could claim that movies like MOONRAKER or A VIEW TO A KILL are pinnacles of narrative complexity. Rather, the chief flaw evident in FIRST STRIKE is that the script spends too much time trying to explain the inexplicable. Since very little makes sense in the first place, why waste nearly an hour dragging down an otherwise-enjoyable film with pointless exposition? The unfortunate result is that significant chunks of FIRST STRIKE end up being extremely boring. Instead of watching Chan twist his body into pretzel-like shapes and kick butt, we're forced to listen to bad guys talk about why they're doing what they're doing.
So what is the story? It has something to do with Jackie, a Hong Kong police officer, getting involved with a CIA mission in the Ukraine. He ends up on the trail of a shady figure who's trying to sell a nuclear missile to the New Russian Mafia. Jackie soon becomes a marked target, especially once he makes contact with Tsui (Jackson Lou), the man with the missile, and his sister, Annie (Chen Chun Wu). Jackie's mission takes him from the frozen wastes of the Ukraine to Australia, where he finds creatures far more deadly than the koalas that inhabit his hotel suite.
As always, the stunts are the centerpiece -- the real reason to sit through so much useless, extraneous material and painful, dubbed dialogue. A brief snowmobile chase is followed by a snowboarding sequence that's accompanied by pseudo-Bond music. Later, there's an amusing fight with a traditional Bond-type "big guy" (Jaws without the teeth) that ends with Chan jumping from ledge to ledge near the top of a high rise hotel. The best sequence is an extended fight that has Chan using everything at his disposal -- chairs, tables, ladders, and even a scaffolding -- to fend off several martial arts opponents. Finally, at the end, there's an underwater battle that not only has Chan outdueling human opponents but a shark as well.
As always, the stunts are precisely choreographed, and the mistakes can be seen in the end-of-the-film outtakes. However, editing during the rest of FIRST STRIKE borders on inept, further muddying an already chaotic storyline. More than once, I found myself wondering what the hell was going on. There's no denying that Chan excels at what he does -- transforming generic fights into brilliantly creative, often funny explosions of comic-book style violence. In fact, he's so much fun to watch that it's almost worth sitting through the banal parts of the movie to enjoy him at work. But, on balance, it may be better to wait for the videotape for this particular excursion. That way, if boredom sets in, the next good scene is only a quick fast-forward ahead.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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