CRIME STORY
A film review by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1997 Chuck Dowling
Crime Story (1993) ***1/2 out of ***** - Cast: Jackie Chan. Directed by: Kirk Wong. Running Time: 103 minutes.
Being released officially for the first time in the US, "Crime Story" won't disappoint most fans of Jackie Chan... mainly those of us who first gained knowledge of him when "Rumble in the Bronx" was released to theaters in 1995.
"Crime Story" isn't as light in its tone as "Rumble in the Bronx" was, but that's not much of a distraction. The plot involves a wealthy real estate developer being kidnapped by corrupt police officials, and Detective Jackie Chan hunts them down. Chan's character's name actually is Jackie Chan in this one, although I wonder if that was also the character's name in the film's initial release.
Now fans probably can care less about the plot, as I do, because it's usually just an excuse to fill time between the action sequences. But the plot is compelling enough, and easy to follow. And the action sequences and stuntwork are, as always, incredible. There isn't as much hand-to-hand fighting as in other Chan films, but there are plenty of excellently staged shoot-outs and car chases.
There are a couple of drawbacks. The guy who's been taken hostage is just as crooked in his own way as the men who kidnapped him, so who really cares if he gets rescued? Also, the main villain is this big fat guy, so you pretty much know there's not going to be a fantasic fight sequence between these two at the end. Also, I wish Dimension/Miramax Films could spend just a tiny bit of money and get some actors to dub the voices convincingly. Sometimes, ridiculous dubbing works for the film when it's a comedy, like Chan's "My Lucky Stars". But when the tone of the film is meant to be serious, as "Crime Story" is, some effort should be made to make the dubbed voices seem appropriate.
"Crime Story" has nothing tremendously special, but it is still better than most American action movies these days. I only wish Chan's films could be re-released a little quicker here in the US. [R]
-- Chuck Dowling Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Over 1,600 movies rated and/or reviewed! Movie news, film related links, and reader's reviews.
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