Supercop (1996) A movie review by Serdar Yegulalp Copyright 1997 by Serdar Yegulalp
CAPSULE: The best place to start if you're a Jackie Chan newcomer. Roars along, never stops for breath, and frequently hilarious.
To talk about Jackie Chan as a "stuntman" is to miss a million things. Jackie is not only one of the most accomplished and fearsomely unafraid physical adepts on the screen today, but also a very funny guy. He reminds me of the way Arnold Schwartzenegger *used* to make me laugh -- he's funny just standing there, copping a look.
SUPERCOP has Jackie making us laugh, scream, duck, root, and gasp for breath, often all in the same scene. It's actually the third in a loosely related series of movies, each with Jackie playing Kevin Chan, a Hong Kong policeman who has a knack for getting neck-deep into trouble and then karate-kicking his way out of it. (The others are also worth seeing.) It's a little slow to start, but once it gets moving, it's a field day.
The movie has a fairly sophisticated plot for movies of this kind. Kevin is tapped for a dangerous DEA assignment to be accomplished in mainland China, which requires him to collaborate with the attractive (and ass-kicking) chief fo Chinese security (played here by the ever-enjoyable Michelle Yeoh). There's a fun chemistry between the two of them, especially in an early scene where she tries to brief him and he keeps making wondering comments about how great she looks in that uniform.
Kevin is assigned to help spring a known gangster from jail -- all undercover, of course -- and have him lead the two of them to a noted drug boss. The drug boss, however, has problems of his own: his wife's on trial for many of his own crimes, and she's got the key to an account with all of his drug funds. This means, of course, endless trouble -- not the least of which is that Kevin bumps into his girlfriend while he's out in the field, and she sees him with this other woman, and... but that's one of the movie's unique pleasures: the way it crosses from action to comedy effortlessly.
Action. There is, of course, non-stop action in this movie -- everything from one-on-one kung fu to all-out gun battles to a sppedboat with eight engines (!) outrunning the Hong Kong coast guard. There is also a virtuoso climax, which features, among other things, Jackie danging from a ladder tied to a helicopter, a wrong-way freeway chase (which requires Michelle to do an awesomely difficult handstand stunt), a fight on top of a moving train that also involves the 'copter as well as a motorcycle. You get the idea. This is to action movies what a burger with everything on it is to fast food: quick, enjoyable, filling. Watch it with friends. When they stop making movies like this, the world will be a tad greyer.
Three and a half out of four bolo sticks.
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