#235: Police Story 2

Release Date: August 20th, 1988

Format: Criterion Collection on Blu-ray

Written by: Jackie Chan, Masahiro Kakefuda, and Edward Tang

Directed by: Jackie Chan

3.5 Stars

Police Story 2 doesn’t live up to the propulsive, dynamite energy of its predecessor, but is it really fair to expect as much? Jackie instead takes the sequel down a milder path, with more comedic bits and a deeper cast of supporting characters (milder only in comparison to the original, of course; part 2 is still a bonanza of crazy Hong Kong stuntwork and pyrotechnics, and has one of the most bizarre final bosses that I’ve ever seen). 

Man, I love the theme song to the Police Story series, and when laid of the top of the visuals of ‘80s Hong Kong city streets, popular fashion, and automobiles, it just makes you want to go back in time so you can become a cool Chinese cop that knows kung fu and can jump out of buildings without getting hurt. 

So sure, Police Story 2 isn’t quite the impeccable action classic that the original is, but when the ending credits started to roll and that theme song kicked in, did I immediately pretend to kung fu fight with my cat while singing along in fake Cantonese?

Who’s to say?