Although Police Story 2013 (警察故事2013) stars Jackie Chan and shares the same name as the first three 'Police Story' films that got him famous, they're unrelated and very different in tone. Similar to the unrelated New Police Story (新警察故事) released in 2004, this film uses a serious, darker and gritter approach as well.
The story is about a group of people gets kidnapped at a nightclub, all seemingly unrelated, until it is revealed that is not the case and Jackie need to save the victims and his own daughter as well. The first half of the film is slightly boring and uneventful for an action thriller. Some plot events that happens in the film are unnecessary to the story.
Despite Jackie's great performance in the film (especially the emotional ending scene where he's willing to do whatever it takes to save his daughter), the film greatly suffers due to its lackluster plot and lack of memorable strong developed supporting characters.There's aren't enough action sequences in this film and most of them were normally out of focus and hard to really see what is really going on at times, especially the brutal cage match between Jackie and a Thai fighter.
The film also lacks a compelling villain, his motivations for doing the kidnapping are very personal but the film doesn't provide any scenes for the audience to empathize with his loss. A great villain normally have a plan that is well thought-out and precise. They know when should they strike and where it hurts the most. They have a goal and clearly knows the best way to accomplish it. This one doesn't.
Furthermore, the Cantonese-dubbed version I've watched in the cinema ruined the experience as well. I would really prefer that they use the original Mandarin version instead. A disappointing film.
Rating: 6.5/10
