Jackie Chan in flight is such a joy to behold (especially during the end credits showing bloopers and the injuries from the mind-blowing stunts), as this particular series (five films so far and a spin off from the third feature) along with "Project A" and its sequel would come down as probably his most recognizable home-grown efforts to western audiences. I love Chan's early work, and the Police Story features (which did come across as epic crime joints) are some of his best latter stuff. As for "Police Story Part 2", it continues on from the excellent original to simply match the quality and go on to be a little larger in scale and excitingly explosive
literally.
The Hong Kong police force doesn't like individual heroes and that's what they see Ka Kui as. His effective, but it always comes at a cost which they are not willing to take. So for he extreme acts Kui is demoted to a traffic cop. However after some threats on his life and his girlfriend which causes more of a stir, he decides to quit for his well-being and that of his girlfriend. But it doesn't last long when he's conned back onto the force to help combat against a string of bomb threats involving a gang holding ransom a big corporation.
Jackie Chan flexibly directs astonishingly dangerous stunts-galore and inventively rapid, if elaborate martial arts choreography in what is an old-hat, but very busy and comic book pulp cops and robbers chase formula. It's customary investigation work, by trying to predict the next move and virtually racing against the clock to stop the bad guys
which has two lots for Chan to take on. The tough action is instinctive, uncanny and lethal making it amazing to watch (with an upbeat music tempo underlining it) and boy their's a destructive mess after nearly every ordeal. This goes for the electrifying and impulsive climatic showdown. Like most of these outings it doesn't forget the humour, which is quite broad and silly, but these comic elements can be fun and actually it's rather toned down than usual. It's more-so serious involving the pressure and dangers of the job with a multi-facet performance by Chan as there's an unhealthy obsession (boldly dogged, but self-centred) making his character truly blind of what really should be important to him. However I found to get in the way was the love interest angle (the factor of police work getting in the way of love), which was important for certain story developments and to squeeze out suspenseful situations, but still those awkward moments do slow down its momentum. The performances are immensely colourful (Maggie Cheung, Bill Tung, Kwok-Hung Lam, Charlie Cho and Benny Lai) and Jackie Chan under a heavy work load shows the stamina and agility with that glowing charisma, which makes him a favourite.
