deanrowan585

We're all here for Van Damme, including myself. So how disappointing would it be if I told you Van Damme isn't really in this movie? He has a scene right at the beginning and doesn't show up again until 1 hour 18 minutes into the film (yes I time stamped it). Although Van Damme plays the main bad guy, he has no build up throughout the entire movie, which makes his screen presence as the main villain somewhat underwhelming. I think we can all agree we prefer to see Van Damme as the protagonist kicking terrorists and Bolo Yeung in the face. So is it worth the watch? WELL, despite my criticism with the build up, Van Damme actually displays some of his classic martial arts skills and of course we're all about that. But let's forget about JCVD for a second. The fighting and training montages throughout the movie hold up as both exciting and extremely entertaining. The film flows exceptionally well for a 90+ minute run time and the pacing is tolerable, despite the terrible acting and dialogue I.e "No Retreat, No Surrender" which I'm pretty sure if there's a cringe-o-meter out there, that line would max that thing out for sure. Anyway, the unintentional (or intentional) bad acting is pretty funny and adds to the overall charm and comedy value throughout the film. There's also a super cringy sub-plot where our main guy trains with the spirit of Bruce Lee (either that or he's been on the hallucinogenics). This part of the movie doesn't really make any sense as the main characters combat sport of choice is karate and Bruce Lee was known mainly for Kong Fu, but whatever. The film also has a pretty upbeat and satisfying 80's soundtrack which makes the viewing a little more bearable and makes up for some of the other points in the movie which the director failed on. Anyway overall a fun 80's coming of age flick about a boy who just wants to be like Bruce Lee. Oh by the way, the poster is incredibly misleading as the main character doesn't even face off against Van Damme as it suggests. Instead he watches Van Damme beat up a few black belts and runs in at the last 5 minutes to have a little scrap with him. There's nothing personal between them really because the film failed to give our main character a real reason for fighting in the first place (you know, like every other normal fighting movie). Pfft, if you're a fan of JCVD, check it out, if not, go back to bed.

Considered by many to be the apex movie of his career, Jackie Chan starts his Police Story franchise with this incredible action packed feature; not failing to deliver in terms of stunt work and fight sequences, this film showcases Jackie's ability to make sure eyes are always on the screen.

Playing the role of a risk taking Hong Kong cop, Jackie must take down a drug lord and his gang and bring them to justice; he's assigned to protect a witness formerly involved with the gang and make sure she doesn't escape or fall victim to any hitmen trying to remove her from the situation so she doesn't spill the beans and get their leader sent to prison. There's many comical moments in the film including a scene where Jackie answers multiple ringing phones at the same time, having multiple conversations and attempting to multitask to the best of his ability. The action sequences are incredible and reminds us just how fearless Jackie Chan really is; there's an incredible scene at the beginning of the movie where Jackie hangs off the side of a bus while fighting some guys in the bus, then stop the bus in it's tracks causing three bad guys to smash through the front windows and forward flip on the concrete. They were originally intended to land on the car in front, however due to the bus stopping prematurely, they ended up injuring themselves on the hard floor. There's also a great scene in the mall at the end where Jackie laughs in deaths face and slides down a metal pole covered in electrical lighting, all the while being electrocuted and falling through several sheets of glass. He truly has no fear. The only part of the movie which seemed to last longer than it should have is the court scene, although essential to the films premise and wasn't short of a few laughs here and there.

Overall, a great start to the franchise!