Police Story 3

This film convinced me that the movies are just as stylized an art form as the ballet, the opera, or the play. They all have a series of conventions and  standards that we derisively call "cliches" but are actually vital to making the film a film, rather than a transcription of a book or a painting. You could certainly trash this film, calling its every element corny, and you'd be right, but that doesn't mean it's not fun. You can't be cynical forever.

Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh make the movie worth watching. They star in a plot we've all seen a million times: the couple infiltrating the criminals, seeking to bring their despicable kingpins down. Of course, Mae (Maggie Cheung) is threatened, Yeoh and Chan argue a lot, numerous explosions and fistfights occur, and there are numerous conflicts between their true loyalties and their cover. But no matter how hackneyed, how terrible the zoom in as the officer says, "We need a super cop," they make it compulsively watchable.

They bring a theatrical comedy to the screen. The film relies on a colorful string of stereotypes (HK vs. Mainland), allusions (several clear Buster Keaton homages and nods to the coming turnover to China), and old-fashioned overacting (Jackie Chan meeting his fake family, the romantic fight between Yeoh and Cheung) to propel through its story, otherwise defined as "all the filler between the fighting."

Speaking of which, they can fight. When the story gets in the way it can be painful, and you can see the seduction of fire start to take over the choreography (most of the central fight scene consists of explosions.) But make no mistake - they aren't overwhelmed by the effects. They are the effects. This was made in some of the last good days for Jackie Chan, when he hadn't mellowed out and wasn't too old and was with a group of people he knew were good.

Now if this was made anywhere else, this movie would have been quickly panned and dismissed within minutes. All the ingredients are there: an overworked storyline, a third installment, a lot of action interrupted by stereotypes and overacting, and nonstop explosions to fit the third act. But because it was made with some of the best people in the business, it's quite a ride. Jackie, Michelle, and Maggie have just enough charisma to make it through the plot, however tired it is. We *know* it is derivative, yet can't help but smile.

Normally any film that consisted of nonstop action for the last 20 minutes would be terrible. Not here. In fact, those are the strongest parts of the entire picture. It consists of an insane chase across Kuala Lumpur that involves several trucks, several cars, a helicopter, a motorcycle, a ladder, and a moving train. They are really doing it, and update the classic fight on a train with a helicopter crashed on the roof, approaching barriers, guns drawn, and everyone's lives (quite literally) at stake.

What more can I say? It's all gloriously up there, on that screen.

Note: The film features some gut-wrenching outtakes that  make it clear just how much danger everybody was in. If for no other reason, I recommend seeing this movie just for those credits.