Crime Story – Review

In Crime Story, Jackie seems to be out to prove he can do a gritty drama properly. Although the American edition of Crime Story suffers from extensive editing, this was an attempt by Jackie to expand his range and he got the respect as a serious actor because he won the Taipei’s best actor award. The infamous Jackie Chan takes up his usual cop role in this crime thriller and is hired to protect a very wealthy business man. The cops do a great job of surveillance on the wife and do everything they need to do to catch the criminals, but they don’t know that one of their top detectives is one of the kidnappers.

Now, Jackie took this part because Jet Li walked out on it and Jackie happened to walk into the director’s office right after this happened. So, being a pal, he offered himself in Jet’s place. This started the whole Jet Li/Jackie Chan bananza and was the start of great things to come. Many fans complain about the complete absence of comedy in this film. However, my opinion is the change was welcomed. Don’t let the fact that is in not a comedic venture steer you from this gem of a movie; it is a fantastic piece filled with drama and action. We still get to see Jackie’s trademark and inimitable body work in this film. This is not a martial arts flick, although it has that, it is much more, a real detraction from Jacky Chan’s usual funny style. As the movie progresses Jackie runs into all kinds of people out to kill him for what he knows and a secret or two buried right in his own office. The movie is fast paced and full of classic Jackie battles.

The version of this movie that I have is from Dimension. Of course Dimension is the company that dubbed, cut-up, and rescored all of Jackie’s and Jet’s good movies. This movie is not cut very much though. There is a speech after the opening credits is cut out and also a lady giving thanks to Jackie. Other than that this movie is fully intact. The movie is kinda like Jackie Chan’s police story but doesn’t focus on him as the only main character giving the movie a more traditional realistic feel but still keeping all the things that makes Chan’s older movies great. The other thing that makes this movie a little odd is that it’s based on a true story meaning Jackie isn’t as Immortal as he is portrayed in his other movies.  Ultimately, I think that Jackie can act well but I want to see more fights and stunts from him in Crime Story, and I walked away wanting more.

In conclusion, Crime Story is very well written and produced film that shows a diversity in Jackie Chan’s repertoire never seen before. On the flipside of this coin, the relentless violence, bad dubbed voices and lack of comedy are bad, and do not capture the spirit of what a Jackie Chan film should be. So, you’re probably asking yourself how is Crime Story a movie that in some ways works and some ways doesn’t? The reason it works is that it tells a very gritty crime story. Still, there are some very exciting moments, and some good stunts in this one, plus a little more of a plot than you usually get with Chan. While I liked it, it was like a different part of my mind liking it, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. However, I still enjoyed the movie immensely, as it showed a more mature and darker side of Jackie Chan, as well as a more acting side as well. Aside from the movie, the U.S. DVD I viewed is begging for an upgrade but lucky for me, Kirk Wong has a great 29 minute interview where he gives his thoughts on the cuts that Jackie made to the final cut of the movie. Another solid film overall in Chan’s filmography.