New
Line Home Video | Review by Dan Taylor
I hate assholes, regardless
of race, creed or color. But, when a trio
of moviegoers plopped down next to me at
a nearly deserted, final showing of SUPER
COP (the third installment in Jackie Chan's
POLICE STORY series), I thought nothing
of it. Hell, I was jacked to the nines on
European ButterNut Creme coffee, I'd just
listened to Lawrence Block read from his
latest Matt Scudder novel (The Devil
Knows You're Dead), my Swiss burger
and fries were warming my bellybelly, and
my index finger was itching to turn the
pages of Carlito's Way.
However, it's awfully hard to
enjoy the simple things in life when pseudo-brains
are yammering in your ear about boning up
on Cantonese and Mandarin dialects, or backstabbing
absent members of the Oriental Languages
101 course. And, if the head yahoo referred
to SUPER COP and it's predecessors as "mind
candy" one more time, I was afraid
I'd have to kick some ass!
Luckily, the crowd hushed
once the lights dimmed and poor Jackie again
found himself knee-deep in kung-fu craziness.
This time 'round, our hero is undercover
in an attempt to crack a huge drug cartel
and take its leader out of circulation.
As anticipated, the unique blend of slapstick,
screwball comedy and extreme violence that
marks the series was delivered by the truckload.
In Chan's best flicks -- like
the still-eye-popping POLICE STORY -- the
plot is simply a flowchart to get us to
the insane, breathtaking stuntwork that
has become the man's trademark. There are
double-crosses, gaping plot holes and plenty
of humor that gets lost in the translation.
But, what still blows me away is the star's
unwavering willingness to put his body through
sheer hell to get the shot! Chan brazenly fights
atop a moving train, tosses his body around
like a dime store rag doll and hangs from
a speeding helicopter -- sans the camera
tricks employed during a similar scene in
DARKMAN. And it's all for the sake of your
entertainment $$$!
SUPER COP: POLICE STORY
3 is pure, unadulterated entertainment.
Yes, as the anal retentive moviegoer next to me remarked,
it is "mind candy." And
I sincerely hope he gets a cranial cavity.
