police story lockdown

I’m sure nearly every review of Police Story: Lockdown (2013) will comment on the advancing age of Jackie Chan, who, along with the other old school ‘80s action heroes, seem to be treating fans to one last gasp of authentic, smash mouth cinema before going quietly into the night. While Stallone and Schwarzenegger try to squeeze into their now ill-fitting iconic roles, Jackie rolls with the punches, delivering just enough of his familiar (but still amazing) stunt work balanced in moderation with a more serious, subdued performance. In short, the guy still has the moves…just not as much endurance.

Almost all the Police Story films, starting with the original in 1985, are stand-alone stories, bouncing from serious drama to comedic spy-kitsch. But Lockdown is perhaps the darkest of the bunch, with a Rashomon-style flashback structure used to add some depth what would otherwise be a fairly derivative Die Hard rip-off (we haven’t seen one of those in a while!) with Jackie cast as a mainland Chinese cop trying to rescue a group of hostages – and his estranged daughter - from a maximum security night club.

Officer Zhong (Chan) arrives at the club by invitation of the owner, Wu Jiang (Ye Liu), to attend an anniversary celebration. But the entire event is staged to gather a select group of individuals, Zhong included, who have knowledge about the tragic death of Wu’s sister. Attempting to free the hostages - first by force, then by negotiation - Zhong eventually concludes that meeting Wu’s mysterious demands, which include the release of a prisoner with vital information, is the only way to end the conflict without more violence.

Lockdown, despite its “Die Hard in a nightclub” scenario is an admirably unconventional action movie. While the highlights are definitely Jackie’s three or four fight scenes – the actor hasn’t lost a step when it comes to knocking folks on their ass in creative ways – there’s a surprising amount of cerebral satisfaction in piecing the story together. The film’s first act is intentionally vague on details, but writer / director Sheng Ding (who helmed Jackie’s Little Big Solider) pulls the audience along with increasing skill.

It’s not all a perfect fit. Jackie’s attempt to weather his character with an almost Buddhist approach to violence is the oldest trick in the action hero book and becomes tiresome rather quickly. And some of the CG effects, including blood spatters and such, seem out of place in Chan’s oeuvre. But the acting is solid all around, built on a foundation of punches, kicks and explosions that prove Jackie isn’t quite ready for retirement just yet.

Well Go USA’s Blu-ray delivers an ultra-impressive image. Kudos for putting this one out in the best presentation possible, and adding in some behind the scenes bonus features as extras. An English language track is available along with the original Mandarin Chinese track.