Jackie Chan is Serious!

I lived in Chicago’s Chinatown while going to film school. Being car-less, anti-Blockbuster, and essentially lazy, I began to frequent my local video stores. My early encounters at these Mom-and-Pop dives were akin to my first few Christmases – wide-eyed wonder at all of the colorful boxes; the contents of which were unknown until I took them home. I was amazed to find that my Samurai Saturday visions of what was kung-fu were completely off the mark. These films weren’t chop-socky. As a matter of fact, a majority of the videos I randomly rented were some of the most stunning films I had seen in years. Before I knew it, I was hooked to the gills on Hong Kong cinema. Action movies that might’ve gotten a rise out of me a year earlier became tedious exercises in pyrotechnic waste. I became "Trent" instead of "that weird gweilo that keeps coming in here." Once the store owners realized I was a dependent and valuable customer, they began to steer me in the right direction, rental-wise. Their first recommendation: Jackie Chan.

Shaking with exhilaration that night as Jackie nearly killed himself for the tenth time, I had a vision: The rest of the world would wake up to the fact that Jackie Chan was the greatest action star in the history of the universe. He would die during one of his stunts and the resulting publicity would enamor him to the western movie going public. It was a melancholy vision, indeed.

Fortunately I was only half right. America came to realize Chan’s charm and artistry without a morbid cue. Not only that, but we’re able to cull from a decades-long back catalogue of films. New Line and Dimension began to scrabble for titles to re-tool, dub, and release theatrically. Rumble in the Bronx exceeded box office expectations. And a "new" Chan flick began to appear seemingly from nowhere every couple of months. I guess Americans aren’t as stupid as I thought . . .

Which brings us to Crime Story. Although I had seen this film a few times before in Chinese, I was surprised to see this one on the "new release" shelf at my local viddy shop. Filmed in 1993, Crime Story is one of the more serious roles for Jackie. Based on a true story, Jackie is a by-the- books, law-and-order cop who runs afoul of a star chamber-like group of disgruntled cops who kidnap a wealthy and crooked industrialist. While pursuing this faceless and many-tentacled enemy, Jackie is faced with the moral dilemma of prosecuting brother cops and bearing the brunt for the consequences of his actions. Chan is straight-faced in this film, where all things black and white are revealed to be shades of gray.

Although I like Jackie best when he is hamming for the camera and exhibiting clumsy finesse, I found Crime Story to be an interesting, if not refreshing, change of pace. Fans of Chan will find his performance unique in its seriousness. Although he plays the American-style stone-faced hero, Jackie instills a sense of humanity and empathy that Schwarzenegger is incapable of even in his comedies. Not to mention the fact that he could kick Ah-nold’s ass with half of a pinkie. For those of you not familiar with Jackie’s work, be patient. He spends the first half of the film shooting guns and crashing cars. The big fight pay-off doesn’t come until later in the second half of the film. As usual, however, the wait is worth it. Sure, it doesn’t have the climactic, thrilling set piece of Armour of God, but it packs enough punch to put every single Van Damme fight to shame.

On a technical note, the American distributors of Crime Story (Dimension Films, in this case) didn’t give it the usual deluxe treatment; i.e. new soundtrack, beefed-up sound effects, decent dubbing job. I guess they decided not to spend big money on a direct to video title. You may experience "Kung-Fu Theater" flashbacks upon hearing some of the voices, but this complaint is only a minor one and is worth suffering through. The director, Kirk Wong (The Big Hit), has a propensity for dizzying camera movement and captures fight scenes with a fluidity that Tony Scott or Michael Bey would be wise to pay attention to.