In mid 1990s, when anything related to Quentin Tarantino became fashionable, Hong Kong influences in his movies finally removed last traces of cultural bias among film critics' establishment in the world. Same thing happened with US distributors who began bringing Hong Kong titles to American theatres. Sometimes it didn't matter whether the title was new or few years old. This thing happened with Police Story 3 a.k.a. Supercop, directed by Stanley Tong in 1992 and released to USA in 1996.
This film is the third in the series started by famous actor Jackie Chan in 1985, but it could be watched as standalone adventure, because the plot is almost non-existent and the only link towards previous two titles are characters, including protagonist, Hong Kong police detective and martial arts expert Kevin Chan (played by Chan). He must bring down powerful drug lord Panther (played by Wah Yuen) by infiltrating work camp in mainland China and thus gaining the criminal's trust. In this task he is aided by his mainland Chinese colleague, Inspector Jessica Yang (played by Michelle Yeoh, here billed as Michelle Khan). Two of them travel all over Southeast Asia, but the real trouble for Chan starts in Singapore, where he accidentally meets his girlfriend May (played by Maggie Cheung).
All those expecting some great philosophical truths or careful examination of socio political conditions in the wake of Chinese take-over of Hong Kong should pass Police Story 3. Those who expect mindless and escapist fun, on the other hand, would have all the reasons to be satisfied. The plot is nothing more than an excuse for the series of spectacular action sequences in which Chan shows both his physical skills and great sense of humour. Michelle Yeoh is very effective in the role that would be quite thankless in Hollywood film of similar nature. In the end, viewers who enjoyed the movie are rewarded with extra material which became standard in all recent Jackie Chan's films - series of outtakes and bloopers that clearly show that the great actor did his own stunts, often getting hurt in the effort. In the end the viewers, since they know the price which was paid for the sake of good entertainment, would have additional reasons to appreciate Police Story 3.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on August 16th 2002)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/11134-iii?language=en-US
Critic: AA
