Police Story: Lockdown (2013)

Weak fifth Police Story film, has Jackie as yet another police detective and in a film with a decidedly darker tone. The first Police Story was a departure for Jackie by having a contemporary setting and less slapstick. The next three films got progressively more silly, but the fifth film in 2004 rebooted the series with Jackie playing a different character and had a more serious of tone. This sixth film again reboots the series with Jackie playing yet another different police detective and an even darker and more serious of tone. The story here has a glum Jackie negotiating a hostage situation in a nightclub that happens to have his estranged daughter inside and a villain who has a personal vendetta against him. It's a very contrived and unbelievable story that's made worse with absurd set-pieces involving torture chairs, cage fights, and exploding collars. These would work in a typically lighter Jackie Chan vehicle, but it doesn't in this decidedly grim action film. Still, who really watches a Jackie Chan film for the story? It's all about the fights, action, and stunt work, right? Jackie does deliver some solid action sequences, but there's a dearth of action sequences compared to most of his films, and it's much to the detriment of this film. I'm fine with Jackie taking time out for some drama ("Heart of the Dragon" is a terrific film!), but it has to be interesting and somewhat grounded in reality. This Die Hard revenge film manages to be plodding, unbelievable, and way too dialogue heavy, with characters launching into boring monologues far too many times. Still, there's enough action to make this overly serious mess worth watching for Jackie fans.

There are few important scenes that have satisfied me well. So, I want to tell the film a good film, not very good or a great film. But I want to admire the director that some scenes of the film are very important and the story is very good to me. And totally the story is different from any other film I have watched. A good film can give more pleasure to the audience and 'Police Story: Lockdown' is such an example.

When I think Jackie Chan, I think cool fight scenes and humor. This movie has one of the former (sort of) and none of the latter. The setting has been switched to mainland China because... soft power campaign? The plot was convoluted and not engaging. This film didn't even keep me engaged enough to finish it.

Police Story is Jackie Chan's second biggest franchise next to Rush Hour. The first entry in the series is one of his finest films ever; one that helped define his entire career. It's only natural a new Police Story movie would be released in 2013 to capitalize on the series' fame, even at the expense of everything that made the other movies so entertaining. Though to say that is to generalize too much about a franchise that has so many tones it's hard to pinpoint the one that truly defines it.Police Story Lockdown finds our hero reuniting with a daughter who has grown quite distant from him. She's dating the owner of a ridiculous nightclub, has tattoos, and wears her hair in a punk style. Jackie's character is, of course, a police officer. Seeing his daughter in such a state makes him rather angry, though those feelings quickly change when he learns the entire situation is a setup for a hostage situation. A case in Jackie's past is connected to the owner of the club and he's used the officer's daughter as elaborate bait.Suspension of disbelief is usually a must in a Jackie Chan movie. He's not known for well-written scripts or unique plots. The idea that a guy opens a club, stalks a guys daughter, and then exacts revenge is a little out there. And on top of that, the layout of the club is so ridiculous. It apparently used to be a factory of some sort, meaning the only reason it looks the way it does is for visual appeal and the thought that it would work as a great action set piece.I could attempt to suspend disbelief if that was true. But instead the action of the first half of the film is lame and underutilizes Jackie's unique style and humor. It's too gritty for being so stupid and when there are hand-to-hand fights, the level of brutality isn't there. Which means that the edgier tone isn't justified. In a martial arts movie, if you want to be dark and edgy, you need to be brutal and violent. Holding back on that leaves a sour taste in the mouth.I liken the main idea of this movie to The Raid, which I assume was the inspiration. And I believe the mood was meant to emulate the inspiration. But, I can safely say, Lockdown is nowhere close to as good as The Raid.As the film went on I grew more and more bored, realizing that this supposed "action" film was rather light on the action. Even the final battle felt rushed, lame, and underwhelming. It, truthfully, doesn't ever feel like a Jackie Chan movie. There's no humor, no outstanding action…about the only way you can tell its a Jackie Chan film is the outtake reel during the credits.None of these things are Jackie's fault though. As he grows older, he's going into more mature roles and, of course, can't do all the stunts and action he used to. He's still damn impressive though. One of the failings of the action sequences comes not from the choreography or lack of intensity, it comes down to the editing and directing. The editing of this movie is awful and spastic. It's that modern summer movie style that takes you out of the action by relying too much on camera movement and changing angles every five seconds to keep the viewer visually occupied. Something I always enjoyed about Chan's movies was that the editing during the fights allowed you to see the hits and reactions.When editing so haphazardly the intensity of the violence is quelled and we're instead treated to questioning what the hell we're watching. There's a "dream" sequence at one point where SWAT breaks in and everyone is shooting at each other. It is put together so slipshod that I couldn't tell what the hell was going on. And that sums up the entirety of the film sadly.So in the grand scheme of things do I feel like this is a movie worth sinking your teeth into? Not at all. This is a poor attempt at a cop movie, a martial arts movie…just a movie in general. There's really no redeeming factor to it aside from the club set looking neat (though its underused). Not even Jackie Chan fans will find this a palatable watch; leaving me with the sad decision to give Police Story Lockdown a measly one and a half stars.