Police Story 2

Demoted to traffic duty after the property damage of the first film, Sergeant Chan Ka-kui becomes a target again when the terminally ill crime boss Chu Tao is released. He resigns, then a shopping mall is bombed and he is brought back. The bombers kidnap his girlfriend May. Jackie Chan directed and starred, writing the screenplay with Edward Tang. Maggie Cheung plays May. The value is not in the plot but in the design of the fights and stunts. It won Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. It took around 11.5 million dollars across East Asia. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 84 percent. Time Out ranked it 61st among action films and called it a fine introduction to the Jackie Chan phenomenon. Who it is for: viewers who treat action choreography as a discipline of its own. Who it is not for: anyone bothered by tonal swings. It moves from a serious scene to slapstick without warning, which is Chan's deliberate method.