Genre: Martial Arts

The final reel is raw power and energy as Sammo takes on a small army of goons before meeting his match in Billy Chow.

The real draw, and the skill of Chor Yuen, is to make an ensemble of eccentrics, oddball antagonists and superheroes appealing and a means of covering up the unapologetic holes in the narrative.

‘Police Story’ is one of the finest examples of 80’s Hong Kong cinema, with so many amazing elements that make it a joy to behold.

Despite its finale, ‘Police Story 2’ is worthy edition to any JC collection, and another example of how Hollywood action is made to look pathetic in comparison.

This is another great slice of entertainment JC style, and was one of his best performances before his physical shape noticeably began to deteriorate in the mid-90’s.

If the rest of the film had been as good as the last half hour then ‘Prince of the Sun’ would be more fondly remembered.

By no means unexciting, the choreography still lacks a stylish edge and tends to appear archaic at times. This is compensated by director Chai Ying Min’s brave concentration on the various relationships of the story.

Using the conventions of the 30’s Hollywood swashbucklers mixed with his insane stunts and sublime fight action, Chan produced one of his best ever films.

It was impossible to match the original classic, but Chan pulled out all of the stops to make sure he gave it his best.

Stanley Tong continues to show his skill in the action genre with more kinetic direction.

Scenes are chopped at strange junctures, the plot jumps all over the place and the simple act of allowing actors to have proper reaction shots to the drama unfolding is mostly absent.

A definite improvement over part 1, and other similar fare such as ‘China O’Brien’ – it makes for an adequate 90 minutes viewing – but ultimately reminds us why we love HK fighting so much more.