Jackie Chan was advised to turn away from directing after overshooting budget and schedule on Armour Of God II: Operation Condor and begin experimenting by working under other successful and notable directors. Earlier on in 1993, specifically during the Chinese New Year, he clashed with Wong Jing (not in a good way) in the box-office hit City Hunter, a colourful and wacky adaptation of the Japanese comic. Then Golden Harvest decided to debut Crime Story as a summer release, the very much opposite to City Hunter, this time helmed by director (Health Warning, Gunmen, The Big Hit) and occasional actor (Legacy Of Rage, Casino Raiders) Kirk Wong. Based on the true story of the kidnapping of Wong Yat Fei, the project opened up the rare opportunity for Jackie to attempt to log a credible acting performance. A daring move at the time especially since his image was resembling nothing like that to say the least.

So a box-office success it was and audiences clearly had no qualms about accepting Jackie Chan in serious mode, nor should they have had as Crime Story, for a Jackie Chan film, succeeds due to this choice. But equal kudos goes to director Kirk Wong who early on realizes the need to jolt the audiences perceptions of what this particular Jackie Chan movie is like. He does that by going a slight Ringo Lam route, employing street shootouts and a generally gritty nature to the proceedings with the occasional stunt by Jackie thrown in (one where he's squeezed in between two cars, resulting in another one of his injuries). A thrilling mixture and the serious tone is set for easy acceptance early on. Taking cues from another way of Ringo Lam's, utilizing strong blues and the neon lights of the Hong Kong city, Wong paints an edgy, violent picture of Hong Kong that is also infused with a financial dissatisfaction, the main theme of the film as a matter of fact.

Despite ventures throughout into that thematic territory, Wong never attempts to shoot Cheung Lai Ling and Teddy Chen's script as a deep journey but the film benefits from the excursions it makes. Wong is still rightly known for his cinematic eye for action and chaos and merging with Jackie's team in addition to Bruce Law for car stunts is an intriguing proposition. But one question that arises, can Chan's type of action fit into all this? Thankfully, it rears its head very little as the emphasis is on shorter, grittier brawls with some admirable stunt work in between by Jackie's team but there are some sidesteps where clearly the team weren't brave enough to let go off the kind of sights and sounds that accompanies a Jackie Chan action scene. This in particular rings true in the Taiwan segment but overall, Kirk Wong and Jackie deliver action design that is in tune with the straight on, serious action-thriller that the film is.

Aided by award winning editing by Peter Cheung and James Wong and Mark Lui's excellent, pounding score, Wong creates a very pleasing and rousing cinematic sense to the film, employing slick colours and crane work that is well-above what one would expect (Andrew Lau was one of the cinematographers on the film). While certain parts of an already fairly long movie tends to drag and the kidnapping theme therefore gets forgotten, Wong's pace is largely excellent and damn exciting but really the biggest kudos should go out to his direction of Jackie.

Unlike the recent New Police Story where Chan, despite a more mature role there as well, went overboard with the emotions on display, Wong takes the character of Eddie more balanced routes. There's not much to him (but depth might've been obtained via the deleted material with the psychiatrist played by Poon Ling Ling that reportedly was excised by Jackie and Golden Harvest against Kirk Wong's wishes. A Thailand VHS release had these scenes incorporated, dubbed into Thai but a Mandarin track could be heard underneath) but what's thankfully true about Eddie is that he's not the cool supercop. Instead Jackie brings a calm demeanor to the role that speaks more to a humanity, rather than towards some overblown super-hero type that these films normally get. As mentioned, the chosen action design goes outside of this character arc at a few select times but Jackie comes through with a respectable performance that Benny Chan should've taken notes from when directing New Police Story. Kent Cheng also is excellent as the absolutely menacing Hung, the disgruntled police man whose plight you do feel sympathy for but not the way he goes about it in creating the kidnapping scheme. Of note is an extended cameo by Blackie Ko and William Tuan gets an fairly sizeable role as head of the police, far from the bumbling ways he showcased in City Hunter.

Crime Story can't proclaim itself to be the best Jackie Chan movie ever but if his desire still is to transfer from action to acting, it was clear already in 1993 that he had what it takes to erase his goofy action-image in favour of thrillers or dramas. New Police Story admittedly almost had it but blew the chances after its opening reel and if all involved around Jackie are smart, they should turn to Kirk Wong again who makes sure Crime Story stands out as a highly different and effective Jackie Chan film.

As Inspector Eddie Chan, our star gets a rare chance to display real emotional depth, albeit in the guise of a super-heroic cop and, in this, Crime Story rivals the high impact style of Hollywood productions like Ron Howard's Ransom (1996), and Michael Mann's Heat (1995). Yes, folks, this really is that good! Although it has some tongue-in-cheek use of primary colours, classy direction by the wholly underrated Kirk Wong, who later made Rock 'n' Roll Cop (1994) and The Big Hit (1998), delivers the goods. There's atmospheric lighting and stylish camerawork throughout kidnap and ransom drop clichés, police corruption intrigue, dynamic gunplay sequences, and the hero's moral angst when faced with betrayal, failure, and a decidedly ruthless Machiavellian adversary.

Only one scene towards the end of the film (at a point when director Wong had left so the star could supervise the finale's kung fu stunts to suit himself) opts for a familiar bit of Chan style acrobatics, but it's really nothing more than a fleeting moment of comedy in a grimly exciting and largely serious film, and will not spoil your enjoyment of the sombre characterisation or hard-edged action. An essential purchase for the superstar's many followers, and all fans of superior Hong Kong cinema, Crime Story is strongly recommended for everyone else, too, especially if you believe martial arts legend Chan can only do cheesy knockabout adventure...

I originally picked up Crime Story thinking it was going to be another goofy cop action/comedy like Police Story. Boy, was I wrong. This is definitely one of Chan's most serious movies to date. The films kicks off with a couple of cops getting into a shootout with some would-be kidnappers, with Eddie rushing to their aid. He arrives too late and finds them shot up. Not the small squib type, but the covered in blood John Woo style. It's quite a change from his other movies where the violence always had a comedic edge to it. When people get hurt in Crime Story, it shows; there's no cartoony ability of the wounded to get up and fight again. Chan reflects this in his portrayal of Eddie Chan. While he's not up to the level of someone like Danny Lee with his portrayal of a serious cop, Chan puts in a suprisingly good performance.

If you're expecting a lot of kung fu action here, then you'd better look elsewhere. Save for a fight on the rigging over a stage, Chan turns in his fists of fury for a six-shooter in Crime Story. The gunfights aren't extraordinary, but they are fairly exciting, and the finale reminded me a bit of Hard-Boiled (saving a kid from a burning building).

A different side of Jackie Chan that's worth checking out.

Jackie plays a cop (named Jackie) in the Hong Kong CID who, at the beginning of the film at least, is suffering from traumatic stress disorder after a particularly brutal shoot-out. He is then assigned to protect a budding slumlord who fears that he is the target of a kidnapping plot. Of course, the businessman, Wong, is kidnapped and Jackie now has to find a way to bring him back alive. Little does Jackie know that the ring of kidnappers includes Hung, a respected detective on the force. As the plot unravels, Jackie must convince Wong's wife to withhold the ransom money from the kidnappers long enough for him to hunt them down.

Crime Story is much darker and more serious than many of his films, both before and since. There is much less verbal comedy than usual, and (unfortunately) more gunplay than martial arts. The words "hard boiled" definitely come to mind here. In many ways, it's not a typical Chan movie.

For instance, a scene near the beginning of the film shows Jackie trying to calm down a group of angry workers who haven't been paid for their labor by Wong. Jackie implores them to play by the rules and take their grievances to the authorities rather than simply lynching Wong. It's a tense scene, and Chan's character has to balance the safety of his own men, his duty to protect Wong, and the righteous anger of the workers, who are close to rioting. It's a scene you would never see in a film like Drunken Master or Rumble in the Bronx.

The action, too, is quite different. It's nearly an hour into the film when we see the first real martial-arts fight. Prior to that we have one brutal gunfight after another, usually ending in a victory for the bad guys. In fact, the HK police force looks pretty inept for the first half of the film.

There is a blow-out of a fight at the end, climaxing with a whole apartment building blowing up, that will probably keep rabid martial arts fans happy. One of the more prominent thugs during this scene is Ken Lo, Jackie's real-life bodyguard. Lo played the last guy Jackie fought in Drunken Master II and the first person he fought in Supercop. Here, he kisses Jackie full on the mouth. We will let the readers draw their own conclusions.

There is some important career advice here: Never become a motorcycle cop in Hong Kong. They don't live the glamorous lives of Ponch and John on 'CHiPs': getting beautiful ladies, surveying the remains of that week's Rube Goldberg-esque car crash, and going on to star in infomercials and Univision soaps. No, in Hong Kong the motorcycle cops are more like red-shirted ensigns in Star Trek -- they're always the first to die. In Crime Story, the kidnappers are chased down a winding road by Jackie and two motorcycle cops. One of the cops ends up being hit by the bad guy's car, while the other skids out and ends up with his head jammed under a highway guard rail.

The gunfights aren't the only sources of brutality in this film. The behavior of the kidnappers is beyond cold-blooded. During the kidnapping itself, Wong's 'delicate' wife has a heart attack. Knowing that they need her to transfer Wong's millions to their bank accounts, the conspirators literally jump-start her heart with a car battery while Wong looks on. Later, when the kidnappers hold Wong on a boat, they hide him from a harbor patrol search by dumping him overboard until the search is over.

Those of you who have seen Chan films like First Strike may be thinking to yourselves "Hey! This doesn't sound like the funny Jackie Chan I know!" You're right; it isn't. But it is a very good crime film which showcases Chan's more serious acting style and puts an emphasis on plot like none of his other films. It's definitely worth a look to see this actor's varied talents.