Project S (1993)

AKA: Police Story 4: Project S; Project S; Supercop 2; Once a Cop

Literally: Super Plan

Director: Stanley Tong Kwai-Lai

Producer: Jackie Chan

Cast: Michelle Khan/Yeoh (Yeung Chi-King), Yu Rong-Guang, Athena Chu Yun, Emil Chow Wah-Kin, Fan Siu-Wong, Dick Wei, Jackie Chan.

Running Time: 103 min.

Plot: The pumped-up semi-sequel to SUPERCOP, with Jackie Chan's partner Michelle Khan reprising her role as a head-kicking Hong Kong police-woman racing to head off an elaborate and inventive heist.

NUMSKULL'S REVIEW: It seems that "they"...whoever they are...really don't want us North American types to see this movie. The DVD and VCD from Hong Kong are both inexplicably devoid of English subtitles, and the Dimension release is...well, it's a Dimension release. Dub only, false title, stuff missing, you know the routine. It also has a quote on the package from some peabrained critic calling Michelle Yeoh "the female Jackie Chan." Good God, how demeaning. That just leaves the Region 2/PAL DVD from the Hong Kong Classics label, which is complete with good English subtitles but will set you back a pretty penny. Is it worth it? I think not. After all, Stanley Tong directed it.

Despite what the Dimension dickheads would like you to think, this is not a true sequel to Police Story 3 ("Supercop"). It takes place in the same universe, and Michelle Yeoh once again plays mainland Chinese cop Yang Chien Hua (NOT "Jessica Yang"), and Uncle Bill is here, and Jackie Chan makes a cameo appearance as Chia Chu in a scene that barely has anything to do with the story where he has a fake pair of laughing tits, and Eric Tsang is in that scene too, and there's a girl named May who is not the same May (Maggie Cheung) from the Police Story movies, and...what was I talking about? Oh yeah...this isn't a "true" sequel. Whatever that means.

Yang Chien Hua's boyfriend (doesn't really seem like the type to have one, does she?) is played by Yu Rong Guang, not Michael Wong as the UK DVD package states. He relocates to Hong Kong to make his fortune doing all sorts of illegal shit, and she gets teamed up with two marginally competent cops named Lung and Ming (Fan Siu Wong and Emil Chow, respectively) to stop him...only she doesn't know it's him at first. The eye-rolling melodrama can be seen miles away.

There's one bad guy who goes by the name of Mr. Explosive. His specialty is...damn, what was it? Narcotics? Firearms? Forged documents? Pirate versions of Street Fighter video games where Chun Li fights naked? No, wait a minute...wait...oh yeah, right, it was explosives. What I want to know is, how does one conduct day-to-day business with a name like Mr. Explosive? And, for that matter, what about pleasure? I can see it now. He's sitting in a nightclub, and some scantily clad woman takes the stool (I mean the thing you sit on, not fecal matter) next to his, and he says: "Hey there, gorgeous. My name's Mr. Explosive. What's yours?" Would she think he was joking? Would she think he was on drugs? Would she immediately make her excuses and remove herself from the premises? Would she assume that his moniker was an indication of his sexual prowess and that, should she decide to play "hide the salami" with him, she would end up with a fist-sized hole in her back due to some ungodly degree of ejaculatory pressure the likes of which has never been seen before? This is the kind of thing you'll think about during the film's boring parts, and, sorry to say, there are quite a few of them.

One of the film's saving graces, however, is that Lung and Ming aren't complete boobs, as one might expect. When they are first paired up with Hua, an unwritten formula pops into your mind, indicating that she's going to have to bail these two fuckwits out of trouble time and again, but...while she's clearly more seasoned than they are...they actually manage to do something right once in a while. The film's other saving grace is the ending, which teaches us ("us" meaning those who aren't smart enough to figure it out for themselves) that love is a crock, so don't even bother.

Action scenes are few in number and somewhat lacking in intensity. The best ones are the hostage rescue scenario at the very beginning, which constantly gets interrupted for film credits on an otherwise blank screen (bra-fucking-vo), and Michelle's fight with a white guy who looks to be about a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier than her. Apart from that, it's mostly Police Story 3-style shooting and stunts, which is not to say it'll put you to sleep, but c'mon, Michelle's real talents lie in KICKING ass, not blowing it away.

I recommend Project S to anyone looking for an action movie that fails to leave any lasting impression on the viewer, with the possible exception of Michelle Yeoh performing the splits while wearing a knee-length skirt. It doesn't suck, but it's not great either.

NUMSKULL'S RATING: 5/10

ALVIN GEORGE'S REVIEW: "Project S" (also known under a plethora of misleading alternate titles, including "Supercop 2") is a semi-sequel to "Supercop" designed as a vehicle for Michelle Yeoh, the number one female ass-kicker on the planet. It's actually a fairly serious film, as Yeoh, reprising her role as the Mainland cop, is torn between love and honor when her boyfriend becomes the leader of a gang of robbers in Hong Kong. The fight scenes are dynamite, out of sight. One scene that especially gets me going is when Michelle fights a big ass white dude and kicks him in the balls. Despite the cool fight scenes, the film does have some lame segments, as when Michelle follows a car in an obviously sped-up chase scene. Jackie Chan also has a lame cameo as his character from "Supercop." He's dressed in drag and foils a jewel heist. The guy dubbing his voice sounds like Miss Piggy. I haven't seen either "Tomorrow Never Dies" or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," so I just had to rent this one. So sit back, relax, and enjoy seeing Michelle Yeoh kicking ass after ass. Just one question: Is Yeoh's character a Communist? After all, she is from Mainland China, which is still Communist even after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

ALVIN GEORGE'S RATING: 8/10

JAMES H'S REVIEW: "Supercop 2" is not so much a sequel, but a spin-off. It stars Michelle Yeoh of Police Story III: Supercop" fame. Supposedly, she plays the same character as in "Police Story III", but I'm not too sure of that. Her character doesn't seem to exhibit the same characteristics as in "Police Story III". Anyway, the plot of "Supercop 2" concerns Inspector Jessica Yang (Yeoh) travelling to Hong Kong to aid a pair of rather inept police officers crack a case. To make things worse, Jessica's boyfriend, David, is somehow involved as well.

Stanley Tong's direction shines in this film. It has some very nice action set pieces, and some decent fights. These are definitely the highlights of the film. There is a very nice car chase, and the flooding of the tunnel was pretty damn cool too.

The film is marred mainly from the acting and the lack of characterization. Yeoh's screen time is cut short because she has to share the screen with the two aforementioned inept cops. Also, the writers could have developed the relationship between Jessica and David more and the issues that followed.

Basically a good movie. Could have been better, could have been worse. It ends up as being a standard action flick. Oh yeah, lest we forget Jackie Chan's cameo. It has no relation to the story at all, and looks like a scene cut from one of the "Police Story" movies. However, it is worth it to see Jackie in drag.

JAMES H'S RATING: 5.5/10

CHRIS E'S REVIEW: Hmm. Well, not as good as I expected. But not too bad either. The story line was solid and kept me interested. Although Michelle Yeoh has so much screen time in this one, she doesn't come close to the ass kicking she did in Supercop. Jackie's and Maggie Cheung's character's (Kevin and May) were in this movie but they were played by different actors. Bill Tung came back as "Uncle Bill." There's some cool shoot outs. The fight scenes are fair but nothing great. Jackie's cameo is hilarious but really weird. (I won't spoil it for you). Overall, I would say this one's worth watching. But if you're thinking this is gonna be just like Supercop with Michelle as the lead, you'll be disappointed.

CHRIS E'S RATING: 6/10