Lawbolisted Powerful

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Leofwine_draca POLICE STORY: LOCKDOWN is a mixed bag of a movie for Jackie Chan fans. He gets a lot of screen time here and has a chance to act rather than fight for most of it, but the film itself is quite messy in places and doesn't really convince in its depiction of a hostage scenario. It's never quite suspenseful or exciting enough to succeed.The setting is an elaborate multi-storey bar in which bad guy Liu Ye, from CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER, and his handful of goons are located. They take Chan and various others hostage for reasons which are made apparent via some cheesy and slightly unbelievable flashbacks. It all feels rather melodramatic when it comes out, however the worst thing about this production is the direction.My heart sank when I realised this film was from mainland China rather than Hong Kong, as China doesn't have the best movie-making record in recent years. Thankfully the bad CGI is kept to a minimum here but the direction is quite awful and the director's refusal to hold a shot more than a few seconds is more likely to provoke a headache than excitement. The cameraman feels more like a hyperactive child than anything else. Sheng Ding's previous film LITTLE BIG SOLDIER was more impressive than this.It's also worth noting that this film has no connection to Jackie's previous POLICE STORY movies, all of which are considerably more interesting, well-made, and entertaining. The only connection is that Rongguang Yu is back from NEW POLICE STORY although he and Jackie play different albeit similar characters. Jackie has a family in this one. The action is limited and Jackie is unforgivably doubled for some of the fights, and even worse some of it is shoehorned into the story for no reason (an early fight and car chase are included in flashbacks that turn out to have no relation to the main story). On the plus side, it does have a very fast pace to take your mind off all the problems with the story, and it's fitfully entertaining, just a far cry from the fantastic films that Jackie used to make. He really spoiled us with those.

Uriah43 Because of his dedication to duty and the demands of his job "Senior Inspector Zhong Wen" (Jackie Chan) has essentially neglected his wife and daughter for years. As a result, when his wife is seriously injured in a car accident he arrives at the hospital much too late and this causes his grief-stricken daughter "Miao" (Tian Jing) to want nothing more to do with him. However, sometime later things seem to change when Miao calls him and sets up a meeting at a night club. Unfortunately, when he gets there he is knocked unconscious and is taken hostage along with his daughter and several other people. It soon transpires that the kidnappers want more than just money and Senior Inspector Zhong Wen is the key to their plans. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this is yet another movie which focuses on the serious side of Jackie Chan. And while he certainly performs well enough I believe that this trend has somewhat diminished the overall entertainment value of his films. It's just not the same without the humor that normally accompanies the martial arts and action. Likewise, the technique used to tell the story resulted in a slow pace which didn't help either. In any case, this wasn't necessarily a bad film by any means but it clearly wasn't up to the typical standards of a Jackie Chan movie and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

poe-48833 For decades, many of us have lived vicariously through Jackie Chan: we held our breath when he plummeted from the top of a skyscraper or leapt from a rooftop to the fire escape of another building without a net or dropped from a helicopter onto a hot air balloon or any of a hundred other death-defying deeds... but Father Time catches up to us all, no matter how far (or often) we fall. While he's still spry (and, when he chooses, able to fly), Chan has AGED and it's understandable if he has chosen to forego the kind of over-the-top action-oriented melodramatics that marked his younger years. It was a wise choice: POLICE STORY: LOCKDOWN showcases Chan's acting chops (he's as adept at Drama as he is at Action) and I' for one, can't wait to see what he does next.

Derek Childs (totalovrdose) The opening of the film depicts police office Zhong Wen (Jackie Chan) holding a handgun to his temple, resolving to commit suicide. What could motivate a man, after committing himself to a life of law enforcement, to take his own life? This powerful question is what initially draws the viewer into Police Story 2013, a film about crime and punishment, right and wrong, family and survival. Throughout the duration of the feature, arachnid related imagery that appears in the shape of windows, tattoos, toys, amulets and other like items, heightens the idea of being trapped, with no capacity for escape. During one scene, Zhong is strapped by wires (representative of spider silk) to a chair, depicting a massive web, metaphorically developing the notion that he is caught within its trap.Mr. Chan is superb in this thrilling police drama, and though he is potentially not in quite as many fights as demonstrated in some of the former features in the Police Story franchise, the maturity and intelligence of the script and the plot, alongside the acting, really immerses the viewer in the experience. Mr. Chan develops a character who is professional, mature and family oriented, allowing the audience to be emotionally vested in his character as we fear for his safety, and those around him, his desire to save everyone being not only his gift, but a curse in equal measure. Despite much humor having been used in previous installments, this element takes a backseat over the course of the production.Zhong, not long into the movie, finds himself traveling to a bar to meet with his daughter, Miao Miao, who has had minimal contact with him over the past five years, the underlying reason behind this lacking familial bond being explored over the course of the feature, the narrative amazingly tying everything together. After arriving, Zhong, and many of the other patrons, find themselves held hostage at the hands of Wu Jiang (Liu Ye). Though there is no doubting his antagonistic attitude, Wu has a set of principles, and is capable of being negotiated with, the reason for holding Zhong, and the others at gunpoint, being slowly explored.As it is not immediately revealed, the mystery surrounding the plot engrosses the viewer onwards. The film occasionally travels backwards in time, not being consistently set in chronological order, to reveal what has happened previously. Sometimes this is articulated to provide visual guidance for the audience as characters discuss their version of past events, however, it is never truly known if what they emphasize is in fact the truth, or if they are ensnaring people within their own web of deceit, again, linking back to the arachnid imagery. Although Zhong is being deliberately held by Wu for a purpose, he is not the only one, and though we comprehend how he arrived at the establishment the film is primarily set in, how the other characters arrived voluntarily, or through coercion, is largely unexplored.The incredibly beautiful Jing Tian moreover, provides, quite possibly, one of her best performances. Though Ms. Tian is not quite as physically active in this feature as she has been in some of her other films, she plays not only as Zhong's daughter, but as a nurse, and in a hostage situation, this role gives her reason and purpose. In some of her other films, it seems Ms. Tian may have been cast due to her unparallelled beauty, rather than her talent, however, in this feature, the audience are equally graced by both. Possessing her father's desire to save everyone, alongside an opinionated character with the willingness to survive, Ms. Tian brilliantly spends almost half of the film suffering traumatic emotional agony.Accompanying the film is an entertaining musical score that helps immerse the viewer not only into the environment, but the situation's climate. Despite the score also heightening the accompanying action scenes, these moments, which are occasionally explosive, seem to be in the background, rather than the fore, unlike in previous movies staring Mr. Chan. Though a car chase offers viewers nothing they haven't seen before, the fighting that transpires at the bar never feels out of place, fitting purposefully with the setting. However, it is the tension and suspense that really draws the viewer in, the action being more of an added benefit.From the intensity of the beginning, through to the epic close, Police Story 2013 leaves viewers wondering if there will, in fact, be another sequel, and after the quality performances and storyline exhibited in this feature, the answer, is hopefully, a resounding 'yes'.