Police Story 3: Supercop (1992) It’s the Michelle Yeoh Show (Blu-Ray Review)

The original police story is one of the essential movies in Jackie Chan’s career, helping cement his international career, and an action masterpiece. Beyond that, the series gets wildly inconsistent. In its initial 6-movie run and questionable in its two-movie run after being revived in 2003 under the moniker New Police Story, it hits some incredible highs and terrible lows – a microcosm of its star’s career. Most of the Police Story Saga has never been released in the UK. Of those long missing titles, the most desired was Police Story 3: Supercop, purely on the premise of it featuring Michelle Yeoh opposite Hong Kong’s most famous son. Following their initial release of the first 2, Eureka has released this long-missing classic (both separately and as part of a 4K trilogy set).

Ka Kui (Chan) is out of service as Supercop opens – meanwhile, Interpol tasked his bosses with cracking down on a crime tyrant importing drugs passing the island states’ police control. Some things age badly. And the only way to do this is to send a Hong Kong supercop undercover to crack the gang wide open, and, of course, it’s Jackie Chan. This mission sees him shipped off to Guangzhou, China, where he joins forces with Michelle Yeoh – a high-ranking officer of the Chinese military Police. Once there, he infiltrates a gang led by Kenneth Tsang and Wah Yuen – a mission that culminates in a characteristically chaotic series of stunts in Malaysia. Also, along the way, insert a few scenes with the wonderful Maggie Chueng as Chan’s long-suffering wife, May.

There are four eras of Jackie Chan’s filmography. The first and earliest had him front traditional martial arts films, the second was stunt-based and had a few fights scattered sparingly, the third was broad slapstick, and the last shall forever be known as ‘the grim era’. Supercop is of the stunt-heavy era. There are few martial arts scenes, but they are fleeting. One has Yeoh attempting to embarrass Chan with one of the better fighters at the military school, another sees Wah Yueh rescued from a work camp, and the last is on top of a moving train with two helicopter pilots. Each is more memorable for the scenario than the choreography and performance. More often than not, the action of Police Story 3: Supercop revolves around stunt work or an explosive shootout in an illegal militias base; not that there’s anything wrong with either, I am merely tempering expectations. Supercop is very different from the two proceeding entries.

Another difference between this and 1 & 2 is Michelle Yeoh. Outside of Sammo and Yuen Biao, it’s rare for Jackie Chan to share the limelight in a Chinese-language movie, but here it is fair to say that this is ‘the Yeoh Show’. To people who were fans of her before ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, it’s no surprise to say that she is brilliant in everything this very demanding role throws at her. Performing stunts just as well as her co-lead. In a comedic scene with the fake family used for Chan’s cover, she keeps it grounded away from Bill Tung’s (Uncle Wong) ridiculous overacting. And, of course, she is an incredibly physical performer, as would be expected from someone with a background in dance. In short, it’s a show-stealing performance from Michelle Yeoh. A conclusion that it’s easy to come to with Jackie Chan going all in on his mind-boggling stunts (hanging from a helicopter via a rope ladder in the wild finale).

The success and mileage of Supercop depend entirely on where your interest lie. If you want a heavy dose of Jackie Chan’s iconic fight cinema, this fails next to the two earlier jaunts. If you are after Jackie Chan’s inimitable stunt cinema, you are onto a winner. If you are a Michelle Yeoh fan, it’s a definite winner because it’s a classic role for her, but also to see the film where her iconic statements about Jackie Chan originated while she was on the ‘Everything, Everywhere all at Once’ press cycle. Whatever way you are approaching this, there’s plenty to enjoy.

Extras are generous on this Eureka release. From the multiple cuts of the film to the gorgeous restoration and the typical array of commentaries, interviews, trailers and outtakes – the typical extras are all present and correct. Hidden among that mix is a mini-documentary about a massively violent video game that never saw release outside the East. It was identical to the early Mortal Kombat’s, yet in their rosters are three different iterations of Jackie Chan. Of course, you couldn’t do a fatality on them – branding for his near-forgotten 1995 film, Thunderbolt.

Police Story 3: Supercop