If it didn’t star Jackie Chan–and if it wasn’t released in 2013–Police Story: Lockdown might seem like a late eighties cheap Die Hard knock-off. Chan’s a gritty bad dad, super cop who finds himself held hostage by his daughter’s new boyfriend (Liu Ye). Of course, the daughter didn’t know her boyfriend was a supervillain, she just invited her dad there to a party and to introduce the boyfriend.
There is a mega-bar, converted from a factory. Oh, and it’s Christmas. Because, you know, it’s Die Hard.
Director Ding’s script goes on and on before it gets anywhere; so does his direction. He cuts back to previous action scenes, purportedly to show Chan’s thoughts, but really it just kills time. Because if he weren’t able to kill time, Ding might actually have to write something for the actors to perform.
What’s so frustrating about the inept script–along with the inept direction–is it doesn’t give the actors anything to do. Chan’s obviously a charismatic performer, even if one’s unfamiliar with his work, because he always seems ready to connect with the viewer. Then Ding stops it, either through lame dialogue, lame flashback or strange cuts and camera movement. Even though the club is a factory and large, it’s a confined space. Ding has no idea how to shoot it.
The action scenes are even worse.
Lockdown doesn’t seem like a good idea for a movie, but it shouldn’t have been this bad. It should’ve been tolerable.
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CREDITS
Written and directed by Ding Sheng; director of photography, Ding Yu; edited by Ismael Gomez III; music by Lao Zai; produced by Du Yang; released by Emperor Motion Pictures.
Starring Jackie Chan (Zhong Wen), Liu Ye (Wu Jiang), Jing Tian (Miao Miao), Yin Tao (Lan Lan), Liu Yiwei (Chief Niu), Na Wei (Na Na), Zhou Xiaoou (Wei Xiaofu) and Yu Rongguang (Captain Wu).
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