Jackie Chan is back on the beat with a new look in Police Story 2013… though his familiar hairstyle has had a close shave…
During the lead up to the release of Chinese Zodiac, there was much discussion of Jackie Chan's imminent retirement from the action movie genre. So much fuss was made that Chan himself had to go online to state that he'd been taken out of context. (Chan has of course been hinting at retiring since the late 80s!) Before the release of Chinese Zodiac, Chan began shooting Police Story 2013, which – contrary to popular internet rumour – is not the latest installment in the original Police Story saga that began in 1985 with Chan directing, choreographing and playing the lead role of Chan Ka-kui.
Police Story 2013 is something different, reuniting Chan with his Little Big Soldier director Ding Sheng…
“I’ve played policemen many times before, but I’ve never shot a film which focused on the life of a mainland policeman. So this time, I get the chance to fulfill this kind of role,” according to Chan on a posting on his Weibo microblog in China.
The film sees Chan playing an older policeman who leads a team of young police recruits into action when a series of violent crimes hit his precinct. Chan also changed his hairstyle for the film, adopting a cropped do for the first time since Armour of God. (Chan cutting his hair, which according to the Chinese press had brought him luck, was attributed to be the cause of Chan's near fatal injury during the filming of that movie, and once Chan had recovered from brain surgery and filming resumed, Chan's hair was allowed to grow back to its normal length and style which he's kept for more than 20 years, Shanghai Noon and Knights hair extensions aside!)
Early reports hint at a drama-heavy film, filled with some very down and dirty action from Chan, including a cage fight that sees Chan facing off against a Mainland Chinese MMA fighter.
