Jackie Chan’s most profitable martial arts movie series received a surprise spinoff with Michelle Yeoh’sSupercop 2.Over the years, Jackie Chan has headlined multiple martial arts movie franchises, with the biggest of them all undoubtedly beingPolice Story. In the span of 28 years, the international martial arts icon starred in sixPolice Storymovies.
Between 1985 and 1996, Jackie Chan starred as Chan Ka-kui in fourPolice Storymovies. The franchise was rebooted in 2004 withNew Police Story, which saw Jackie Chan play a new protagonist. Almost a decade later, the series was revived once more;Police Story 2013served as a second reboot of the series, which so far, has not been continued. Interestingly, these six movies don’t account for every installment in the series. In between the third and fourth movies, a spinoff was made, with Michelle Yeoh in the lead role.
Supercop 2 Is A Spinoff Of Jackie Chan’s Third Police Story Movie
Supercop 2 Follows Michelle Yeoh’s Character After The Events Of Police Story 3
The third movie in thePolice Storyseries, titledPolice Story 3: Supercop, brings back the three core cast members from the previous two films (Jackie Chan, Maggie Chueng, and Bill Tung) and also adds a fourth name to the mix: Michelle Yeoh. On the heels of her starring roles inmartial arts police moviesYes, Madam!andRoyal Warriors, Yeoh was made a co-star inPolice Story 3. The film essentially served as a team-up between Jackie Chan’s Chan Ka-kui and Yeoh’s Jessica Lang.
Like Chan’s character, Yang is both a highly proficient kung fu expert and a police officer. InPolice Story 3, the two become allies as they embark on a deep undercover operation to bring down a powerful drug cartel in Hong Kong. Curiously, the movie treated Yeoh’s character as a near-equal to Ka-kui, which is not something that often happens in aJackie Chan action movie. Regardless, this tactic helped justify the franchise’s next move, which was to launchSupercop 2, a spinoff fronted by Michelle Yeoh and featuring a slew of impressively choreographed fight scenes.
Pivoting the focus of the franchise to Michelle Yeoh’s Jessica Lang character, the 1993 Hong Kong action movie took place shortly after the events of her team-up with Ka-kui inPolice Story 3: Supercop. Rather than face off against a drug cartel as she did inPolice Story 3, Yang’s main struggle is against a highly sophisticated group of bank robbers who she comes to suspect has a dubious connection to her boyfriend.
Supercop 2 Has An All-Star Cast Of Recognizable Martial Arts Movie Actors
Supercop 2 Includes A Jackie Chan Cameo And The Star Of Iron Monkey
Supercop 2may not be a properPolice Storyfilm or Jackie Chan movie, but that’s not reflected by its production values or the strength of its cast.Michelle Yeoh’sPolice Storyspinoff assembles a strong cast of recognizable actorsfrom Hong Kong’s movie industry, and one that’s on par with Jackie Chan’s best 1980s and 1980s action movies. Jessica Lang’s suspicious boyfriend is played by Yu Rongguang, the martial arts star known for playing the titular hero inIron Monkey,one of thebest martial arts movies of the 1990s.
What’s more,Supercop 2includes appearances from two of the three mainstays of the original franchise.Jackie Chan has a cameo where he reprised his role as Chan Ka-kui. Bill Tung, who plays Ka-kui’s boss and mentor on the police force in all four of the originalPolice Storymovies is also on hand inSupercop 2, although in a reduced capacity.
While promotional material forSupercop 2clearly implies that the movie features Jackie Chan in a major role, that’s not actually the case. The actor’s presence in the Police Story spinoff really is nothing more than a cameo. Movies overhyping Jackie Chan’s connection to them was unfortunately quite common during the 1980s and 1990s.
Featuring in a supporting role is Louis Fan, who may be recognized by fans of Donnie Yen. Fan has appeared in several of Donnie Yen’s martial arts movies, including the first two installments in theIp Manmovie franchise. Dick Wei, a character actor known for his work in some ofShaw Brothers' best kung fu movieshas a small part as well, as does Mars, an actor who has been involved in dozens of Jackie Chan movies, not to mention several of thePolice Storymovies.
Jackie Chan’s Police Story Franchise Brought Michelle Yeoh Out Of Retirement
Michelle Yeoh Ended A Five-Year Absence From Acting By Playing Jessica Yang
WhenPolice Story 3: Supercophappened, Michelle Yeoh was a long way off from the action star she eventually became. That said, she had gained attention in the last few years before the movie due to her lead role inYes, Madam!, a martial arts movie with stark similarities to thePolice Storymovies. Yeoh starred in the sequel,Royal Warriors, and retired from acting shortly after that in 1987, allowing another actress - Cynthia Khan - to take the reins of theYes, Madam!franchise. Yeoh didn’t return to acting until 1993, when Jackie Chan made efforts to bring her on board thePolice Storyseries.
Chan explained that his wish was for her role to be a “showcase of her kung fu skills.”
Never Grow Up, Jackie Chan’s autobiography, mentions that Chan was practicing kung fu with both Yeoh and Maggie Cheung, who plays his love interest in thePolice Storyfilms. During this time, Chan asked Yeoh to be hisPolice Story 3: Supercopco-star. In the book, Chan explained that his wish was for her role to be a “showcase of her kung fu skills.”
As Chan points out, this was a big first for him, as the movie gave her almost as many action scenes as it gave him and was also the first film of his to prominently feature a female character in an action-oriented part. Not only did this decision give rise to aPolice Storyspinoff of her own, but it carved out a path for the actress to become a major martial arts star in the years that followed. AfterSupercop, Michelle Yeoh raised her profile further by pumping out a number of memorable martial arts movies, includingWing Chun,Tai Chi Master, and, of course,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
