BENNY CHAN MUK-SHING has arranged wild gunfights inside Hong Kong Stadium and frenzied pursuits across the plains of South Africa. He also became famous for blowing to smithereens the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre - or at least a model of it - at a cost of $3 million. The director's latest stunt, however, could be more unnerving than any previous efforts: he's made Jackie Chan cry.
For the first half of his latest film, New Police Story, Benny Chan has transformed the action hero into a perennially plastered cop, who gets beaten up by young rascals (played by flimsy pop duo Boy'z), shrinks from arguments, and is reduced to a snivelling wreck when confronted by his girlfriend.
Benny Chan agreed that, given Jackie Chan's image as a macho, happy-go-lucky superstar, having him break down in front of pop queen Charlie Young Choi-nei is something as near to pioneering as all the budget-busting pyrotechnics in the film. 'We've edited a version with him crying and one without because, well, we were worried that audiences would find it improper that someone as strong as Jackie would cry,' he says. 'In his past work most people do not dare or wish to have Jackie handle such heavy, dramatic stuff. But I think it's time to let him try.'
Jackie Chan's character, Chan Kwok-wing, started off as a brash cop who promises live on television that he will swiftly bring to book a group of crazed, trigger-happy spoilt brats led by the psychotic Joe (Daniel Wu Yin-cho). His bravado turns sour as his recklessness sees his team - which includes the younger brother of his girlfriend - outgunned in a trap-filled warehouse.
This crude setback sets Chan off on a destructive guilt-ridden spiral into alcoholism, which ends only when Joe's gang strike again. Egged on by his haughty partner Frank (played by a revitalised Nicholas Tse Ting-fung), Chan is - unsurprisingly - lured back into action against the baddies.
'I hope the audience will acknowledge the fact that it's the acting that makes New Police Story a winner rather than the dangerous high jinks,' says Benny Chan. 'Journalists have been asking me all the time what breakthrough the film will bring in the action scenes or how dangerous the latest stunts will be. I believe, however, that all the action can work only with credible storylines and good acting.'