After Manchus destroy his village, a young man (Liu) goes to train at the Shaolin temple, where he becomes a star student. After being kicked out of the temple for suggesting that the Shaolin teach their kung fu to ordinary people, he begins to assemble his own team to take revenge on the Manchus.
The plot is probably one of (if not the) most used in kung fu films, but few movies pull it off as brilliantly as 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Most of the movie centers around Liu's training in some very original and inventive training sequences (such as using a hall of mirrors in a darkened room or making Liu carry buckets of water with knives strapped to his arms) dealing with the various "chambers" (schools) of the Shaolin, culminating with some great fights near the end. The cinematography is quite nice and avoids the staticness most "old-school" kung fu films feature. Many films have emulated or outright stolen many of the images from 36th Chamber of Shaolin. It is quite literally the blueprint for almost all of the traditional kung fu films that followed it, and should not be missed by any martial arts fan.
A young boy witnesses his parents being murdered. For twenty years, he represses the memories until he sees a picture of the murderer in the newspaper. He sets out to assassinate the man, but fails, and must go into hiding as an undercover operative for the CIA. His mission is simple: to take out the assassin (who is now a powerful arms dealer) by getting chummy with his daughter. But things get more complicated when he begins to fall for the daughter and realizes the consequences his actions will have on her.
The Adventurers starts out well, but once all the characters are in place and the plot is set in motion, things begin to fall apart. There is little in the way of character development, the plot is transparent (I could see the next "twist" coming a mile away), and, perhaps worst of all, there is no action. Ringo Lam's movies don't need a ton of action to be interesting -- Full Alert is good proof of this, but that movie had two good lead actors in it. In The Adventurers, we have Andy Lau attempting to act. There is one scene where he is supposed to be all dramatic as he is realizing just how trapped he is, but all little Andy can do is raise his voice and look constipated.
The movie does try to redeem itself at the end with some action, but it's too little, too late. Some guys get shot, some (well, a lot) of stuff blows up, but there's nothing behind it and so there's no interest for the viewer -- it's just pyrotechnic mastrubation. The only thing I really liked about The Adventurers was Rosamund Kwan's performance. She steps out from the usual goody two-shoes she plays, and breathes a nice bit of life into what is usually a stock character. It's too bad that it's the only piece of life in this movie -- despite its' high budget and star pedigree, The Adventurers comes off as plastic, lifeless, and perhaps most damningly, unoriginal as most of the Hollywood action dreck out there.
A group of the world's 10 leading scientists are being killed in mysterious ways and it seems Dr. Ken (Lau) is next on the list. MI6 wants to protect him, but instead Ken wants his cop buddy Chiu (Wong) to protect him. Together, Ken and Chiu discover a dark plot involving a cult called the "Brotherhood of Technology," which seems to be preparing for armageddon --the final confrontation between good and evil.
On first glance, Armageddon could have been a great movie. It's got an interesting story, a good director, a great leading man in Wong, and one of the largest budgets in HK cinema to date. But what the makers of the film didn't pay attention to was the script. After a slam-bang opening, the movie quickly grinds to a halt, wasting away time in scenes that really have nothing to do with the film. By the time the secrets are "revealed" (sharp viewers will be able to guess the "plot twist" a mile away), the audience is so bored and disoriented that it doesn't matter. And, for the large budget of the movie, the depictions of the final apocalypse are really weak. I'm also really sick of the "lover from the dead" plot which has been rehashed so many times since Ghost became popular in the '80's. It's a tired and overused plot device and, while it does figure into the plot here, it also tends to slow down the film.
An okay movie, but nothing worth rushing out to see.
In Wong Kar-Wai's first (and most commerically successful) film, he explores the life of a small-time Triad played by Andy Lau. Lau spends his days depending his small piece of turf and helping out his hot-headed sidekick, Jacky Cheung. Things get a bit more complicated when Lau's cousin (Maggie Cheung) comes to stay and some romantic feelings develop.
And that's about it. Like most of Wong's films, this one has a pretty slim plot to it. However, unlike most of Wong's later work, this movie is pretty linear. There are no convoluted inner monologues or circular story lines. And the filming techniques, while having some of the stylistic touches of later films, are not as dense as his others. As such, this might come off to "Wong lite" to his die-hard fans, but I still enjoyed the movie. The characters seem to be a little under-developed and the film loses steam during the romantic bits (both probably due to Wong's "flying paper" style), but I found the core story (the Triad drama) to be quite compelling.
Unlike many over-glamorized gangster movies like Triads: The Inside Story, you really (I assume) get a sense of what it is like to be a small potato in the Triad world. Disputes are not settled in mansions with people wielding two guns, they are settled in dank alleys with baseball bats. You don't use a Benz to get around, you use the bus. This dark worldview had me interested, even when the movie drifted away to the slightly hammy romantic parts (like some of his other movies, Wong tends to overuse musical pieces, in this case a Cantonese version of "Take My Breath Away"). And Andy Lau seemed pretty cool in this movie. I'm not normally a fan of his work, but his minimalist (some say lazy, but I will be nice in this review) style works for the most part, and makes a nice counterpoint to Jacky Cheung's more manic acting.
As Tears Go By might be too quirky for some (or not enough for die-hard Wong fans), but overall, this is a pretty interesting and stylish Triad movie that's worth checking out.
One of the most talked about Hong Kong films of the past decade is ironically perhaps one of the most simple -- at least on the surface. Despite all of the adjectives thrown at this movie, it is at its' heart a wuxia (swordsplay) film about three tales of love, revenge and redemption. Let us not forget that all wuxia movies are based on these themes somewhat, it's just with the glut of similar movies during the early 1990's that the story was de-emphasized in favor of increasing wire-fu antics in order to entrance increasingly jaded local audiences.
The stories revolve around an isolated inn in the depths of the desert run by Ouyang Fang (played by Leslie Cheung), who came seeking solace after his love Maggie Cheung married his brother. Ouyang also runs a murder-for-hire business out of the inn, and the impetus for the stories comes from the missions he does (and does not) take. The first has male and female twins (both played by the impeccable Brigette Lin) hiring Ouyang for competing jobs. Yin, the male, wants Ouyang to kill his best friend (played by Tony Leung Ka-Fai) for jilting his twin sister Yang, who wants Ouyang to kill Yin for trying to make her marry Leung in the first place. Secondly, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai plays an assassin losing his sight, looking for one last job so he can return to his hometown. The last story features another assassin, this time Jacky Cheung. He stands at a crossroads at his life and must decide whether to go all they way and become a cold-blooded killer or accept his feelings for drifter Charlie Yueng.
Now, that is a pretty simple story, but Wong's techniques have created a movie that may be too confusing for some people. The movie depends heavily on flashbacks, which are one of my least favorite film devices. And while I will agree that the flashback-heavy structure makes the film perhaps a bit too dense, the flashbacks and playing with the timeline (much like Pulp Fiction) gives Ashes of Time an unexpected flavor that warrants repeated viewings. It is the exact reason why many people don't like this movie -- "it's too confusing" -- that gives it some weight compared to many of its anorexic counterparts. Even the mighty juggernaut of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (though it has a lovely story that depends on flashbacks itself) doesn't hold up as well to repeated viewings as this movie. Because Ashes of Time is one of those rare films where you take in something new each and every time you watch it.
The other sticking point for many of this movie's critics is Wong Kar-Wai's (via cinematographer Christopher Doyle) visual style. Sammo Hung took great pains to stage the fight scenes in a classical style, but Doyle's "stop-printing" technique renders the scenes near-incomprehensible. While I will agree that I may have like to see these grand fights staged in a typical fashion, the unusual style (once again, after repeated viewings) creates an aura around these scenes that will make them stick in your mind. The fleeting images -- swords going off the edge of the frame, twirling and blurring fighters, isolated spurts of blood -- provide an intense sense of close sword combat near unmatched by any film before or since. And Doyle's style outside of the action scenes provide some striking images as well. I don't think I've ever seen shots in a movie as beautiful as in Ashes of Time. In particular, two shots stick in my mind, one with Brigette Lin highlighted by a lantern inside the inn, and, most strikingly, near the end, where a relatively simple shot of Maggie Cheung contemplating the events that have gone on makes her look simply gorgeous, almost angelic. Again, it is in the way Wong carves his own niche with his particular visual style that Ashes of Time rises far above not only just other wuxia movies or other Hong Kong movies, but most films (regardless of where they were produced) in general.
Perhaps no other movie in the Hong Kong fanboy community inspires such varied opinions as this one. Just look at any of the discussions that pop up on Usenet or other websites' reviews. Most critics of this film point to the way Wong Kar-Wai disregards many of the "rules" of the wuxia genre and creates a film that is too complicated and stylish for its' own good. However, it is exactly the way Wong breaks these rules that make it one of the most unique takes on the genre and one of the most well-crafted films to come out of Hong Kong in the last ten years. If you aren't a fan of Wong Kar-Wai's work, there's really no reason for you to watch this movie. But if you haven't seen any of his films, this is an excellent place to start. It's also an excellent place to expand your Hong Kong film horizons to include something other than guys running around with dual guns and toilet jokes.
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
Everything you say is true (although, to be honest, it is very difficult to film Maggie Cheung and NOT have her look magnificent). This is definitely a film that requires frequent re-viewings to fully appreciate.
Donnie Yen plays Cat, a man who spends his days talking with a radio DJ and admiring the cute cop who lives across the street (Wu) and his nights making money as an assassin. He agrees to take one last job so he can retire. The job is to take out a producer, whose bodyguard turns out to be Cat's former NYPD partner Wesley (Wong), who framed Cat and sent him to jail before coming to Hong Kong. Cat sets out to kill Wesley, but Wu gets in the way, so Cat kidnaps her. You probably know the rest -- Cat and Wu fall in love as both the cops and Wesley close in.
Ballistic Kiss certainly has its share of detractors; one of the nicknames for this movie in the newsgroups is "Ballistic Sh*t." However, it also has its share of supporters. The books Planet Hong Kong and City on Fire note it as one of the best post-handover action movies (City on Fire goes so far as to say that it "revives the Hong Kong action movie"). I would supsect Hong Kong Action Cinema author Bey Logan would also rave about the movie, but that's probably because he helped write the story and is a good friend of Yen's. Anyway, expecting the worst but hoping for the best, I dove into this movie and I find myself in neither camp. Ballistic Kiss has some inventive moments, but is ultimately let down by a weak script and some over-indulgence on Yen's part, both as star and director.
The bad bits? I've already mentioned the script, which just has really weak character motivation. It uses the age-old device of the hostage falling for her captor, even though there is no reason for her to do so. One of Cat's first lines to Wu is "Don't move, or I will break all your limbs" and later he tells her (while she is tied up) that he watches her very night before he goes to bed. Gee, what a smoothie. A sadist and a stalker -- no wonder she falls for him! The script also overuses profanity. I'm not against profanity in movies -- films like Reservoir Dogs and Goodfellas put it to some very creative uses -- but when every other word in a movie is the "f-bomb" just for the sake of putting in there (or so it seems), it gets old really quick.
The other major problem in Ballistic Kiss is the cast. Besides Yen, the leads are just plain horrible. Annie Wu, in particular, is bad. Wesley tells her early on "you don't look like a cop," and I couldn't agree more. I can see why Cat would develop a thing for her -- she's plenty cute -- but she displays no toughness at all, and as such, is totally unbelievable as a cop. James Wong isn't great either. You must have a good actor to play the villain in any action movie, and Wong doesn’t fit the bill. He uses the standard half-Cantonese/half-English for HK film newcomers and delivers both horribly. Watching this guy try to drop street slang in order to look tough is painful.
The good bits come with the action sequences, at least some of them. Donnie Yen is one of the best martial artists in Hong Kong movies, and he puts his talents to good use here. There is one implausible shootout in the film, where literally thousands of rounds are fired at close range to Cat, but he gets hit only once. In the arm. Barely. I know it's an unwritten rule that bad guys in action movies are supposed to be lousy shots, but this is ridiculous. But other than that scene, the rest of the action stuff is pretty good (though a bit overcranked) and stylishly violent. Yen also creates an interesting character. Despite the flaws in Ballistic Kiss, I was intrigued by the character of Cat. I wish Yen had taken a Ghost Dog approach to this film, and distanced Cat even further from humanity. This would make more sense given his views on the subject ("there is no innocence") and create a more unique film experience, rather than the same old heroic bloodshed with a few new tricks we have here.
A group of high-class thieves led by the mysterious "Baroness" is set to launch a major heist in Mainland China, and Anthony Wong is hot on their trail. However, when he learns that one of the gang is an undercover cop from Hong Kong, the emphasis switches from pursuit to protection as he must try to save the undercover cop from the gang.
Baroness marks a switch from most of the recent HK movies that have come out lately like Gen-X Cops. There's not a cast of pretty young actors or huge special effects. It's more like the popular crime/action movies from the mid-1990's. However, Baroness fails to capture the passion and intensity of many of those films. The story has been done many times before, and Baroness adds nothing new to the mix, throwing in every cliché in the book -- including the seemingly mandatory romantic subplot.
Since the story is nothing new, Baroness's success would have to depend largely on the actors' performances. Sadly, none of the actors do a very good job. Even Anthony Wong, who won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor two years ago and who is normally one of HK's top character actors, puts in a dismal performance. He looks like he's sleepwalking through the role and every time he talks, it sounds like he's got a mouthful of dumplings or something. I've read recent interviews with Wong that say how dismayed he is with the HK movie industry. If he really feels that way, he should just retire instead of subjecting audiences to mediocre performances like this one.
A couple of decent action sequences can't save this film from being stunningly average. Between films like A Man Called Hero and this one, no wonder why people are calling the HK action genre "dead." I wouldn't go that far, but too many more half-ass efforts like this will definitely be the proverbial nail in the coffin for Hong Kong action films.
Lau Ching-Wan stars as the hotheaded cop Bill, who is demoted to the "Emergency Unit" (beat cops) after slugging his incompentent boss in the nose. However, he's not willing to let a big case go by and he (and his team of misfits) go after a team of high-class criminals led by Yu Rong Guang and Anthony Wong.
Big Bullet could have been a big stinker; the plot is nothing special and all of the characters are stereotypes (the hotheaded cop, the overenthusiastic cop who turns out to be a coward, etc.). The action sequences, while good, are really nothing special (at least compared to many other HK action films). Big Bullet is saved from being just another cop/action movie by the performances of the actors. While there's no Oscar-caliber performances (most of the actors play within their given stereotypes) all of the actors work really well together which makes the story much more plausible and pleasant to watch. Lau and Chan provide the exception to the rule by operating outside of their usual roles at the time (Lau's romantic loser and Chan's young hooligan) and give the film's best performances as well as a credible relationship for the movie to build around. Apparently, many of the principal actors in Big Bullet are friends in real life and it shows; none of the relationships in the film seem forced, which is a major problem in many action movies where attention to characterization is often diverted to emphasis on bloodshed.
A good action movie that should satisfy fans of the genre.
While Bio-Zombie (which is this movie's spiritual forefather) took its' inspiration from Day of the Dead, Bio-Cops comes across as a bit of a mix between Night of the Living Dead 3 and Assault on Precinct 13. A Hong Kong doctor working for the US military to develop a virus, which will allow the army to use undead soldiers, unwittingly brings it back to his native land. Landing up in an isolated police station after a fight with some local Triads, the virus takes hold and turns the doctor into a zombie. Unlike most zombie movies, the ones in Bio-Cops can walk, talk and think for themselves -- at least the actors paid for speaking roles; I guess zombie extras will always be "Shemps," as Evil Dead director Sam Raimi called them. After slaughtering everyone around him, the doctor hatches upon a plan to create a "zombie world order." The trouble is that he's still locked in the police station, along with a few survivors, such as a cop (Stephen Fung), a hooligan (Sam Lee) and the doctor's ex-girlfriend (Alice Chan).
Bio-Zombie is one of my favorite Hong Kong movies; it was a great mix of comedy and horror (as well as a bit of social satire) -- so I had pretty high expectations for this pseudo-sequel. Sadly, Bio-Cops didn't meet them. The main problem is that it takes itself too seriously. Whereas Bio-Zombie moved along at a fast pace, Bio-Cops plods along, with zombies delivering speeches about lost love and the like. This might have been acceptable if the movie could carry this dark tone visually, but it doesn't. I know Hong Kong special effects aren't up to the standards of Hollywood, but gore effects are some of the easiest and cheapest to produce (just look at the aforementioned Evil Dead) and Bio-Cops' effects just look horrible. I'm sorry, but cheap prosthetics, green slime and rudimentary CGI just don't cut it for me. I was still willing to forgive these differences, but then about midway through the movie, the filmmakers decide to start ripping off gags from other horror movies and video games, most notably Resident Evil. While Bio-Zombie did this, it did it in very small doses (such as the House of the Dead bit) -- not as the basis for an entire sequence.
This is still a fairly entertaining movie, mostly carried by the chemistry Stephen Fung and Sam Lee have together. It's just that Bio-Zombie was so good -- it's one of the few horror movies that have come out over the past few years that I actually liked -- that an average sequel comes off as a major disappointment.
Two pirate VCD sellers, Woody Invincible (played by Chan -- heh, dirty bird, he's still called Mo Dik in other versions) and Bee (Lee), run into a guy while returning their boss' car. The victim starts asking for a soda, so Bee gives him one that was laying by the crash scene, not knowing that it is actually a secret chemical weapon that turns people into zombies. Fearing trouble from the police, Woody and Bee put the body into their car and swing back to the local mall, where they have their VCD shop. To their horror and amazement, the body seems to disappear. But when strange things start to happen, they realize that the man they hit has turned into a zombie. The two friends, along with a small group of survivors, must try to get out of the mall, which has turned into a death trap.
I've always been a fan of zombie movies. Whether it's the level of gore or the nihilistic ("everybody dies") attitude, I don't know. So when Bio-Zombie began to create some buzz in the newsgroups, I was very anxious to view Hong Kong's take on the "classic" zombie movie.
I wasn't disappointed -- Bio-Zombie is the best horror movie I've seen in quite some time. Don't get me wrong -- the film is nothing serious and won't give you recurring nightmares; it definitely has its tongue planted firmly in cheek at all times. While this may turn many people off, I've always found that the best zombie movies (such as Peter Jackson's Dead/Alive) have just as much humor as gore.
Everything about Bio-Zombie is done well; Chan and Lee, while no thespians, do create a couple of likeable characters as the hooligan VCD dealers. Chan, in particular, is great as he delivers lines like "Monster? Monster? Hell, I've got a monster in my pants!" The supporting cast is also good as well; I'm waiting for the "sushi boy" to come back in the sequel, and the nerdy guy who complains to Woody and Bee that his VCD has crappy quality (something which with a lot of US HK film fans can sympathize with) is a nice bit of comic relief. The cinematography, while nothing extraordinary, is really far above many other horror movies; for instance, there's a great sequence where the survivors are profiled ala video games such as "Street Fighter." And, suprisingly to me for a movie made after 1997, there's a high level of gore. While it's no Dawn of the Dead, there's enough blood to keep any gore hound happy (let's put it this way -- Woody's weapon of choice is an electric drill). Combined with the great cliffhanger ending, Bio-Zombie marks a great new chapter in the book of zombie movies. At any rate, it's one hell of a lot better than the recent "teen" US horror movies and definitely worth a look if you want a laugh along with your shocks in a horror movie.
Black Cat [1991] (product link) Action/Adventure / Girls With Guns
A HK remake of the French cult classic La Femme Nikita. Leung plays a woman who, after accidentally killing a cop, is drafted into a top-secret organization and trained as an assassin by Yam. After getting pushed back out into the "real world," Leung falls for a mild-mannered man, who of course knows nothing about her real job. Leung must try to decide which world she belongs to as the organization's net draws tighter.
A lot of people raved about this movie, but I wasn't all that impressed. The movie does have a nice visual style with good cinematography, but none of the actors are really any good. Even Simon Yam (who is normally one of HK's best actors) seems to be sleepwalking through his role. Leung is particularly bad. I just didn't see her as either a cold-blooded killer or innocent girl. Her English is also pretty bad -- this normally wouldn't be a problem in a HK movie but about half her lines are in English!
There are also some glaring errors in the film. Even though the first part of the movie is supposed to be in New York, a lot of the gweilo actors have thick British accents. There is a big deal made about a bullet made out of an ice-like material that dissolves on impact, but can only be used for five seconds. When it is used in a hit, Leung holds the bullet for at least 10 seconds.
Coupled with the weak action sequences, Black Cat just wasn't all that entertaining. Stick with the original instead.
A Mainland soldier (Zhao) disobeys an order and is sent to Lavernia to assist the Chinese embassy. His first day there, Zhao manages to bring in the leader (Lin) of a dangerous Japanese cult. It turns out the cult is running weapons through the country, so the crooked Minister of Defense wants to kill Lin before he can blow the whistle. Since a boatload of Chinese refugees is also causing him headaches, the Minister decides to kill two birds with one stone by having Zhao and his men escort Lin into an ambush. Zhao must keep Lin under arrest while trying to get away from the Lavernian troops.
The Blacksheep Affair was a big disappointment. There's a lot going on wrong in the movie, but for brevity's sake, I'll boil it down to a couple of main points.
All the Laverian (Russian) people speak perfect English. Having white people speak in English is not uncommon in HK movies, but this is ridiculous. They don't even have Russian accents. Did I mention that they're also dubbed in while there's badly translated subs playing? So you get the worst of both worlds. Frankly, I haven't heard a dub job this bad since some of the '70's kung-fu movies. If the producers were trying to create a more international market for this movie, they failed miserably. I saw this in a theatre with a racially mixed audience and the dubbing was an insult to every group's intelligence.
The script is, in a word, horrible. Characters come and go at the drop of a hat, and even when they stay around, they're poorly motivated. Zhao's girlfriend (Hsu), who for some reason manages to hear about his transfer decides to show up from Croatia (I guess moving around in a war-torn European country is easier than I thought). There could have been something done with this character, but she quickly becomes the standard whiny damsel in distress. Most of the other characters in Blacksheep suffer the same fate. The only somewhat interesting character is Lin's cult leader, but instead of developing it more, the movie gives us things like an impromptu song-and-dance number. I also really didn't understand how the Chinese refugees fit into the whole picture. There are several lame attempts at symbolism in Blacksheep, so I guess this is just another one of them. At any rate, the Minister's plan doesn't make any sense -- just like most of the movie.
I could go into more detail, but I really don't care enough about this movie to. The only thing that saves Blacksheep from being a total stinker are the action sequences. Both Zhao and Lin are decent martial artists, and there is a fair amount of Woo-inspired gunplay. But it isn't enough to recommend this movie for anything other than a rental, and only then if there isn't anything better to watch available.
A gang of brutal rapists/murderers are terrorizing Hong Kong. Three detectives (Zhao, Cheung and Au) are assigned to investigate, but their love triangle is getting in the way of business, so their captain orders Cheung to choose one guy. I guess HK cops run by different rules than the US. Anyway, she eventually hooks up with Au and the two marry. On their wedding night -- wouldn't you know it? -- the gang of rapists attack the couple, killing Au and leaving Cheung shell-shocked. Zhao tries to patch things up with her, but she has other plans. Hooking up with an eccentric gay man (Fok, director of Naked Killer), she decides to turn her body into a weapon in order to get revenge.
I normally enjoy a good exploitation/trash movie, but this one just wasn't good. There are normally pitfalls to this genre, such as poor scripts and bad acting, that many films fall prey to -- and Body Weapon is no exception. What usually saves these types of movies are the thrills you get from seeing something other films wouldn't dare to show. However, there is a fine line between "trash" and stinking cinematic garbage. Body Weapon doesn't just cross that line, it jumps over it.
There are two rape scenes in this movie that just disgusted me. I'm sorry, but seeing a guy getting a roll of tokens jammed up his rectum just doesn't fly my sails. Sometimes rape scenes -- even graphically brutal ones -- can be used very effectively, as in Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant. Here they just feel dirty. I felt ashamed watching this, and for the actors involved -- especially Zhao Wen-Zhou, who seemed to be one of HK's most promising young actors a few years back after his incredible performance in Tsui Hark's masterpiece The Blade. Another web reviewer noted that the rape scenes seemed to have been put in for the "raincoat crowd" and I couldn't agree more. I enjoyed such sleaze as The Untold Story and Ebola Syndrome, but some of the elements in Body Weapon seem only suited for die-hard perverts. I'm really surprised that this movie only got a Cat IIB rating and not a Cat III. It's much more graphic than even some of the more disgusting Cat III films produced during the genre's heyday shortly before the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong in 1997.
Body Weapon's only saving graces are the lovely Angie Cheung (who does a nice "tease" performance in the vein of Chingmy Yau) and a couple of solid fights courtesy of Zhao Wen-Zhuo. It's a shame, really. There are times when Body Weapon feels as if it could have been a exploitation classic like Naked Killer, but in the end, it's rubbish with a few bright nuggets mixed in.
Bolo (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Bolo Yeung and Jason Pai Piao star as a pair of convicts sent to become the sherriffs of a small town (what kind of move is that?). Bolo decides to take his job seriously, while Jason just uses the postion to try and get closer to women and the stolen gold which got him put in jail in the first place. Most of Bolo is played up for comedy -- as many films tried to do after the success of Drunken Master -- and it works for a while, but the schtick wears thin in the latter part of the movie. But the action (directed by Bolo and Jason Pai Piao) is solid and makes Bolo a decent viewing for old-school fans.
After over two years and a slate of spinoffs and prequels, we finally return to the story proper. This installment focuses on Chicken (always a good thing in my opinion) who returns from Taiwan to marry a Japanese yakuza's (Sonny Chiba) daughter so the two gangs can come together. As per the usual Y&D antics, things seem to be going well at first -- with Chicken trying to cope with married life and Ho Nam dealing with his squealing girlfriend's (Hsu Chi, in an incredibly annoying performance) own demands to tie the knot. However, both internal and external forces once again challenge the group and there is -- you guessed it -- a big fight for the control of Hung Hing.
This is a good installment -- a hell of a lot better than part 5 -- but if you're not a fan of the series, or have at least seen the previous films, you might be lost as to what exactly is going on. There are attempts at recaps throughout the movie, but they depend on showing really quick clips of previous movies that aren't really going to make much sense unless you've seen them before. The series' popularity may become it biggest detriment; there is almost a mythos around these characters and histories that may be too forboding for first-time viewers, who might just view this as yet another Triad pic. As I am a fan of the series, I'll be a bit more forgiving with the rating, but if you haven't seen the previous movies, you might want to skip this one as it is much more satisfying as a chapter of the series rather than a stand-alone film.
This installment is another prequel, this time concentrating on Chicken (who, for some reason is called Cock in this movie). Growing up in the projects, he falls in love with a girl named Gee (Gigi Leung), but she doesn't like his Triad lifestyle. They eventually come together after the death of Gee's mother (who Chicken respects as his own mother, so now his surrogate family is complete), but Chicken has to go on the run after killing a rival boss. Months later, they get back together and plan to get married but once again "the life" interferes with Chicken's plans and it seems like he and Gee will never get together, until almost ten years later when he meets up with her at Sister Thirteen's (Sandra Ng) wedding.
The movie isn't as violent as most of the others in the series -- in fact, there's kind of a "warm and fuzzy" feeling running through it. It would quickly turn into romantic mush if it wasn't for the good performances of Jordan Chan and Gigi Leung. This is still pretty lightweight stuff, but it's enjoyable, and it does flesh out the character of Chicken a bit more. On its' own, Those Were the Days isn't a great movie -- honestly, this "Triad and good girl" romance thing has been done to death. But as part of the series, I'll be a bit forgiving and say that it's a pretty good film, even though the script doesn't exactly fit in with the previous entries (it has Ho Nam joining the Triad first, whereas Young and Dangeorus: The Prequel had Chicken being the first of the group to join).
Having realized that they might have run the course of Y&D with part 5, but still wanting to milk the franchise (and, maybe more importantly, having a new set of young stars to thrust upon Hong Kong), the filmmakers turned to that old tried-and-true gimmick: the prequel. The story takes place after the playground incident in the first film, with Bee saving the kids from Kwan. However, the prequel expands on this. Ho Nam (played here by Tse) does not immediately join up with Bee as he did in Y&D1. He admires Bee and sees the Triad as a way to get out of his poor existence, but does not want to hurt his mother's feelings or put his friends in jeopardy. Ho Nam still sees school as a way out of the ghetto, but after he is kicked out for singing an "objectionable" song at the school's talent show, that road is closed to him. After he learns that Chicken (played by Lee) has already joined up with Bee, Ho Nam makes the choice that will determine the rest of his life.
After the last couple of Y&D movies, I was a bit skeptical about the prequel. But this film really recaptures the formula that made the first three films fun to watch. Newcomer Tse turns in a great performance as the young Ho Nam (he won a Hong Kong Film Award for his part) and Sam Lee is quite good as well. The plot is fairly simple, but the style once again lifts this movie above the average Triad movie. It's also one of the few prequels where it is interesting to watch how the characters develop, especially when it comes to seeing how exactly Ho Nam became the leader of the group.
My personal favorite of the series; it can stand quite well on its' own. In fact, I would recommend watching this one first before the "real" first installment. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.
Once again, Ho Nam's "empire" is threatened. This time it's by a young upstart also named Ho Nam (Mark Cheng). What could have been a potentially interesting plot is dropped in favor of something involving real estate fraud, which is later dropped in favor of some silly kickboxing tournament between the rival gangs. The creators of the film took a long time (at least in terms of the series) to make Y&D5, but apparently they forgot to write a decent script. The movie goes all over the map. Characters and entire plot lines come and go at a whim and there are huge holes in the film, such as where the hell is Chicken? Ho Nam cannot carry the movie on his own; most of the enjoyment out of the previous installments came from watching Ho Nam and Chicken's relationship and, I'm sorry, the relationship between Ho Nam and a ditzy girlfriend (Hsu) just doesn't cut it. Lee is absolutely wasted in his role as (what else) a cop, and, once again, Anthony Wong's role amounts to nothing more than a glorified cameo.
Definitely the worst of the series; even big fans of Y&D were put off by this rubbish. Watch if you're a completist only.
The focus switches back to Chicken in this installment. A leader in the rival Ting Sung society (Cheung) kills one of the Hung Hing boys, which sets up a power struggle between Chicken and Cheung's protégé Barbarian for control of a key district. Ho Nam, after having numerous loved ones snuffed in the past three movies, tries to talk Chicken out of taking a leadership role, but Chicken thinks it's his time and ignores him. You probably know what happens next -- lots of double-crosses, tested loyalties and beatdowns galore. Will Chicken become triumphant and become a boss of his own?
The series starts to show its age in this installment. I guess cranking out four movies in little more than a year had its toll on both cast and crew. There's nothing really special here; most of the leads seem to be on auto-pilot all the way through. Even the great Anthony Wong (in a role that amount to little more than a cameo) doesn't seem to care, forgoing even the hair and makeup used in the previous installments to differentiate his character. The romantic subplots, which were treated well in the other movies, are painfully laughable here, especially the one between Cheng and Reis. Their love scene is so atrociously bad that I was actually groaning in disbelief.
The film isn't all bad -- Cheung is quite good as the villain and Chan turns in another good performance, though not quite up to the level of parts 2 or 3. Overall, Y&D4 is a by-the-numbers crime film that you might call "stunningly average"; fans of the series will definitely enjoy this one more than the casual viewer.
The focus of the story switches from Ho Nam to Chicken in this installment as Hung Hing tries to forge ties with a powerful Taiwanese crime boss, who Chicken worked for (and whose girlfriend [Yau] he romanced) during his time of exile in Y&D1. Things get complicated at home in Hong Kong when a rival in the group (Wong) tries to push Ho Nam out of power.
The series takes a more serious turn in this installment. Since their experience in Macao, Ho Nam and his brothers are no longer wide-eyed young boys. They know being a Triad comes with its own set of special consequences. Chicken, in particular seems to have changed fairly dramatically; instead of laughing at a friendly priest's (Lam) advice, he begins to take it seriously, treating the "father" almost as a real father. The actors reflect this change in the lives of their characters. Cheng seems to have settled into the role of Ho Nam, taking the woodeness of the first movie and turning it into cool calculation, and Chan steals the show as the increasingly world-weary Chicken, who becomes torn between his two "families." And, of course, having Anthony Wong in a movie doesn't hurt either. Even though it's not a great performance, Wong creates a suitably sleazy villain that should please fans of his work. The only sore thumb in the bunch is Yau, who looks to be out of her element here, regulated to being nothing more than (very pretty) window dressing.
The story begins as a group of kids are trying to play soccer when they are harassed by a local Triad boss, Kwan (Ng). Another boss, the kindly Bee, saves them from getting beat up too bad and the kids decide to join him in the Hung Hing Group. Flash-forward ten years and the kids, led by Ho Nam (Cheng) and his right-hand man Chicken (Chan), are quickly moving up the Triad ladder. They spend their days gambling, drinking and harassing women, among them a local hooker named Smartie (Lai) who steals Nam's car and then later his heart. The "president" of Hung Hing (Yam) decides it's time for the boys to get serious and sends them to Macao to conduct a deal. During their trip, it becomes apparent that they were set up by someone within Hung Hing. Ho Nam must try to clear his name and avenge his friends.
While it suffers from an unoriginal plot and somewhat wooden acting from the lead Cheng, the film's quick pace and slick visuals, as well as a great villainous performance from Francis Ng, make Young and Dangerous a fairly entertaining and watchable film. A good introduction to the series that will likely make you wanting to see more.
Portland Street Blues (product link) Triad / Drama This is a spinoff/prequel concentrating on Sister Thirteen (Sandra Ng) and the things that caused her to become a Triad, starting with the death of her father at the hands of a gang. Sister Thirteen is one of the most unique -- and underwritten -- characters in the Y&D series, so the premise of this movie is pretty interesting. It's also exceuted well, catapulted through great performnces by Ng and (more suprisingly) Hsu Chi. I'm not normally a fan of her work, but her performance as a heroin addict who provides Thirteen's way into Hung Hing is really good. The movie is a great addition to the series, but also stands alone well, since there are so few non-exploitative stories about women gangsters done anywhere in the world.
The Bride With White Hair (product link) Martial Arts / Fantasy The story of two lovers, Lian (Lin) a witch, and a swordsman Zhuo (Cheung) who are on opposite sites of a revolutionary battle.
A frenzied mix of action and romance that is one of the most popular HK films of all time and paved the way for many imitators. The story (based on a Chinese novel) is top notch, the two leads have great chemistry together (which makes the romance believable) and the fight sequences are stunningly choreographed. If there is fault to be found with the film, director Yu does overuse slow-motion in the action sequences and, while most of the movie looks great, at other points it looks very cheap.
At any rate, this is top-notch fare and a perfect way to show someone that there is more to HK movies than kung fu and gun battles.
An evil witch (Lin) is intent on killing off the eight great kung fu clans so she can rid the world of men. Only her former lover (Cheung) can hope to stop her with a special flower that will revert the witch to her former self.
This sequel to the mega-popular The Bride with White Hair fails to capture the magic of the original. Most of this comes from the fact that the two leads -- whose romance is the plot impetus for both movies -- only share one scene together. Plotwise, it also doesn't really stand too well on its own. American director James Cameron (Aliens, Terminator 2) once said "I don't believe a sequel should depend on the original," and I think that applies here. Those who haven't seen part 1 will either be bored or confused as pertaining to the plot, and Yu's direction leaves much to be desired in the action department. While there is a great amount of action, Yu uses slow motion way too much -- almost every shot later in the film uses it! And keep in mind that I am a huge John Woo fan, so I am quite used to slow motion being used in action sequences.
Another in the series of "true crime" Category III films done by "Bloody" Billy Tang, Brother of Darkness tells the story of a man who brutally kills his brother after years of abuse. While it has most of the ingredients of a successful Cat III movie -- most notably lots of sex and violence -- Brother of Darkness fails to deliver most of the thrills and shocks that fans of the genre have come to expect from the director of such movies as Dr. Lamb. It's almost too clean; the sex scenes seem more appropriate for an episode of Red Shoe Diaries or some other softcore "romantic" fluff, and the violence -- while pretty bloody -- isn't as over-the-top as most other Cat III movies. And Anthony Wong doesn't kill anyone, do any drugs, or even swear! This isn't a horrible movie, but it just can't seem to decide whether it's a serious family drama or a Cat III exploitation flick and, as such, isn't really all that satisfying to fans of either genre.
Bruce Li: The Invincible (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Bruce Li plays a student of Shaolin kung fu who goes after a former pupil (Michael Chan) who uses his skills for assassinations. This is pretty standard old school fare made a bit better by some solid fight choreography. There's not really all that much to say; this movie really doesn't offer anything new or unique to the mix. It makes for some decent rainy day viewing, but it's nothing worth rushing out to see.
Bury Me High has a fairly unique plot -- an evil general is trying to use feng shui (the art of placing things in the proper place in order to obtain power) to take over a small country, and it's up to a small team of rebels to stop him. While this kind of stuff might be a bit confusing, the movie moves along at a quick clip, so things don't become too muddled. More emphasis is placed on set design/lighting and action, rather than geomancy -- which is really not a bad thing. Bury Me High looks great, almost like a comic book at times, and the action (especially the bits done by Chin Kar-Lok, one of the more under-rated actors in HK action movies) is pretty damn exciting. Of course, when you have Moon Lee and Yuen Wah (once again proving why he is one of the best villain actors in HK) duking it out, you really can't go wrong.
Some plot quibbles, low budgets, and bad gweilo actors (Moon's English is better than the white guys in here) aside, Bury Me High is overall a well-made action movie.
Wong Jing's movies may be a lot of things -- at times they can be stupid, incoherent, infantile, or a number of other negative adjectives -- but they're usually not boring. This movie is. It's widely recognized as the beginnings of the modern gambling movie genre, which is still going to this day (at last count, Wong himself had had a part in about 30-40 of these types of movies). There are a couple of good gambling scenes (Wong's favorite to direct) but there's little else of interest in this film.
Andy Lau and Alan Tam play a gambling/con artist duo, supposedly the best in Asia (and, thinking about it, this would probably be true, since they seem to have the ultimate "poker faces," never changing expression throughout the movie). They get invited to a Las Vegas casino to help shut down a ring of Japanese Yakuza who are cheating and breaking the bank. It takes them about ten minutes to figure out the scam (something silly involving reflective watch faces) and everything seems cool. The pair then concentrate on getting laid. Eventually, Tam hooks up with a Japanese heiress who wants him to go straight. Though Lau wants to keep the pair active, Tam agrees and heads back to HK. Without Tam by his side, Lau eventually gets caught by the Japanese and has his hand crippled. In a plot device obviously lifted from A Better Tomorrow, Tam must decide whether to stay on the straight and narrow or help his friend get revenge.
On paper, this seems like a pretty good plot. However, much of the middle portion of the movie has nothing to do at all with gambling and really grinds the movie down. There aren't even the usual Wong Jing toilet jokes to keep things lively. The eventual gambling showdown at the finale is pretty good, but it's the old case of "too little, too late." This one's probably only for hardcore Andy Lau fans only, and even they might be disappointed since he doesn't run around shirtless or sing a bunch of ballads like most of his other movies.
Alex Fong and Sunny Chan play a duo of hired killers whose lives fall into disarray after Chan falls in love with Triad moll Kathy Chow.
You might think the reunion of the team that brought us Naked Killer might produce something a bit more interesting than this. It offers up a good amount of violence and a bit of sex but really nothing new. A lot of Wong Jing's movies seem rough and unpolished -- he doesn't believe is spending a lot of time on pre (script) or post (editing) production. Usually, though, his films get by with sheer visual visceral overload. Cheap Killers' Cat IIb rating seems to inhibit it a bit. I'm not saying that films need to be bloody to be good, but why do things half-way, especially when you are Wong Jing?
Cheap Killers isn't a horrible movie, just a bit on the boring side. If Wong had applied a little spit and polish, or a bit of gusto instead of just going through the motions, it might have been a better film. The core story, while not original, is handled well, giving enough twists to keep things interesting but not so much as to jumble the plot. Most of the actors (especially Alex Fong) give good performances, and the action is pretty solid. It's worth a look if you're into the action/crime genre.
One of the oldest gags in a police movie is the "good cop, bad cop" routine. You know, where one cop acts like a jerk and the other like a buddy to get the suspect confused. That's kind of what this movie felt like. There are some parts of this movie that are great -- Hong Kong action at its finest -- but there are others that are so horrible that by the end of the film, I honestly didn't really know what to think about it.
The good bits? As you might expect, it's the action. There are a few sequences that rank among some of the best to come out of Hong Kong from the past few years. My personal favorites are a car chase between a Lambroghini and a Formula 1 race car that goes over, around and through a slew of oncoming traffic, and the ending fight, which takes place on a pane of glass dangling off the end of a skyscraper. It was really refreshing seeing a big-budget Hong Kong action film that didn't depend on CGI like many recent movies -- it even has the wince-inducing blooper reel to prove it. I also enjoyed Noriko Fujiwara, who is not only extremely easy on the eyes (if a pretty girl could be considered "eye candy," then she's the equivalent of a double-dipped mocha chocolate fudge cake), but puts a good turn during the action bits as well.
Now for the bad part, which sadly starts with poor Ms. Fujiwara. Most of her role is in English, and her English is horrible. Honestly, I would just rather have her voice dubbed in -- or, hell, just have her speak in Japanese since we're reading subtitles anyhow -- rather than try and put up with her attempts to mangle the English language. The bad "Engrish" bug also strikes most of the other Asian actors as well, Aaron Kwok (as should come as no surprise with his track record) being the most prominent victim. The scenes with him and Noriko flirting are painful to watch. Speaking of painful, why the hell is Coolio in this movie? All I can figure is that he must have been staying at Stanley Tong's house and they needed a villain. His attempts at acting are just pathetic, and it's not like he's reciting Shakespeare or anything. His catchphrase for the movie is "Yo man, I could get used to this sh*t," which he repeats every time he's on the screen.
As I said before, I really don't know how to rate this movie. The action sequences are great (representing what Hong Kong movies do best), but the rest of the movie is utter crap, highlighting everything wrong with recent Hong Kong movies, right down to a simple plot hampered by an overconvoluted script (Tokyo Raiders, anyone?). China Strike Force is worth a look if you're a hardcore action junkie, but if you want some substance, decent acting or a coherent script, then look elsewhere.
Beginning from when the first film left off, this installment sees Leslie going back to his hometown after losing his beloved. The town has been overrun by pirates and the cops mistake Leslie for one when they sweep the town and toss him into jail. After escaping, he meets up with Taoist priest Jacky Cheung, a mess of new evil ghosts and a woman who bears a striking resemblance to his lost love.
Like most sequels, A Chinese Ghost Story II isn't as good as the original, but happily in this case, it isn't a total wash-out. There is actually some movement of the story -- building upon the first movie without depending too heavily on it. The romance is de-emphasized in this installment in favor of supernatural action, which might disappoint some viewers, but I liked the fresh approach this film took. As could be expected under Ching Siu-Tung, the action sequences are imaginative and well-done, including some early use of CGI.
A pair of monks take refuge in an old church during a rainstorm, where a tree demon decides to take their souls, and sends out a pair of nymphs (Joey Wong and Nina Li Chi) to dispatch them. The monks manage to fight off the demons, but lose their prized (and magical) Gold Buddha in the process. Now, the young monk (Tony Leung) must join up with a wandering swordsman (Jacky Cheung) to try and stop the demons.
As you might guess, this is not really a continuation of the first two movies. Rather, it is more of a similar tale in the genre. It's effective for what it is: the special effects are suitably inventive and gruesome, the action is fast and lively, and there is also a nice bit of drama and romance and Joey Wong starts to have feelings for Tony Leung. It's nothing earth-shattering, but A Chinese Ghost Story III should please fans of the first two movies. Even if you haven't seen either of the previous films, it's still an entertaining way to kill ninety minutes.
Despite on how much has been written about this movie, the basic plot is pretty simple. It's the story of two cops dealing with love and realtionships in the fast-paced world of Hong Kong. The first part concentrates on Takeshi Kaneshiro as he pines for the girlfriend who dumped him. Every night, he goes through a series of strange rituals hoping to get her back. When they seem to fail, he goes on a series of binges, first eating all the pineapple he can pick up and then heading to a local watering hole where he gets well and truly soused, after which he meets up with a mysterious smuggler played by Brigitte Lin (in her last film role and nearly unrecognizable in a blonde wig and big sunglasses). The second story focuses on Tony Leung, who also has gone through a break-up, as he develops a strange relationship with a girl who works at a local cafe (Faye Wong).
At first, I really did not know what to think about this movie. Like most of Wong Kar-Wai's works, it's at times obtuse and almost overly self-indulgent. However, there are so many scenes in Chungking Express which stick in your mind -- almost like fleeting images from a dream -- that by the end of the movie, or especially after repeated viewings, that it tends to grow on you, like the guy at the bar who you think is obnoxious at first but turns out to be a pretty good chap in the end. I will grant that there are some parts of the movie which seem totally silly and absurd. For instance, Faye has a habit of breaking into Tony's apartment and rearranging his furniture -- and Tony never seems to realize this. There are also parts which seem to translate into movie-making mastrubation, such as the seemingly infinite repeating renditions of "California Dreaming." The song is Faye's favorite and it plays almost every time she is onscreen at very high volume. I'm aware of what a musical motif is, but at times the repitition get ridiculous.
But, as I said before, there are a lot of scenes in Chungking Express which hold your attention and make the story more credible as a whole. Perhaps not coincidentally, these scenes are often those which feature the least gimmicks to them, the ones where the actors can simply work. The scenes where Takeshi tries to pick up Brigitte by asking her if she likes pineapple in five different languages, Tony berating his dishrag for not having enough absorbency, or especially the small scenes of Tony and Faye meeting up in a local market and awkwardly flirting, are both funny and powerful in a quiet way. It is in these scenes that Chungking Express transcends typical romantic movie territory becuase the characters become something more than cookie-cutter caricatures as present in most other movies of the type. Even though their actions seem "unreal/unbelivable" (in terms of the romantic movie canon) at first, the more we learn and see about them, the more you feel connected to them -- and more importantly, the more you care about where the movie will lead to.
If you've read some of my reviews here, you can probably guess that I'm normally not a big fan of either romantic or "art-house" movies. But I feel that Chungking Express is so well-done that it warrants a viewing from anyone who considers themselves a serious movie fan. If you want to expand your Hong Kong movie horizons to something other than cops and robbers or kung fu, this is an excellent place to start.
A couple of notes about the movie:
Chungking Express was actually done during the editing of Wong Kar-Wai's Ashes of Time, as Wong was having "editor's block" and needed something to cleanse his pallette. Almost none of the script was completed before shooting -- Wong only knew that he wanted to look at relationships in Hong Kong. Wong would write scenes during the day and then have the actors work them out at night.
As I mentioned before, this was Brigitte Lin's final film role, even though techincally, Ashes of Time (which Lin also starred in) came out later. Wong wanted her to wear the blonde wig in order to both poke fun at and take advantage of the Greta Garbo vibe Brigitte carried with her. At this point in Hong Kong film history, Brigitte was a huge star in Asia after the popular Swordsman trilogy, but shied away from the limelight, just as Garbo had. After Chungking Express, Lin (like many HK actresses) married "out" of the movie industry with a relationship with a businessman, in this case one of the founders of the "Espirit" clothing company -- perhaps, not coincendentally, one of the major corporate sponsors of the movie. In a bit of history repeating itself, Lin in retirement has become like Garbo in her later years -- at least according to various press reports and internet rumors -- staying away from the movie industry and formal interviews, but remaining a very nice person. She can still be seen walking along the streets of Hong Kong (her sister owns a shop there).
On the other side of the coin, this was Faye Wong's first role in a movie (though she had worked on a few soap operas before). Even though Chungking Express was a success with both critics and fans, Faye decided to keep concentrating on her musical career and did not make another movie until 2000's Okinowa Rendevous. On closer inspection though, Faye seems to have a lot in common with Brigitte, which makes a nice parallel with their contrasting characters in the movie -- Faye bring the wide-eyed dreamer and Brigitte being the world-weary veteran. After attaining some success in her musical career, Faye broke with tradition by singing in Mandarin rather than Cantonese, while at the same time bringing more of a western influence to her work (she sings the Chinese cover of the Cranberries' "Dreams" featured on the soundtrack). Like Brigitte, she has a pretty icy relationship with the formal press (especially after their reaction to her and young HK teen heart-throb Nicholas Tse's realtionship after Faye had broke up with her husband), but is considered to be extremely friendly to her fans.
Wong Kar-Wai orginally intended for Chungking Express to be a trilogy of stories, but financing prevented him from filming the third story. He would later pick up on this -- albeit somewhat loosely -- with Fallen Angels.
In order to get financing for the movie, Wong Kar-Wai had to promote it as a gangster romance/drama (similar to his earlier films like Days of Being Wild).
City On Fire [1987] (product link) Action/Adventure / Drama
A reluctant undercover cop (Chow) is forced to complete one last job -- infiltrate a gang of jewel thieves led by Lee. Things get complicated when the cop and criminal become friends as they head off to pull the gang's biggest job ever.
City on Fire is probably most famous in the West as the movie that provided some of the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Some people have said that Reservoir Dogs is a total rip-off of City on Fire, but really Reservoir Dogs only shares some similarities; only one shot in Reservoir Dogs is totally swiped, where Mr. White blasts the cop car.
Unlike the fast-talking, pop-culture referencing gangsters of Reservoir Dogs, the characters in City on Fire are somber and serious. Even though there is some comic relief when Chow tries to sweet-talk his girlfriend (Carrie Ng in her first role), the movie (like many of Ringo Lam's other films) has a dark and bleak tone to it. Most of the action in the movie occurs not through the use of guns (though the finale has its share of bloodshed), but from the confrontations between Chow and the various people in his life (as well as his own inner demons).
A good film probably worth watching (for US fans, at least) for the curiosity factor alone. It's a well-made police/gangster drama that set the tone for many films that followed it -- it's just too bad that it hasn't aged as well as some of Ringo Lam's other work, though it still provides a good night's entertainment.
Cold War (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime This movie is a bit of a mixed bag -- there's some stylish gunplay and Simon Yam gives a good performance. On the other hand, we've seen this "killer becomes a target by his former employers" many times before and this movie adds really nothing to it. Things might have been helped if the movie moved at a faster pace. The whole second act (about the middle hour of the movie) just drags and almost kills the film until the finale rescues things somewhat.
A series of bizarre murders on some Hong Kong's top crime bosses (committed by a loner played by Patrick Tam) attracts the public's attention as they are put into a newspaper serial written by Jordan Chan. Detective Sunny Chan is put on the case and tries to use the writer to his advantage by drawing the killer into a trap.
Like a lot of Milkyway's films, this one has a sense of quirk to it. Though it is not over the top like some other Milkyway films -- it's almost like a Quentin Tarantino movie on quaaludes. And that may be why some viewers may be put off by this movie. It's pretty slow paced and deliberate about its' business. We're not talking Wong Kar-Wai slow here, but compared to some other recent Hong Kong movies, it seems kind of sedate.
Not that I am complaining much. I enjoyed watching the story of the three characters, both individually, and then together as the film draws to its' close. The script is smart with few cliches -- a nice break from the deluge of crap scripts in movies from both sides of the ocean -- and the cast's performances help things move along. Jordan Chan takes a nice break from his usual hot-headed characters, and Sunny Chan (known for roughies like Cheap Killers) suprises as the warm-hearted and compassionate cop. Patrick Tam also crates a nice minimalist performance. He's given the fewest lines to work with, but we seem to get to know him the best out of the three main characters. I also liked the way camera tricks were occasionally thrown into the mix. It was done enough to be interesting, but unlike many other recent movies trying too hard to be cool, it never went into overkill.
All in all, Comeuppance is an interesting take on a crime movie that's worth a look if you want to check out something a bit different.
A card shark called Blade (Andy Lau) kills an opponent after things get out of hand during a game and is color-blinded during the process. After getting out of prison (during which time his wife Angie Cheung has left him), Blade hooks up with a young wannabe called Dagger (Nick Cheung) and his sister Athena Chu. Though he wants to leave the past behind him, the brother of the man Blade killed (Waise Lee), through blackmail, brings him back into the fray for a climatic game during the World Cup finals.
The Conman is a pretty restrained movie, which is suprising, since it comes from Wong Jing and co-stars Nick Cheung. Actually, this restraint works in the movie's favor, especially since Andy Lau isn't exactly a dynamic actor. And despite the film's gambling overtones, it is actually more of a romantic drama/comedy, with a lot of the running time dedicated to Andy and Athena's relationship. But these bits work well. Athena Chu is cute as always and Andy is convincing as the world-weary gambler (though the "old age" make up -- which consits of a bad grey dye job -- looks pretty cheesy). Nick Cheung seems to have forgotten that he's supposed to be the next Stephen Chow and reigns himself in his performance, which makes his part actually funny in parts, especially when he's starring in some fake commericals shown during the World Cup game. And some props must be given up to Wong Jing, who puts in a funny parodic performance as a bumbling TV producer (and he also shows his sense of humor by taking some shots at his "fat playboy" image in some of the aforementioned commericals).
This is nothing even close to Wong Jing's gambling classic God of Gamblers, but it's a decent way to kill ninety minutes.
You remember that really cool card-throwing gambler from City Hunter? Wouldn't it be keen to see a whole movie about him? Okay, maybe not. But this is essentially what we have here, in another example of Wong Jing "recycling."
The plot has gambler Jersy (Cheung) winning the title of Hong Kong's best gambler from Leung Kar Yan. While celebrating, an old-timer (Wong Ting) tells Jersy about a legendary gambler named Cool (Koo), who disappeared three years ago. Jersy becomes obsessed with finding Cool, but puts that aside to take his girlfriend (Chung) to Japan. While there, they hop into a Chinese restaurant and the cook just happens to be Cool (Jersy knows it's Cool because Cool has a certain talent for throwing cards). Jersy and Cool eventually form a partnership to get revenge on the man who crippled Cool's girlfirend (Chu) and drove him from gambling.
Like most Wong Jing-affiliated films, this one has its ups and downs. Unfortunately, the downs outweigh the ups here. Probably the biggest detriment to the movie is Nick Cheung. Supposedly, this guy is the next Stephen Chow, but I really saw little of Chow's comedic talent -- or, more importantly, Chow's charisma. Chueng certainly tries hard; he uses all the elements of moy len tau (nonsense comedy) such as rapid-fire Cantonese and pop-culture references (which, in this case, turn out to be jokes about dot coms and HK expatriates like Chow Yun-Fat). But most times he just comes off as a spaz, kind of like a Hong Kong version of Andy Dick.
Conman in Tokyo could have also used some serious editing. The movie runs almost two hours (very long for a HK movie), and there are a lot of scenes which could have been trimmed or cut completely. Probably the biggest offender is a long dream sequence, which makes no sense and adds nothing to the movie (supposedly this is just actually an advertisement for a web site). Conman in Tokyo also depends on the really lame "evil twin" plot device, which has been stomped into the ground.
Still, there is some good stuff in this movie. Conman in Tokyo looks great; obviously, a large (by HK standards) amount of money was spent and it shows. Not only is there a large amount of CGI used in the movie (with varying results), but the last part of the film takes place on an actual aircraft carrier, complete with an exploding plane. The film is also shot and edited well. You can say what you want about Wong Jing productions, but there is always a nice professional look to them.
In other areas, Louis Koo puts in a good performance, giving some much-needed weight to this movie. There is some nice eye candy in the form of Christy Chung and Athena Chu. And there are several good action sequences. Ching Siu-Tung must be a genius, because he makes even Nick Cheung look like a kung-fu badass. It's too bad he couldn't do anything with the rest of this movie.
A beat cop named Mike (Daniel Wu) uses excessive force and makes his senior partner look bad during a shootout. Mike's boss suggests that he resign before he is fired, so that he can transfer to be an undercover cop. As an undercover, Mike's mission is to infiltrate high-level Triad Yum King-Tin's (Eric Tsang) gang, which he does so successfully -- almost too successfully, as within a short time his love of both the Triad lifestyle and Yum's wife Pauline (Suki Kwan) puts his life and mission in jeopardy.
This type of plot, of course, been done many times before. However, Cop on a Mission takes a fresh approach through the characterization of Mike. Most films of this type have the lead undercover character face a crisis of conscience as they must decide which side of the law they are on. Mike makes a different kind of decision than most lead characters in this kind of movie, and that makes this film stand out.
Cop on a Mission also has solid performances from its' cast to help it along. San Francisco native Daniel Wu is still not fluent in Cantonese (something which some of the gangsters make fun of), but he is progressing along fine as an actor, especially when put up against many of Hong Kong's other young thespians. Eric Tsang (known primarily for his comedic roles) is often under-rated when it comes to his dramatic acting, but he puts in a fine performance as the tired Triad boss who just wants to retire. Suki Kwan also does a good job, though her looks don't quite fit in with someone who would send a young guy like Mike all a-flutter. Director Marco Mak (who has done a great deal of editing work before stepping into the director's chair) brings a nice visual style to the film, making it interesting without becoming self-indulgent. I also liked the atmospheric, jazzy score.
So why doesn't Cop on a Mission warrant a higher rating? Ultimately, despite all the good things it has going for it, the film lacks that bit of punch that seperates good films from great ones. The movie's script (written by someone called "Not A Woman") plods in parts and slows the film down. Overall, though, Cop on a Mission is a solid movie that shows that Hong Kong can still produce good crime dramas.
Return Of The 5 Deadly Venoms (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Very good old-school kung fu movie with a standard revenge plot (a group of fighters wants revenge on the man who crippled them in various ways) paired with some bloody fight sequences. The script is done well, focusing on themes of loyalty and brotherhood that would, of course, figure heavily into the heroic bloodshed movies of the 1980's, most notably John Woo's (who worked under Chang during his early days in the HK movie industry).
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