This film spans several years and cities in the lives of the characters, constantly torturing the audience with Li Xiao-Jun and Li Chiao's unfulfilled relationship. We want them to be together but there is always something getting in the way.

Maggie Cheung is amazing in her role. She has played the flower vase in many a film, which is a shame given her talent. Leon Lai is decent but is generally overshadowed by Maggie.

This film also has a really cool ending, which theoretically was intended as somewhat of a surprise, but which observant viewers will not be shocked by. Nonetheless, it works well, bringing the film full circle. Excellent and superbly textured performance by a well rounded cast (including seasoned character actor Eric Tsang Chi-wai and heralded cinematographer Christopher Doyle), along with beautiful cinematography by Jingle Ma helps make this masterpiece the best Hong Kong production of 1996.

Ok enough about bashing the film - despite some minor flaws, this was actually a pretty good movie for the most part. The two main characters: Ekin Cheng and the almost always flawless, Lau Ching Wan, were superb in their kind of "reversal of power" roles they established throughout the film. I was really surprised by Ekin's acting - it was pretty good, almost better than his Young and Dangerous roles. Chingmay Yau's part in the film was also fairly good, but kind of left us wanting her to go away towards the latter half of the movie, as she turned into a drug addict. The cute little girl ,who was the daughter, had some very memorable and shocking scenes in the movie.

What got me was how everything molded together : story, characters, setting, action and "triad themes", to make for an above average HK production. This movie won't be on many top ten lists or become a movie to watch over and over but it is a pretty fun ride the first time through. If you want to watch this movie, ignore the title and don't' expect much then you may find it entertaining - otherwise, you may just think of it as a bunch of Wong Jing crap! Good but not great.

Three years pass by, a horrible crime has been committed where a gang of cops have been "cleanly" wiped out - basically, the work of an ace-marksman. Alex Fong, a cop who was present three years ago during that same event at the shooting range, immediately suspects Leslie, knowing what he's capable of.

If you haven't seen "Double Tap" and are planning to, you don't wanna read on cuz I'm about to giveaway the whole movie in one sentence: Leslie Cheung goes "Postal". Something sparked in his mind the moment he shot and killed that man at the shooting range three years ago. He got off on it and he loved it. Sadly, that's all the viewers have to work off of.

The best thing about "Double Tap" is the viewers never do believe that Leslie is the one responsible for all the killings, even though the proof if right in front of us on a silver platter. But still, the script is generic with almost no imagination at all. There are a few scenes at the shooting range that are well done (especially if you're interested in guns) as well as some neat bullet-action that was obviously inspired by the "Matrix". The film is nicely made and production is tight but overall, uninspiring - if that makes any sense.

My only real gripe with this movie is the nastiness of the truly evil Wah character. His brutal murder-rape scene that just doesn't belong in this kinda movie mars all the light moments. He plays his character way over-the-top in most of his scenes. Agreed, many of us enjoy HK cinema because of its audacity and ability to mix genres and tones, but the brutality of the scene, much of it shown onscreen, is simply much too shocking.

Finally, the opponents discover each other and the fight begins (there are a couple of doozies this one). There is one featuring both Yuens fighting on top of a car hanging from a crane, a sword duel at the beginning, and the end fight that makes use of guns, swords, and then hand-to-hand combat. The combatants during the end fight take some nasty falls (none using stunt doubles!). It is a truly spectacular sequence that I would compare to Drunken Master 2.

A sword fight in the beginning, a dull mass beating a little later on, one-half of a shootout in the embryo stage, and the baddie catching bullets and flicking them back at their originators like freshly-picked boogers. That's what there is to sustain the viewer until the end, where we're treated to a fairly cool "how-far-do-you-dare-to-plummet" stunt and the two Yuens go at it tooth and nail in a fight scene which is remakrable not only because the rest of the movie is a snore, but also because it perfectly illustrates the fact that Yuen Biao's physical abilities are right up there with those of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, the two older "brothers" whose careers have unjustly overshadowed his for far too long.

Sorry folks, but a good ending fight does nothing to remedy such a lame story, nor does it single-handedly boost the movie from the status of the 98-pound weakling who gets sand kicked in his face at the beach to that of the guy who does the kicking. The Iceman Cometh is a weak link in Yuen Biao's cinematic chain.

And I was right. "Different" in the sense that it doesn't play out at all like the plot summaries on the package and elsewhere on the web would have you believe. The movie is described as an action flick with Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock as cops (surprise, surprise) doing pretty standard HK action flick cop stuff. Not so! The main thrust of the movie is three friends...Aspirin, Strepsil and Panadol...trying to make a big score by diving into the deep end of the organized crime pool and cutting a deal with the notorious Mr. Tin. Aspirin and Strepsil and petty thieves and Panadol is a forger/counterfeit artist who has the most unintentionally funny line in the film: "I'll do things unthinkable of!" Strepsil is stuck with the role of mediator when Aspirin and Panadol bicker (which is all the time) and Sammo Hung has a small role as their mentor, referred to only as "the old man". It's odd to see Sammo as a young man pretending to be even older than he is no (2/21/01). Tsui Hark also appears in the film...I believe he plays Panadol but since I'm not accustomed to seeing him, don't think that's set in stone. The guy who plays Mr. Tin has just about the worst diabolical laughter ever produced by villain or villainess. Young Michelle Yeoh, in one of her earliest films (#2 unless I'm mistaken) may be considered the lead and may have the most screen time but she most certainly is NOT the central figure in the story. Neither is Cynthia. This ain't no mindless "You go, girl" flick about women just kicking ass...but you might wish it was.

There's a brief and pointless shootout to start things off; then, for a good hour or so, the story just plods along with a dash of excitement every now and then to keep the viewer at least vaguely interested. The catalyst for Michelle to have the case dumped into her lap is the murder of her friend Richard (which doesn't seem to bother her on a personal level even one little bit). Cynthia Rothrock gets introduced a later on and beats up a fleeing suspect in an airport. Then she beats him up again in the interrogation room. That's pretty much all she likes to do. Beat people up. Michelle's character is more of a good Samaritan type of cop. She may be the beauty queen, but Cynthia is more fun to watch.

Like I said, the plot (such as it is) focuses primarily on Aspirin, Strepsil and Panadol. Panadol is, to be blunt, an addle-brained buffoon, and his buddies aren't exactly criminal geniuses either. Their antics are supposed to be amusing, but they give you an unpleasant sense of "filler". Strange jokes pop up in odd places throughout the film to catch you off guard, but for the most part, they're pretty lame. One notable exception is when Panadol (a complete wuss in addition to being a jackass) must elude an angry ex-customer inside his tiny apartment, which is cluttered with all sorts of obstacles that he uses to his advantage in order to keep his attacker from throttling him. Additionally, there's a part where a civil servant and a police officer argue over the right to give a parking ticket which is worth a snigger or two. Also worth mentioning: a plastic tit, an unusual recipe for applesauce, and Mr. Tin's henchman who looks like a caricature of Saddam Hussein.

So what's the point of all this? Well, it turns out that Aspirin and Strepsil have inadvertently stolen a microfilm from Mr. Tin, and it has fallen into Panadol's possession. On the microfilm is a forged real estate contract worth billions of dollars. This is the plot device around which lots of shit revolves, yet it's hardly given a mention.

So, we have two ass-kicking ladies not kicking much ass and three nincompoops not doing much of anything for about an hour and twenty.

And then, the payoff.

Considering thie sparse and watered down action seen for the majority of the movie, my expectations for the inevitable showdown between the forces of good and the unscrupulous Mr. Tin weren't too high. When said showdown took place (it WAS inevitable, after all) I was much relieved to see that the film had not been a complete waste of time. While not epic by any means, it is a very good "Us vs. Them" battle with Michelle and Cynthia sending bodies flying everywhere and Strepsil just trying to survive (the part where he's cornered by swordsmen is the funniest bit in the movie; you'll know it when you see it). After the peons are dealt with, they go after the big fish. This whole scene seems to be where most of the budget went. They really make a mess out of Mr. Tin's home. The Police Story influence isn't hard to see.

So, when that's all dealt with, it just remains for everyone to go home and live happily ever after, right? Wrong. The very end of the movie tosses out the NLP (Neat Little Package) syndrome and hits the viewer in the balls (female readers, substitute the body part of your choice). All in all, a so-so movie with a very nice finish, but not worth writing home over (unless it's next door).

Leung Ka Fai gets sent to jail for manslaughter after kicking a triad under a bus, complete with sound effects (EWW!). There, he meets up with Chow Yun Fat's Ah Ching character, who happens to be the most charismatic prison inmate ever. Stuff happens, but I don't need to say more because you WILL see Prison On Fire.

Basically, Chow Yun Fat and Leung Ka Fai both deserved awards for this film as both of them are FUCKING FANTASTIC. No jokes. While some may say Roy Cheung is his usual sneering self, it works here and the evil prison warden is bloody well suited to this flick. I was stuck to the screen for the whole thing and I hated the fact that it ended because it just really demands more - probably why there was a sequel that was almost as good (but not quite). Ringo Lam really made the dull grey prison come alive with the characters and not the visual aspect because there's only so much you can get from grey walls and dusty exercise yards.

Prison On Fire gets a bit freakin' sick near the end and Chow Yun Fat shows that Mike Tyson watches Hong Kong movies with a nasty moment, but it doesn't detract from the film because it's already shocked you with the way the prisoners are treated. Ah Ching must be the most luckless man in Hong Kong...

Some of the best acting ever.

Mind you, that complexity isn't always a good thing. While not devoid of cool surprises and some involving non-action scenes, Righting Wrongs is laughably overwritten in some ways and bafflingly underwritten in others. The diatribes about the true effectiveness of the Law (always capitalized) and the relative advisability, or lack thereof, of taking it into your own hands just eat up the time and trigger a "Well, DUH!" reaction from the viewer. At the same time, the movie suffers from a couple of really big-ass plot holes...but so what. Too much chatter gets in the way of the ass-kicking, and that is one respect in which Righting Wrongs is beyond reproach.

The fight scenes are all good, and they're well spaced-out throughout the film. Yuen and Cynthia have a great outing against each other but, sadly, don't do any team-up fighting. Also noteworthy is Cynthia's duel with Karen Shephard. Interesting to see two Caucasian women given such a great showcase for their talents in a Hong Kong movie. A stunt double is used for some of Cynthia's spots, but this isn't as big a problem as it was in YES MADAM, another Corey Yuen flick in which she appeared (check out her miraculous color-changing hair in the chandelier bit).

The climax has a great bout between Yuen Biao and Melvin Wong, who I think makes a pretty good villain. It's followed by one of the most impressive stunts I've yet seen, since we all know that HK movies from the 1980s don't use computer effects to fill in for real people.

(SPOILER ALERT: skip this paragraph if you don't want to find out what happens at the end.) Ah, that ending...what a kick in the nuts. Yes, I know there are TWO endings, and I'm actually talking about both of them. In the original, everybody dies. In the revised one, Cynthia lives but looks ready for eight weeks of physical therapy, and Yuen gets fucked over by the system he once served (although there's no question that he brazenly violated the law...oops, I mean the Law...no matter how justified his actions were). I think a synthesis of the two endings would have worked best of all; I would have had Cynthia survive (but only just), and had Yuen sacrifice himself in his kamikaze-like quest to bring down the bad guy. If the audience finds it "too shocking", I say fuck 'em.

It's a very good action movie...maybe a little too harsh for some, but such is life. If nothing else, it proves that Yuen Biao is capable of carrying the lead role instead of playing second or third fiddle to Sammo Hung and/or Jackie Chan. RW is well deserving of a recommendation...