Over the years, Danny Lee has shown skill for dramatic acting in such films as City On Fire and The Killer but it was Law With Two Phases that really lit up Danny's road to bigger opportunities. Awarded the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, Danny Lee's police-drama comes with a rough surface but underneath that, questions are brewing that in the end makes the film take on a life of good proportions.

Veteran cop B (Danny Lee) gets a new partner, a rulebook worshipping rookie Kit (Eddie Chan). Kit immediately clashes with B regarding his particular way of police procedure but along the way, in an attempt to capture two different and dangerous sets of gangs, tragedy strikes for B in a shooting that leaves a 6 year old boy dead. Now devoid of confidence but an urge to at least capture the one criminal who caused all this, namely Blacky (Parkman Wong), a childhood friend of B's, the two cops meet on the same level of dealing with justice and goes after the gangs...

Law With Two Phases feels a lot like 80s Hong Kong cinema would at the time, mainly referring to action movies. Director Lee very late concerns himself with a plot and seems to just wander between situations for an whole hour. That has a purpose as he sets up the cop character arcs that do not feel in any way fresh, but probably did a little bit more back in 1984, but by doing a gritty drama instead, feelings of clichés as flaws are never really evoked. The two distinctly different cops leads to the questions underneath the narrative that are very much up for a post-movie discussion, even today.

There's clear hints that the society around the cops are reacting to the harsh violence towards criminals. Here, director Lee, without really answering, evokes questions concerning why cops are scolded for their actions, what has led up to this and is it the only way to deal with a criminal society that can not set itself on an upward spiral anymore? This makes Law With Two Phases a very grim story to follow because it seems like following a straight, rulebook line is in no way possible. That notion rings even more true when tragedy strikes. Contrasting him is of course Kit, the rookie and straightlaced cop who wants nothing to do with any behavior outside of the rulebook. But early on, he is drawn into B's way of procedure and for better or worse, we will see what it leads up to in terms of justice being handed out.

Lee handles the mentioned thematic well when you look back at the movie but the overall execution detracts from what could've been an incredibly powerful tale. He deserves kudos for wanting to firmly establish characters but he's done with that after roughly half the film and still continues as slowly as he can towards a main plot device. His only real story otherwise in the film is a pretty standard chase and fight against the brutal triads which makes Law With Two Phases seem more standard than the higher aspirations it actually has. We've seen much of drugdealing, robbery and brutal beatings in other movies with LESS aspiration so Lee doesn't interest fully throughout. However when he drastically changes moods, it's another superb example of how Hong Kong filmmakers, via small, low-budget means, can really stun the audience with acts of bloodshed and violence. The characters from this point are clearly on a non-return trajectory towards darkness so they go on a rampage with nothing to lose. Again, it doesn't interest much in terms of plot but Lee otherwise really broad character B gets some depth to him after his life is basically destroyed. Lee shows the acting side that was going to win him even more respect subsequently and here it's the quiet, reserved nature to him that wins him the praise by me. It's not an thoroughly impressive performance since it leans sometimes more towards comedy but he eventually, wisely, changes his perspective in the performing of B to deliver quality throughout the duration of the film.

Technically and visually, director Danny Lee possesses less of the refined pacing skills but infuses the film with a gritty realism that largely works. Shooting at run down urban Hong Kong locations enhances and one particular scene involving Tai Po doing drugs is an excellent, vivid example of this. Going back to acting, we find serviceable performances from Eddie Chan and Parkman Wong respectively. Eddie of course goes from the well-dressed young cop to a more proactive and dirty one like B and while the performance is not mindblowing, it's an interesting change of looks, affected by the surroundings and nature of society, that Kit goes through. Parkman Wong doesn't get much to work with but is watchable as the the gang leader that B grew up with and his recollection of their childhood together gets him nowhere with B either. There's no remorse in the wrongdoing he causes along the way but those hints at their history together produces decent drama towards the climax. Tai Po makes the most of his supporting role as the drug addicted informant of B's. If anyone is clearly doomed beforehand, it's him but nevertheless, he gets slight sympathy because of the abuse he's sometimes wrongfully has to has to go through.

Danny Lee's Law With Two Phases is rough filmmaking for sure but it does produce a lasting effect on you through its drama during the second half and the questions about justice that can be found when digging a little deeper. By no means a classic but a work that marks Danny Lee's beginnings towards a choosen typecasting and respect as a dramatic actor.

Although policemen B (Lee) and Kit initially come to blows because of their differing attitudes to the job, they eventually become close friends. A defining moment in B's career occurs during a routine pursuit of a dangerous suspect that takes a tragic turn; a split-second mistake costs the life of a young boy in the street and B is left devastated. Unable to fully comprehend what he has done, the guilt-ridden B attends the boy's funeral only to find himself attacked by the enraged family. The now suspended cop sees his life spiral out of control as he sees what the death does to the family and to B himself. Another dramatic incident forces B to return to work out of control and looking for a chance of redemption.

Gritty and increasingly bleak, 'Law With Two Phases' is far removed from the traditional police thriller or action film. It's brave examination of a very powerful subject deserves commendation as does its unflinching view of the effects on the family of the victim. Danny Lee gives an excellent performance as the tortured policeman and has rarely bettered its intensity since. Lee also directs the drama with skill and sensitivity; his ability to allow time for the characters to show their inner-turmoil. For all the admirable qualities this is still a film that has dated in terms of production. Throughout the duration there is the feeling that this is a drama from the past because of its rough edges and sadly these do mean that 'Law With Two Phases' occasionally stumbles. With that in mind it is clear that the episodic nature of portions of the film hinder the overall fluency. As a whole, this is nonetheless a worthwhile drama that provides intelligent entertainment despite its faults.

PICTURE: An older film and inevitably has some signs of damage, but not too many to worry about. The main weakness of an otherwise pair print is the dull colours; too many scenes are hampered by the poorly defined colours. On the understanding that this is an older film though, it is still better than it could have been.

SOUND: 5.1 Cantonese or Mandarin soundtracks with English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia subtitles (removable).

TRAILERS: 'Law With Two Phases', 'Law Enforcer' and 'Cop Of The Town'.

TALENT FILES: A talent file for Danny Lee.

EXTRAS: None.

As someone who always wanted to be an officer (but for unknown reasons couldn't get into the police academy), Lee has always seemingly been obsessed with showing "real" police procedures in his movies, and Law with Two Phases would be the first in a long and continuing career trend for Lee. Not only would the movie bring him to stardom with a Hong Kong Film Award for his work in front of the camera, his HKFA-nominated work behind the lens would also provide inspiration for many poilce dramas to come. Though largely unrecognized by Western fans of the genre, Law with Two Phases is one of Lee's most solid films to date, even though there is an almost total absence of the ultra-violence which would later come to characterize his work.

Hong Kong police films before the 1980's were by and large drawn in shades of black and white. Lee himself appeared in a few of these, such as The Executor (a picture that also marked an early appearance of Chow Yun-Fat), which depended more on broad comedy and stilted action, rather than emotion and "blood and guts", to tell their stories. But movies like Dirty Harry inspired film-makers to bring a more true-to-life representation of life "behind the shield" to the screen. It is probably no small coincidence that Lee later named his production company "Magnum", after Harry Callahan's weapon of choice.

Along with pictures like Kirk Wong's The Club, Law with Two Phases helped usher in a new version of the police drama, where everything is painted in shades of grey, and tinged with social resonance and blows of violence. The gritty, almost documentary-like style was a bold charge against the almost cartoonish look of many action films of the time, and audiences, critics, and fellow directors responded. Within the span of a few years, the crime/cop drama was turned almost upside down. While it took John Woo's A Better Tomorrow to fully complete the transition, certainly Law with Two Phases had a large part in the evolution of the genre.

Desite the impact it would later have, the plot in Law with Two Phases is pretty simple. Danny Lee plays a CID officer named B who takes a "new fish" named Kit (Eddie Chan) under his wing. As you might expect, B doesn't exactly play by the rules, as he gets most of his busts through a relationship with Blackie, a local hood (played by Parkman Wong). But B also has a sensitive side, as shown through the relationship with his mother, which Kit respects. The two being to form a solid friendship and all seems to be going well until a series of events turns B's world inside out and makes him question why he became a police officer in the first place.

While this kind of thing might not appeal to patrons looking for Tarantino-esque plot antics, this kind of simple -- but effective -- story telling, in my mind, is refreshing in this day and age, where too many film-makers equate complication with compentency. I would much rather see a simple story told well than a more involved one done half-way. The viewer should not necessarily need to be in the director's frame of thinking to enjoy a movie. Even though the simple plot might not give the impact of later movies like The Killer, the results here provide a much more enjoyable experience than many more experimental films.

Though there really is not much in the way of action in Law with Two Phases, what puts the film above similar fare is the power of the performances. Of particular note is Danny Lee's work. Unlike the straight-forward, almost robotic cops he would for the most part portray later, B lets his facade fall in parts and this makes the character more human and more appealing to the viewer. The supporting cast also does a good job, and Lee's style allows enough pathos into the movie without letting it becoming melodramatic.

If you want to see a film that conveys power through emotion rather than gunpower, and also represents some of Hong Kong's best work in the crime/police drama genre, you could do much worse than Law with Two Phases. Even though you won't see any slow-motion shots of people diving down with dual pistols, it's still a powerful movie that will stick with you after you finish watching it.