Mafia.com: Reviews

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Mafia.com
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    by John Richards



Its great to see some old familiar faces in a Hong Kong film again. Shing Fui-on, Roy Cheung, Danny Lee, Helena Law Lan and Chan Wai Man are the old hands that add a bit of class to this above average triad drama. Quite why its called 'Mafia.com' I have no idea; there is nothing to do with technology, Internet, etc. It's more of a tongue in cheek gangster flick that's not short on humour.

While it's no classic, 'Mafia.com' does manage, for the most part, to entertain; the mood is kept fairly light, there are several attempts at action and everybody handles their roles competently. Chiu (Jackie Lui) and his two friends are low level triad members who decide to leave their low-key life on the outskirts of the New Territories and go to Kowloon to seek their fortune. Their way into the big league is through fellow villager Seven Wong, aka Killer (Ben Ng), who has risen through the ranks to control the whole of the Kowloon peninsula. However things don't work out as planned as they find themselves pawns in a bigger game and soon they are on the run from the entire criminal underground and the police.

There's a good mix of characters that keeps the film interesting. Grace Yip plays Chiu's girlfriend who follows him to Kowloon to persuade him to come back. When she fails she decides to become a nightclub hostess, employed by gangster (what else) Roy Cheung who is trying to take over Killer's territory. Roy is also trying to set up a big drugs deal with Chan Wai Man. Shing Fui-on probably has one of the most entertaining roles as Chiu's triad boss in the new territories. Danny Lee is also notable as Chiu's real big brother, and policeman, who likes to scold Chiu at every opportunity. Jackie Liu also impresses in his role as someone who realises he's in far way over his head.

What really works about this movie though is the amount of humour injected into the situations our three hapless heroes find themselves in. Its just a shame that it all comes to a grinding halt with what must be the most throw-away ending I've ever seen in a film. To say its unsatisfying is an understatement especially when events have built the story up so much. I was left feeling robbed as the endings to most of the characters' individual stories are never explained. Its a shame because for the 90 minutes preceding the ending, the film is one of the most entertaining triad films I have seen for a long time.

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