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Andy Lau is one of my favorites, but this one is a great movie about relationships, with one's lover, friends and family. In my opinion it covers all that's important in one's life. A moving movie that makes your heart sink and feel for the characters. Great action with some tear jerking moments too, I really recommend this movie, tops in my book!!! | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| The focus is the teaming of two "comebacks" and the question remains: is there any chemistry left between Andy Lau and Wong Jing? Yes, but not a securely bonded chemistry. Eventful plot swings are Wong's strength and here, despite the large number of characters, the story proceeds smoothly, all the complicated relationships are presented with flair and order. The film even plays up the anti-heroics of the mobsters and presents the moralistic message that there is nothing good about the triad. Problem is, this is done without any new touches and the father-son relationship as well as the courtroom drama are simply rehashing tricks of 80's television. Then again, starring Andy Lau in a story of a young mobster who tries to reclaim his past glory, only to end up dead on the streets, indeed feels like the end of the road. Death is often the most glorious ending for the heroes played by Lau and this film indeed retains that spirit. Gigi Leung is not the only one who takes a final look at him and goes the separate way. |
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| | | | | With Andy Lau revisiting an old role, this is a triad film on which Wong Jing invests a lot of effort. Obviously aware of the criticism that films glorify the underworld, the film perhaps represents the trend to demythicize the triad code. But as Athena Tsui has noted, Lau's trajectory from victim to avenger is a variation of the gambler film, Wong's favorite genre. Indeed, the courtroom battle of the minds towards the end is not unlike a high-stake game of cards. There are also a class-crossing romance, made possible by charisma and idol-caliber acting, a ready villain madly driven by revenge and comedy culled from popular concerns (bootleg VCDs). The plot and characters are well developed, but there are too many coincidences and holes in the story. Wong seems to have given his best for this film but he still can't escape finding inspiration in his old formulas. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | | Though a BOB production, the style of this film is different from the Young and Dangerous series. It even has the feeling of traditional triad films. The mob world receives a dark depiction here, but such a depiction parallels the helplessness of the characters, capturing their inability to free themselves from that world, unlike the way the Young and Dangerous series indulges in the triad way of life. Andy Lau's character is actually based on his previous outings in triad films, but he seems out of his elements in his initial court appearance. Perhaps too tailor-made a character actually results in the loss of chemistry. The first half of the film successfully conveys a sense of overwhelming pressure but the last half is too forceful and the plot too complicated, robbing the characters of their vitality. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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