Invincible: Quick Takes

The unsubbed synch sound footage at the beginning of Invincible suggests many things (among those that the entire film probably was a mixture of languages) but the switch to the generic gangster formula creates confusion as to why and where we are. Blacky Ko reveals his intentions soon as Kit (literally a weak Dave Wong) murders Lung Fong (who usually deserves that fate) and flees to France with his love Mandy (Sharla Cheung). In an effort to gain French citizenship, Kit joins the French army and nothing is ever nice in Ko's vision from that point...

Ambitious via its use of locations outside of Hong Kong and the central army training plot, Invincible never gains much of a momentum and is just 90 minutes of various punishment for Kit in order to become a man. The French army certainly are hard on your case and the individuals within it are nut jobs of the grave kind. Billy Blanks in particular has a not so flattering role as a psycho, gay rapist but gets the goriest comeuppance in the film later on so all's well...? So you won't care but at least Blacky goes maximum overdrive on us for the ending that is a fine, over the top showcase of millions bullets fired and insane stunts. Also with Leung Kar-Yan and Danny Lee.