| There's differences in the way Danny Lee approaches the portrayal of justice. You'll get something like Twist that advocates all kinds of torture and you get The Law Enforcer from this period that is way more tuned and balanced. Although not particularly memorable, Lee's take on the vigilante tale is handled straight at least. Lung Ming-Yan (A Better Tomorrow II) plays Kent, a former cop diagnosed with epilepsy but is looking to make it back into the only profession he knows. He can't stop his urges to stop justice in front of him though and the police has to face pressure from superiors and public about the person out there "interfering". In the eyes of Anna (Betty Mak) he is a saviour though...
The concerns are largely Public Service Announcement-like in nature, designed to favour the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and while this is valid, director Lee has a problem creating well-paced cinema from it. Possessing good opportunities to be elite material, the story of Kent is handled well and only after half an hour Lee's character knows who he is but stands by him as a loyal brother, hoping he'll get his reinstatement. Structurally he's got to prove himself though and the robbery plot headed by Ricky Yi and Shing Fui-On's brutal characters does play into the uncertain hands of the film. Compared to the vague subplot of Kent and Anna, to have the character go these expected ways is more favourable. While possessing edge, tension and bloodshed during it's fairly long climax, The Law Enforcer is effective as an idea but won't ever enlighten truly. See Law With Two Phases or No Compromise instead for the elite material. Parkman Wong, Ken Lo and Ben Lam also appears. |
Quick Takes:
