| Gaining word of mouth due to it being funded by the triad boss it is a biopic of, Casino still is a quickie gangster-entry of messy proportions. Talking with a journalist (Kennix Kwok), Simon Yam as Giant recaps the days of late 80s/early 90s in Macau where he and best friend Liu (Alex Fong) rose to fame. Now in a deadly conflict with rival boss Ping (Frankie Ng), the games of twists and deception are in motion...
Billy Tang (employing past cast & crew largely) had fun with the triad genre in Sexy And Dangerous but the treatment here is all over the place. Chunks of the script was either filmed, subsequently cut or simply never written as no character except for maybe Alex Fong (the better performer of the film) has any hint of depth. Best example of this poor treatment being a short appearance by Ada Choi as Giant's wife and all of a sudden we're subjected to what apparently is a dramatic backstory to their relationship... dealt with in 2 minutes via dialogue. It doesn't pan out to be cheap, quick and possess a desire to provide a epic production about Macau gangster life. Your typical wide eyed and large performers occupy the flick (Frankie Ng "best" representing this) and the odd satirical moments of millions of followers constantly talking on their mobile phones and how quickly the different sides mobilize their squads should be put to use in a better movie that actually does satirize all of this. That I think Billy Tang is capable of. Kent Cheng and Ben Ng also appear. |