Review: 龙虎门 / Lung fu moon / Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)

In a seemingly lawless world, the Dragon Tiger Gate martial arts academy, run by Master Wong (Wah Yuen), trains its students to uphold justice and resist the triads, and provides a home for orphans. One of its students, Tiger Wong (Nicholas Tse) runs foul of the triads when he and his friends get hold of the Luocha Plaque, which signifies that the holder is second only to Loucha Gate's boss, Shibumi (Yu Kang). Tiger meets his half-brother, Dragon (Donnie Yen), when the triads try to regain the plaque. Meanwhile, a new student, Turbo (Shawn Yue), who tries to join the Dragon Tiger Gate, becomes embroiled in the fight.

Adapted by Edmond Wong from the manhua comic series by Yuk Long Wong, 'Dragon Tiger Gate' is somewhat confusing at the start and you may have to be familiar with the comic books to understand the setting and the main characters. It doesn't help that the CGI establishing shots of a grim lawless environment are at odds with the brighter live-action shots. A fair bit of explanation in the opening credits is repeated in a flashback, which distracted me because I tried to match them up. The film's pacing is choppy, with many dead patches, especially those featuring camera arcs, that don't progress the story or develop any of the characters.

Action, though, is the name of the game, and director Wilson Yip puts a lot of effort into the fight sequences. The fight in a Chinese restaurant is energetic and the fight in a Japanese restaurant is a nod to film's manhua origins. However, it's as if all the ammunition was expended at the start, because succeeding fight scenes feel a bit tired and the climactic fight between the heroes and Shibumi is a tedious CGI-filled affair.

Cantonese with English subtitles.

2 out of 5 stars.

Review: 放逐 / Fong Juk / Exiled (2006)

In Macau 1998, before the colony's handover to China, five professional hitman, led by Blaze (Anthony Wong), decide to do a last job for one of their own, Wo (Nick Cheung). Their plans go awry when triad boss Fay (Simon Yam) enters the picture, and they spend some time lost in the wilderness before rediscovering their purpose.

Action fans might be a little disappointed by plain nature of the firefights; there aren't any distinctive weapons or manoeuvres, and the after effects are often messy. The characters are lightly but sufficiently sketched in and the camaraderie between members of the gang is unforced. I especially like how all the scenes are allowed to play out and the denouement is pleasantly ironic.

Director Johnnie To's elegant and slightly melancholy actioner is about endings, honour and brotherhood, and brings to mind Sam Peckinpah's 'The Wild Bunch', which dealt with similar themes in the wild west. From the first scene, we have a good idea of how things will pan out, but the script by Kam-Yuen Szeto and Tin-Shing Yip has plenty of surprises and wry humour as the gang get into one gunfight after another.

Cantonese with English subtitles.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review: SPL: 殺破狼 / Sha Po Lang (2005)

Hong Kong Detective Inspector Chan (Simon Yam) has had a bad run. After his witness against triad boss Wong Po (Sammo Hung) has been assassinated, he become the guardian for the witness' child and finds out that he has inoperable brain cancer. On the eve of Chan's retirement, his replacement, D.I. Ma (Donnie Yen), arrives to find that Chan and his team are framing Wong Po for a murder.

The plot for this modern crime thriller is a bit wobbly (the attempt to frame Wong Po is ludicrous) and cliched. However, two factors that make up for the clumsy plot. The first are the strong performances by the three leads: Donnie Yen as a very charismatic young inspector; Simon Yam as the grim vengeful officer; and Sammo Hung, who normally plays the comic roles with Jackie Chan, as the frightening triad boss. The second are the fight scenes, done by the actors without any wire work and minimal special effects. For martial arts fans, the encounter between Ma and triad assassin Jack (Jing Wu) in a back street is a highlight.

Cantonese with English subtitles.

3 out of 5 stars.

Review: 头文字D / Tau man ji D / Initial D (2005)

After street racers hear that a nondescript young tofu delivery man, Takumi (Jay Chou), can drive his father's (Anthony Wong) old Toyota AE86 at incredible speeds down Mount Akina, they challenge him for the honour of the fastest time. Like any young man, Takumi has more pressing issues to resolve first: his girl friend Natsuki (Anne Suzuki) is going away for the school holidays and his father is a drunk.
Adapted from the Japanese manga and anime series of the same name, this Hong Kong - Japan co-production avoids the usual issues that bedevil manga adaptations (stilted acting and a lot of exposition) and presents a workable coming-of-age story for Takumi. It is leaven with some humour (mainly from Takumi's best friend, Itsuki (Chapman To)) and spiced with a lot of drift races. The racing scenes down the narrow mountain road, a combination of live action and CGI (what isn't, these days?), are varied and well-directed, and the climatic race is quite exciting.
Cantonese with English sub-titles.
3 out of 5 stars.

Review: Gin gwai 2 / The Eye 2 (2004)

After the success of their previous film, The Eye (2002), the Hong Kong based Pang brothers, Oxide and Danny, provide not a continuation, but another aspect to the idea of seeing ghosts. This time, another young woman, Joey Cheng (Qi Shu), gains the ability to see ghosts after an unsuccessful suicide attempt in Thailand. Returning to Hong Kong, she finds out that she is pregnant and her lover is unwilling to meet her. Single and with no close family, she becomes more and more distressed as her pregnancy progresses and she continues to see a particular ghost haunting her.

The Pang brothers' restrained use of special effects and shock make the ghosts' appearance more scary than they would otherwise have been, and provides some room to speculate if Joey is just hallucinating and depressed. They're also provided some surprises in the plot that neatly links the events at the start of the film with the appearance of the ghosts. The climax in the hospital is reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby, though more sticky and bloody for modern audiences, and not as intense as expected.

The Eye 2 is a competent supernatural thriller, with enough surprises to maintain viewer interest.

Cantonese with English subtitles.

3 out of 5 stars.