• Raid, The
• Righting Wrongs
• Running Out of Time 2

The Raid

"Uncle Choy" has been living a happy, peaceful life as a healer when he's dragged to a military camp by soldiers who want him to save their dying leader. There he learns that the troup is about to go on a mission to find and destroy a deadly chemical weapons factory run by the invading Japanese, and Uncle Choy's sense of patriotism is roused... he wants in. His determination to do something to help his country will lead to complications and chaos... for the enemy, for the Chinese troup, and not least of all for Uncle Choy himself, as well as the band of friends and associates who wind up tagging along with him. "Uncle Choy" is one of the great characters, and is played expertly by Dean Shek as an old man determined to prove he can still save his country with the best of them, and who accomplishes some pretty amazing feats as the result of too many people being eager to underestimate him because of his age and SEEMING frailty. Tony Leung and Jacky Cheung provide top support as members of his team, and director Tsui Hark manages to balance plenty of rousing action with scenes of slapstick that wouldn't have been out of place in some of the classic screwball comedies of the 1940's (e.g., a love letter that winds up getting passed around to about a half dozen characters, causing each person who reads it to be convinced the person who handed it to them is in love with them). Whether you're looking for fast-paced adventure, expertly done comedy, or great characters, The Raid is just the ticket. (1991)

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Righting Wrongs

Yuen Biao is a Hong Kong prosecutor who has come to despair of the prospect of ever achieving any real justice through the system (in the opening scene he watches his mentor get gunned down standing next to him while bullets rip to shreds the law book said mentor had just given him and the book then gets trampled into the dirt... enough symbolism for you?). As a result, he becomes a vigilante, determined to give the guilty what they deserve one way or the other. But he has an opponent other than just the bad guys... someone on his own side, in fact: a police inspector played by Cynthia Rothrock who is one hundred percent dedicated to "righting wrongs" by the book, even when it becomes obvious that that approach isn't doing the trick. It may be difficult to imagine a film that both puts forth the rather depressing proposition that, as Yuen Biao puts it, "There is no law, there is no justice in this world, the victims cannot rely on us" and at the same time scores so high on the eye-popping, sheer fun action scale with so many incredible stunts and action scenes you won't be able to absorb them all in just one viewing. This is a pretty remarkable films, though, and it manages to do just that.

If you're disappointed in the action schlock that keeps dribbling out of Hollywood, come to this one and you won't be let down... but you may just be worn out afterwards. Also starring Melvin Wong, Corey Yuen and Wu Ma.

Directed by Corey Yuen Kwai. (1986)

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Running Out of Time 2

While not as intense an experience as the original, Running Out Of Time 2 is still a highly entertaining "cat and mouse" game between master criminal Ken (Ekin Chen) and dedicated cop Sang (Lau Ching Wan). Instead of the all-too-common "criminal mastermind vs. bumbling lawman" story, the police in this film are every bit as sharp as their opponent, and as a result there's a real element of surprise and suspense as the viewer tries to guess who's going to come out on top. Cheng follows ably in the footsteps of Andy Lau as the ingenious thief who steals and destroys valuable art objects from major corporations, and Lau Ching Wan is equally impressive as the police officer whose growing admiration for his enemy doesn't interefere with his detemination to bring him to justice. The movie is filled with a surprising number of truly clever and inventive plot twists (a few of them quite visually impressive, as well) and short little scenes that in spite of their brevity really add to your understanding of the characters. Overall, though Running Out Of Time 2 lacks the somber sense of tragedy of the first film, it replaces that with a genuine sense of fun and suspense in a very enjoyable crime story that should keep you guessing right up until the last scene.

Directors: Johnny To, Law Wing-Cheong (2001)

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