• 2002
• Tai Chi Master, The
• Tiger Cage II
• To Live and Die in Tsimshatsui
• Touch and Go

2002

A young woman is about to jump from the roof of a high-rise apartment building, and the cops don't know how to handle it... when they get a message that a "special unit" will take care of the problem and a flashy car pulls up. Think you know what's coming next, don't you? Don't be so sure... this is no Bruce Willis-saves-the-day story, at least not unless Willis was playing one of the Men In Black, or possibly a Ghostbuster. "Wind" and "Tide" are the heads of a very unusual unit of the police force known as 2002 (do they change their name every year?) which battles ghostly, supernatural crime. They have their hands full in this story, chasing all variety of ghosts and spirits across Hong Kong. Fans of the X-Files as well as the aforementioned Men In Black and Ghostbusters will find much to their liking in this film, but it goes a bit beyond any of those movies in its emotional range, delving from time to time into some very touching moments (as when "Wind" comforts a man whose wife has died in childbirth by passing on a message from the late wife he's just sopken to), and revealing both our heroes and the ghosts they deal with as very human. Don't worry that 2002 lacks all the action and comedy you could want, though... it has all that and more, including some of the best special effects in any Hong Kong movie.

Produced by Vincent Kok, directed by Wilson Yip, co-written by Vincent Kok and Wilson Yip, and starring Nicholas Tse, Stephen Yung, Law Ka Ying, Rain Li and Sam Lee. (2002)

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The Tai Chi Master

Tianbao and Junbao are childhood friends who have travelled very different paths in adulthood... Tinbao as a soldier in the employ of an evil warlord, Junbao leading the forces trying to bring him down. Now, the former friends will meet one last time, and perhaps Junbao's newly mastered skills at Tai Chi will be enough to stop the villain his friend has become...

Jet Li stars here in his familiar period-piece mode (the musical theme even bears a startling resemblance to the familiar Wong Fei-Hong theme). But The Tai Chi Master is a film unique unto itself: Jet gets a real emotional acting work-out as his friend's betrayal devestates him so badly that he becomes almost catatonic, and yet the fiercely determined Li (as well as the comic Li) are strongly in evidence as well. Michelle Yeoh has what almost amounts to a supporting role but still provides enough classic fight scenes to keep her fans satisfied. But it might actually be Chin Siu Po as Tinbao who provides the most memorable performance: he has quite a character arc to traverse in this story: from innocent youth to ambitious soldier so hungry for power that he'll let nothing stand in his way, and he makes each stage believable. Of course, you know with direction by Yuen Wo Ping that the fight scenes will not only be well-performed but impressively staged as well, and in particular the MASS fight scenes (such as Junbao leading his army of fighters against hordes of soldiers led by Tianbao) are almost reminiscent of some of the big combat scenes staged by Kurosawa (well, that is, if Kurosawa had included kung fu). Not to mention that in the training sequences, you get quite a feel for Tai Chi: what it is, how it differs from other martial arts, and so on. In the early nineties, the period martial arts film had quite a renewal of popularity, and films like The Tai Chi Master will make you completely understand why and how that happened.

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Tiger Cage II

There's a special kind of sequel rather common in Hong Kong cinema: the sequel that has the same director and some of the same cast in a film of the same basic genre, but which is not actually a sequel at all... even the returning cast members play different characters. That's what we have in Tiger Cage II. A few of the cast members from Tiger Cage once again team up with Yuen Wo Ping in a action extravaganza that may actually be better than the first Tiger Cage. The story deals with a money-laundering scheme being perpetrated by the sinister Wilson. Purely by accident, Mary Cheng, an attorney currently involved in a divorce case, and Alan Lau, the husband in that divorce case, come into possession of a suitcase full of the money intended for that operation, and Wilson and company are after them. But that's not enough, oh no... a friend of Mary's has been murdered, and through a complicated set of circumstances, both she and Lau are the prime suspects... and they escape from the police handcuffed to each other, having to find and bring to justice the real murderer, and bring a halt to Wilson's evil schemes, under to say the least very difficult conditions. The action moves at such a relentless pace you may be almost literally left breathless, and the fight sequences (choreographed in part by Donnie Yen) are some of the most imaginative you'll ever see... in particular one in which Alan has to fight a fierce kung fu battle handicapped by Mary being cuffed to his right arm, and another in which Mary defeats two agents of Wilson literally without even trying to fight them... she's merely trying to escape. There are more plotlines in this film than you could imagine, and not a single scene featuring any of them fails to introduce some new twist and turn... but as confusing as that might sound, Yuen Wo Ping has everything under control, and it's fascinating to watch how it all ties together (and you never doubt that it will). A full-fledged rapid-fire action movie with an actual substantial story! Who would have expected? Well, anyone who knows the work of this cast and crew, probably.

Starring Donny Yen, Rosamund Kwan, Robin Chou, Do Do Cheng and Cynthia Khan. (Review written: 1/24/03)

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To Live and Die in Tsimshatsui

Ah Tai is an undercover cop working to bring down the crime ring of the notorious Brother Sing. But the longer he remains undercover, the more he becomes estranged from his family and friends, and the more he becomes a part of Brother Sing's dangerous society... Once again, we have a premise we've seen seemingly thousands of times... when has there ever been a film about an undercover cop that did NOT feature the cop coming to sympathize with the people he's supposed to be bringing down? (City On Fire, Donnie Brasco, even The Fast And The Furious). A tired premise can still make for a good film, thoughn, and this one ALMOST gets there. It's not really because of the ingenious script or any surprising plot twists (don't bother looking for any), but because of the very effective performance of Jackie Cheung in the lead role. When Ah Tai's girlfriend breaks up with him because of his underworld ties, we've seen the situation many times, but we still really feel Cheung's pain. When he has to make a choice of whether to shoot a gangster who's become like his brother or let him go free, you feel Cheung's conflicted emotions. When members of his new "family" are gunned down in battles with the cops, you feel his sorrow (even though they're supposed to be his enemies). The story is a little too hackneyed to really give it a strong "thumbs up" recommendation, and the ending ties up too many loose plot threads too neatly and too suddenly. But anyone who appreciates good acting, should they happen across a copy of this tape, will at least get a lesson in how a strong, genuine performance can take a story you've seen too many times and make it seem almost new.

Also starring Tony Leung Ka Fai. Directed by Andrew Lau. Executive Producer: Wong Jing. (Review written: 3/25/03)

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Touch and Go

"Fat Goose" is in the wrong place at the wrong time and as a result witnesses a mob killing. Now, aided by Officer Pitt of the Hong Kong police, all he has to do is stay alive long enough to serv as witness...

First things first: this movie stars Sammo Hung. That's not to say that every single film Sammo has made is a gem for the ages, but put him in a movie and you're at least half-way to a very enjoyable time. Touch And Go turns out to be considerably more than half way. This is the kind of film where the cast more often than not just sleepwalks through their roles, but Sammo (who else would play a character named "Fat Goose"?) puts every mightily conflicting emotion right there on his face, and you can even feel them in his physical movements. He plays a decent, kind character who's always trying to do the right thing but remains a bit of a loser (who has to pay a woman to pose as his girlfriend so his mother will think he's doing allright), and who suddenly finds himself in a situation where doing the right thing could get him killed. He still manages to find time to insert a few of the comic moments fans expect, and his relationships with Officer Pitt and Angel (a lady reporter who wants to write about him for the local papers, and who just might wind up becoming his girlfriend for real) come across as far more real that the following-the- blueprints cliches other films might make of them. And let's not forget the directorial expertise of Ringo Lam, a real expert at ringing the authenticity out of seemingly hackneyed cop/action plots. That's not to say that there aren't a few moments of head-scratching puzzlement... when an explosion of a truck sends a sword that was in that truck flying straight into Sammo's hands RIGHT AT THE VERY MOMENT HE NEEDS IT FOR A DUEL, you may find yourself going WHAT??!!... but that's just part of the fun. And there is plenty of fun in Touch And Go.

Also starring Irene Wan and Tommy Wong. (Review written: 5/7/03)

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