Exploring Shudder's exclusive list during my free 30 day special offer on the site,I was intrigued to find in the middle of the Horror flick listings,a Hong Kong crime title. Having enjoyed producer Johnnie To's Mad Detective (2007-also reviewed) I handed over to a viewing.
View on the film:
Heading to 1997 from the opening clip of Thatcher presenting the one country, two systems deceleration, co-directors Jevons Au/Frank Hui and Vicky Wong impressively present a united vision in capturing underworld leaders feel the earth shaking beneath their feet in the run up to the Handover, via lean stilted wide-shots of gangs smuggling items to sell for huge profits on the mainland, returning to dusty, Neo-Noir neon-lit winding streets filled with a anxiety of the oncoming unknown.
Breaking away from the adrenaline rush of the Heroic Bloodshed genre, the directors give the action scenes a brittle chalky atmosphere of straight, by the book kill shots, reflecting the professional way the gangsters hold themselves in.
Altering the real names of gangster Kwai Ping-hung (one time Hong Kong's most wanted) bank robber Yip Kai-foon, and kidnapper Cheung Tze-keung for this fictional gathering of the trio, the screenplay by Thomas Ng/Tin Shu Mak and Man Hong Lung take a low-key Neo-Noir forensic approach to to their crime union, hanging low in the safe houses where Yip begins to make a boom on mobile phone sales,powered by the sly, underhanded identity changes of Kwai, all held together by slick Cheuk in a criminal handover
View on the film:
Heading to 1997 from the opening clip of Thatcher presenting the one country, two systems deceleration, co-directors Jevons Au/Frank Hui and Vicky Wong impressively present a united vision in capturing underworld leaders feel the earth shaking beneath their feet in the run up to the Handover, via lean stilted wide-shots of gangs smuggling items to sell for huge profits on the mainland, returning to dusty, Neo-Noir neon-lit winding streets filled with a anxiety of the oncoming unknown.
Breaking away from the adrenaline rush of the Heroic Bloodshed genre, the directors give the action scenes a brittle chalky atmosphere of straight, by the book kill shots, reflecting the professional way the gangsters hold themselves in.
Altering the real names of gangster Kwai Ping-hung (one time Hong Kong's most wanted) bank robber Yip Kai-foon, and kidnapper Cheung Tze-keung for this fictional gathering of the trio, the screenplay by Thomas Ng/Tin Shu Mak and Man Hong Lung take a low-key Neo-Noir forensic approach to to their crime union, hanging low in the safe houses where Yip begins to make a boom on mobile phone sales,powered by the sly, underhanded identity changes of Kwai, all held together by slick Cheuk in a criminal handover