A cop who loses his partner in a shoot-out with gun smugglers goes on a mission to catch them. In order to get closer to the leaders of the ring he joins forces with an undercover cop who's working as a gangster hitman. They use all means of excessive force to find them.
Chow Yun-Fat
Insp. 'Tequila' Yuen
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
Alan
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
Johnny Wong
Teresa Mo Shun-Kwan
Teresa Chang
Philip Chan Yan-Kin
Supt. Pang
Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung
Mad Dog
Kwan Hoi-San
Mr. Hoi
Stephen Tung Wai
Little Ko / Fox
Bowie Lam Bo-Yee
Lung
Au-Yeung Tsan-Wah
Lionheart
Lau Kong
Hospital Director
John Woo
Mr. Woo
Keith Ng Shui-Ting
Chung
Michael Dinga
Little Moustache
Perrie Lai Hoi-San
Librarian
Kenny Wong Tak-Ban
Johnny Wong's Thug
Lo Meng
Ah Wah / Lonny
Lam Kai-Wing
Mr. Hoi's Thug with Pear
Jun Kunimura
Machine Gunman in Teahouse
Lee Yiu-King
Gangster
Benny Lam
Hitman 2
Wai-Sun Lam
Hitman 1
Gilbert Lam Wai-San
Jameson Lam Wa-Fan
Jack Wong Wai-Leung
Paco Yick Tin-Hung
Benny Lam Diy-Kuen
Jacky Cheung Chun-Hung
Director, Story
John Woo
Screenplay
Barry Wong Ping-Yiu
Screenplay
Gordon Chan
July 19, 2023
1
**Who wants to see a free bloodbath before breakfast today?**
Hong Kong has a long history of good action cinema, but this movie didn't seem that good and interesting to me. Many people love it, they say it is wonderful, and I accept that very well, I think that everyone has their own tastes, but the truth is that the film did not work for me. Sounds like an excuse for an action movie.
John Woo is a director I don't know very well. I liked “The Killer” and, therefore, I decided to see this film: it is considered, by many people, one of the director's best. They're not even alike. It is noted that it is the same director, there is a certain style and look, and some shooting options, which are in both films, but we lack a good script, a convincing story. From the middle, sensibly, the director's brutality and bloodlust lose the brake: in minutes, we watch in the armchair what we can only classify as a gratuitous bloodbath (false, obviously).
I would like to talk a little about the actors, but I felt that none of them has the time, space and material to represent a character properly. They are there to kill or die, according to the wishes and desires of the Machiavellian Woo, who abuses visual effects, brutality, the toughest and most soulless action that we can see on a cinema screen. Loaded with graphic effects that accompany a cinematography worthy of an industrial rock music video, the film takes us from massacre to massacre and, before halfway through, we already begin to doubt that there is a live cast. In truth, and to be fair, the film also has the grace of being quite immersive, be it for the good use of sound effects, be it for its magnificently adequate soundtrack, be it for the fast and visceral filming. We are part of that, we are there. And that makes it even harder to bear, depending on how insensitive you can be.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
Cantonese
Budget:
$4,500,000.00
Revenue:
$0.00