Undercover Punch & Gun

Are there any international waters in the South China Sea that China does not illegally claim dominion over? Apparently, Ha, an international pirate-mercenary, has found a remote quadrant of ocean that he has operated out with impunity, at least so far. However, an undercover Hong Kong cop and two maverick agents of a maritime law enforcement agency intend to take him down in Lui Koon Nam & Frankie Tam’s Undercover Punch & Gun (a.k.a. Undercover vs. Undercover), which releases today on DVD and BluRay.

Brother Bao, the drug-addled boss of a meth gang suspects the cops have infiltrated his operation, but he does not suspect Det. King Wu, because he has been dating his daughter Dawnie for quite some time. Unfortunately, it will not matter for long, because the gang is about to get caught in a crossfire, between Ha’s thugs and rogue Trident agents Eva and Magnum.

When Wu inherits Bao’s gang, Ha offers him a deal, in exchange for Bao’s mystery meth cooker. Unfortunately, things really get messy when Wu and his goofy sidekick Tiger try to corral her. They will just have to bluff their way through, even when then find themselves stranded on Ha’s cargo ship, in the middle of the high seas.

The editing throughout Undercover P&G is slapdash, herky-jerky, and at times dashed confusing, even by the standards of slam-bang action movies. It definitely feels like it was pieced together from mismatched scraps found on the editing room floor. On the plus side, there are some satisfyingly cinematic fight sequences coordinated by star Philip Ng & Chu Cho-kuen. Ng and Andy On also show off plenty of physicality as King and his chief antagonist, Ha, respectively. However, the goofy schtick of Van Ness Wu, playing Tiger, gets to be like fingernails on a blackboard.

Joyce Feng Wenjuan has pretty respectable chops as Eva too, but her backstory rather muddled. Of course, it is great fun too see Lam Suet chewing the scenery as Brother Bao and Meng Jia is surprisingly cold-blooded and sociopathic as the henchperson, “The Phantom.” Still, a little bit of Wu’s Tiger goes a long, long way.

Made in Hong Kong ’18: Colour of the Game

They don’t make Triad gangsters like they used to. Wallace is an example of old school quality, whereas Robert, the son of the high-ranking boss Nigel is a perfect example of everything wrong with the new breed—and then some. When Wallace is ordered to whack Robert, he doesn’t have any choice in the matter, but he knows he is getting pulled into some dangerous business. There will be plenty of duplicity and deception in Kam Ka-wai’s Colour of the Game (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Made in Hong Kong Film Festival in DC.

Wallace is a grizzled, disillusioned cat, but he still gets the job done. Nobody messes with him or his new protégé Sky. “Superman,” his eager young apprentice, is a geek, but he handles the business side of things well. Sometimes his punky mechanic daughter Lily also helps out, but for a job this sensitive, he will need to call in two old comrades. Tyson is fresh out of prison and raring to go, whereas the ailing BBQ will need more coaxing.

Of course, Robert is an appalling human being, who totally has it coming. Nobody will mourn for him, least of all Wallace. Killing the big boss Dragon’s trophy wife in a coked-up rage certainly merits getting rubbed out, but it is still pretty reckless from the standpoint of internal
Triad politics. Maybe he should have suspected it was a set-up all along. Regardless, Wallace will not leave any of his team at their mercy, even if one of them is a police informer.

Colour is definitely a throwback to 1990s Hong Kong gangster movies (those white suits are totally cool). It obviously tries to recombine the elements of vintage Johnnie To films (like The Mission), starting with To stalwarts Simon Yam and Lam Suet. It is considered the loosely-tied third installment in screenwriter Jing Wong’s Colour trilogy, but it sure doesn’t seem like they expect much audience familiarity with the previous films.

In some ways, Colour is like a Harry Brown kind of film for Yam and Lam, who take stock of their careers through their aging gangster characters, Wallace, and his direct superior, Slaughter. Yet, it also heralds the arrival of Philip Ng and the promising debut of Sabrina Qiu, as Sky and Lily. Ng took a lot of heat for his cocky portrayal of Bruce Lee in Birth of the Dragon (despite looking like his dead-ringer), but here he truly distinguishes himself in the final smashing fight scene. He also develops some rather appealing chemistry with Qiu.

Nevertheless, nobody upstages Yam, not even Lam. He is hardnosed and hardboiled, but also somewhat philosophical and even remorseful about the state of things. It is the kind of role he was born to play—and watching him do it is always a treat. It is a little odd neither NYAFF or Fantasia programmed Colour, but Made in Hong Kong has it. Highly recommended for fans of the cast and/or the genre, Colour of the Game screens tomorrow (7/15) in DC at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery.

Birth of the Dragon: Bruce Lee’s Legendary Fight with Wong Jack Man

Dateline: San Francisco, 1964. Bruce Lee is the most prominent martial artist on the West Coast, poised for motion picture superstardom. Just ask him, he’ll be happy to tell you. Wong Jack Man was a traditional Shaolin practitioner who came to America to do penance. He would find redemption by helping the cocky Lee reconnect with the spiritual dimension of Kung Fu. At least that is how their mythic behind-closed-doors martial arts match is framed in George Nolfi’s Birth of the Dragon (trailer here), which is now playing in New York.

The fight between Lee and Wong remains a real life martial arts Rashomon. Who won depends on who you ask. Lee partisans have a greater platform to make their case, but if you dive deep enough into San Francisco’s Chinatown, you will find old-timers who claim Wong really won.

According to Birth, Wong was not in San Francisco to serve as a Kung Fu cop, but to lower himself after disgracefully maiming an honorable opponent in an exhibition match. Some claim Wong was outraged to find Lee teaching dorky white guys. Initially, he does indeed have his reservations, yet he spends a heck of a lot of time trying to pass on some wisdom to Steve McKee, Lee’s former hotheaded Hoosier student. In fact, McKee will serve as a catalyst for the controversial match, when Wong finally agrees to fight Lee partly to secure the freedom of the student’s not-so-secret girlfriend Xiulan Quan from Chinatown human trafficker Auntie Blossom. However, he also hopes a dose of humility will do wonders for Lee’s karma.

Reportedly, Birth has been dramatically re-edited from the cut that screened at last year’s TIFF. At the time, the Lee family made their lack of amusement very clear. Yes, Nolfi and screenwriters Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson (adapting an article originally published in Official Karate, perhaps representing a motion picture first) portray Lee as being boastful and ambitious. However, nobody comes up through the mean streets to become an international movie icon if they’re a shrinking violet. Nevertheless, the film is obviously aligned with Team Wong (giving it a distinctly different perspective), but they eventually try bring the two masters into harmony, setting them against the villains of Chinatown. That might not satisfy Lee or Wong loyalists, but it is exactly what the rest of us want to see.

No matter which sifu you identify with, you have to admit Philip Ng Wan-lung is a spooky dead-ringer for Lee. If there was a curse, it might turn on him now. Plus, he is deeply steeped in Wing Chun, so the fight scenes he choreographed in collaboration with Cory Yuen (credited as “fight designer”) look spectacular, but there is also a grittiness to them that is in keeping with Lee’s classic films.

Yet, Yu Xia (somewhat ironically) takes ownership of the film as the self-effacing Shaolin master. He makes Wong’s complicated mixture guilt and enlightenment look pretty darn charismatic. He also forges some appealing mentor-student chemistry with Billy Magnussen’s McKee, whose likable screen presence will frustrate those who would resent his screen time. Of course, it is always fun to see Ron Yuan do his thing as Auntie Blossom’s chief enforcer.

All things considered, Birth has a nice feel for the period. Like any good martial artist, it reminds us the spiritual is more important than the physical, but when it comes time to throw down, it is all business. It is a little scruffy, but that is part of its charm. Recommended with surprising affection for neutrally-aligned martial arts fans, Birth of the Dragon is now playing in New York, at the AMC Empire.

Once Upon a Time in Shanghai: Ma Yongzhen is Back, on DVD

Ma Yongzhen is one of China’s favorite Robin Hood-ish gangsters. Film and television versions of his story (including the Shaw Brothers’ Boxer from Shantung) often transplant Ma to the wild and woolly Republican 1930s, but the first film version of the Nineteenth Century bumpkin-turned racketeer was the 1927 silent Shandong Ma Yongzhen. A new supercharged remake/reinvention of the 1972 Shaw Brothers fan favorite takes even more liberties with Ma’s story, but if he has any surviving descendants, they are not likely to object to the heroic portrayal of the martial artist in Wong Ching-po’s Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (trailer here), which releases today on DVD and BluRay, from Well Go USA.

Ma Yongzhen came from the dirt poor provinces to make his fortune in Shanghai. Ironically, he has exactly the sort of skills to make it in the go-go city, but he promised his sainted mother he would never become a gangster. To remind him to temper the power of his iron-fist, she gave him his only valuable possession: a jade bracelet.

Living in a slum watched over by the kindly Master Tie, Ma quickly gets a lay of the land. Through a series spectacular sparring sessions, Ma earns the trust and a legit job from Long Qi, a gangster-club owner more closely resembling the historical Ma Yongzhen. The brash Long Qi has taken over a sizable portion of the Ave Gang’s territory, but he is asking for trouble with his outspoken anti-Japanese sentiments. When the Axe Gang and the Japanese form an alliance, Ma will be pulled into the fray to protect everyone halfway decent.

OUATIS is definitely following the buddy movie playbook, but screenwriter Angela Wong somewhat inverts the formula, by having the naïve country boy stay strong and start to reform the hedonistic crime lord. Even so, the narrative is rather simplistic, but the film’s grit and tragic vibe will appeal to genre audiences nonetheless.

The martial arts sequences choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping and Yuen Cheung-yan are obviously the important thing here—and they deliver. Fortunately, Philip Ng and second lead Andy On have the skills and bearing for the often brutal but wildly cinematic beatdowns. There is no question they can carry this stuff off. Veteran martial arts stars Sammo Hung and Chen Kuen-tai (the 1972 Ma Yongzhen) lend the film further street cred.

After working his way up through a series of increasingly prominent supporting roles (Lionel, the undercover cop stepson in From Vegas to Macau), Ng gets his shot playing the hero here. His turn as Ma is not exactly a bases-clearing homerun, but Ng is not bad at all. He has a strong presence, develops some reasonably believable romantic chemistry with Michelle Hu’s Tie Ju (the somewhat judgmental daughter of Master Tie), and excels in the fight scenes. Although Andy On goes a bit over the top with Long Qi’s outrageous preening and weird bursts of laughter, it sort of works anyway, because this is a genre that rewards attitude, which he brings in generous servings.

Indeed, most action enthusiasts will want to see more of Ng and the more established On after Wong’s Ma Yongzhen reboot, which says a lot. If you are looking for impressive martial arts action and can easily overlook some predictably excessive anti-Japanese propaganda, than it is a safe bet. Recommended for martial arts and historical gangster fans, Once Upon a Time in Shanghai is now available for home viewing from Well Go USA.