Martial arts icon Donnie Yen ("Iron Monkey") plays Inspector Ma, a hard-nosed Hong Kong detective with a history of excessive force. Together with his partner Wilson (Louis Koo), he works hard to take down a vicious trio of drug-smuggling brothers - Tony (Collin Chou), Archer (Ray Lui), and Tiger (Xing Yu).
In order to check out the cinematic career of Mr. Yen, I began with this solid bit of escapism, directed with brio by Wilson Yip. It's simple, straightforward, and completely unpretentious crime fiction. It's very violent, it contains a healthy amount of comedy (especially from Kent Cheng as Inspector Wong), it has a rousing music score (by Kwong Wing Chan), and the pacing is just incredible: this movie RACES forward. It may be more story-oriented in the early going, but it soon delivers some unbeatable action sequences, especially an extended final fight between Ma and Tony that is very exciting. (Yen and Chou would acknowledge that this was the hardest shoot of their careers.) The movie also has lots of eye candy, as there are some truly gorgeous women, in particular Bingbing Fan as Judy, Wilsons' girlfriend.
Although just as much Mr. Koos' vehicle as it is Yens' (and he's good, too), this proved to be an engaging showcase for Yens' physicality and screen presence. This was clearly a good place to start delving into his filmography.
Seven out of 10.
In order to check out the cinematic career of Mr. Yen, I began with this solid bit of escapism, directed with brio by Wilson Yip. It's simple, straightforward, and completely unpretentious crime fiction. It's very violent, it contains a healthy amount of comedy (especially from Kent Cheng as Inspector Wong), it has a rousing music score (by Kwong Wing Chan), and the pacing is just incredible: this movie RACES forward. It may be more story-oriented in the early going, but it soon delivers some unbeatable action sequences, especially an extended final fight between Ma and Tony that is very exciting. (Yen and Chou would acknowledge that this was the hardest shoot of their careers.) The movie also has lots of eye candy, as there are some truly gorgeous women, in particular Bingbing Fan as Judy, Wilsons' girlfriend.
Although just as much Mr. Koos' vehicle as it is Yens' (and he's good, too), this proved to be an engaging showcase for Yens' physicality and screen presence. This was clearly a good place to start delving into his filmography.
Seven out of 10.