I Corrupt All Cops - 金錢帝國

I Corrupt All Cops (金錢帝國) is a 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The main stars are Anthony Wong, Tony Leung, Alex Fong and Eason Chan. Supporting cast include Wong Jing, Liu Yang, Kate Tsui, and Bowie Lam.

The movie is about the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s corrupt Hong Kong police force. Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is the play on the acronym. Being transformed to "I Corrupt All Cops". My translation for the title is the emperor of the gold country.

The movie follows the Tony Leung as Lak, Eason Chan as Gale, Alex Fong as Bong, and Anthony Wong as Unicorn. Lak is the head of the police force and with Gold, played by Wong Jing, established a bribe system for local gangs and police. Gale runs in Lak's inner circle and is presented as an all around good guy. Unicorn is a hot headed police officer that gets on the wrong side of Lak and is demoted to patrol the water bank. The first half of the movie is to present the current situation of bribes for police and system of corruption. The second half is the formation of ICAC and how it brings down Lak's circle and tries to weed out corruption in the police force.

The movie was pretty intense and I loved the subject matter. It brought back memories of Andy Lau's Lee Rock film series. But the story telling was very unfocused and the character development seem forced. In the end, I didn't care for these guys much. Liu Yang had a breakout performance as Rose and hope to see more of her.

Hooked On You - 每當變幻時

Hooked On You (每當變幻時) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong starring Miriam Yeung and Eason Chan.

The movie was related to the 10th anniversery of the turnover in 1997. The movie spans 1997-2007. Within that time, we follow Miriam as Miu and Eason as Fishman. Miu is a fishmonger at Fortune Market and Eason is a rival fish monger. Miu and Fishman start to fall for one another. But Miu does not want to marry into her current "class", but wants to marry up so she doesn't have to work so hard. Miu and Fishman have this back and forth in the film. Will they or will they not get together situations.

HK events from 1997-2007 were brought up as landmarks in the 10 years. From the turnover, to SARS, to modern super centers.

I was bored watching this film. I am no HK resident and some of the events didn't register until I read other reviews for it. Catch it if you're a Miriam or Eason fan. If you're not a fan, skip it.

Brothers - 兄弟

Brothers (兄弟) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Michael Miu, Eason Chan, Andy Lau, Crystal Huang, Felix Wong, Ken Tong, and Gordon Lam (苗僑偉,陳奕迅,劉德華,黃奕,黃日華,湯鎮業,林家棟).

The movie starts 20 years in the past (fashion looks 70-ish which is 30 years ago). Yiu (Miu) and Shun (Chan) are brothers who hit a person while taking their fathers car out for spin. Yiu and Shun's father is at a temple and a fortune teller predicts that if the brothers are together, they will be at odds. Yiu stays in Hong Kong while Shun goes to the US with the mother. Yiu and Shun's father is a head of a Tam triad syndicate.

Fast forward 20 years. Yiu is now the head of the Tam triad syndicate now. The father is now retired. Nine Yim orders a hit on the father, but he survives. Shun comes back to Hong Kong to see the father. The father passes within hours of seeing Shun. The mother is now senile and cannot recognize her own sons.

Shun is feeling his way around Hong Kong and coming to grips with of his families triad ways. Shun doesn't like the triad ways and wants things to change. Yiu sets in motion a series of events that kills both Nine Yim and the son. Shun gets dragged in and spends a little time in Thailand.

Andy Lau's role in the movie is that of the police. Lau wants to take the triad bosses down. Gordon Lam plays his sidekick.

In all, the movie wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It played off a lot of assumptions about triad movies already. It was good to see Michael Miu back in action. This movie featured 4 of the "TVB Five Tigers" from the early 80s (sup Tony?).

It's not a bad watch, but not something you "have" to see.