Vengeance - 復仇

Vengeance (復仇) is 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Johnny Hallyday, Anthony Wong, Gordon Lam, Lam Suet and Simon Yam. The movie also features a supporting cast of Michelle Ye, Felix Wong and Maggie Siu. A large portion of the film was in English due to scenes with Hallyday.

A family of four is gunned down by hitmen as the movie starts. The wife is of French decent and her father comes to Hong Kong from Paris. The daughter asked her father, Francis, to take revenge. Francis start looking around Macau but doesn't get anywhere. Dejected, Francis head back to his hotel. On his way back, he bumps into 3 hitmen right after a job. Francis than looks for these 3 to help him find his killers. The three hitmen than methodically located the hitmen that gunned down the family. But there a twist to the story. Hitmen hold no grudge against their victims. Someone hired them and Francis is no after the one who hired the hitmen.

The movie plays at a very similiar pace a Exiled. However, due to Hallyday in the lead, the movie doesn't flow so well. Hallyday seemed very one dimensional and didn't express his feelings through his face. If you watch enough Hk films, the face is 90% of the acting most time. In this case, it was like 1% of the acting. The hitmen however were the interesting part of the film. You knew they were bad to the bone and could take on any comers. I would have rather seen a film focused on the hitmen than the father out for revenge.

Bad Blood - 滅門

Bad Blood (滅門) is a 2010 film out of Hong Kong. I had written an upcoming post about this back in January. The movie features many people, but mainly stars Simon Yam, Bernice Liu, and Andy On.

The movie starts with a group of running Tung Luen Shun guys in China mainland dressed in delivery men uniforms called "RedEx". The guys giving chase are the good police officers of the mainland. The leader of the pack, Andy Lok is killed. We see Andy Lok get executed and Audrey Lok, played by Bernice Liu, watching from the audience. Back in Hong Kong, the leaders of the clan are together to settle who's the new leader. Funky, played by Simon Yam, is the unanimous winner. But to see the will, Jason Lok must be present, but the youngest of the 3 Lok children cannot get away from work in San Francisco. Calf, played by Andy On, visits a house and fights a mute girl and wins. We come to find out that this mute girl, named Dumby, was an orphan Calf takes in years ago and is secretly in love with Calf. Jason returns and the will splits Andy's assets between the siblings. Almost immediately after, all the main bosses who voted for Funky get whacked. Who is behind the assassinations. Who's behind the master plan to rule the clan?

The movie was pretty insane. The fighting was really only an afterthought to the plot points. Lots and lots of "huh?" moments. It also includes Simon yam in a Yellow trenchcoat and Bernice Liu in a multi-colored jumpsuit!

Worth a watch for a different spin on "getting to the top". And its a Dennis Law movie. That's usually worth a watch.

Exiled - 放逐

Exiled (放逐) is a 2006 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Anthony Wong, Nick Cheung, Francis Ng, Roy Cheung, and Lam Suet. The supporting cast include Simon Yam, Josie Ho, and Richie Ren. The film was written and produced by Johnny To. Exiled has a limited relation the 1999 Johnny To film, The Mission.

The movie is primarily based in Macau. 5 childhood friends who grow up into gangsters congregate at the house of one that's left the triads. 2 are there to save the guy and 2 are there to take him out. But emotions run thick as the 5 are very close. In the end, the former gangster dies and the 4 remaining guys set out for revenge in the most unique of ways.

The final gun fight is one for the ages and the ones scattered throughout the film are very nice too. It reminds me of the gun play movies of John Woo when he was a HK movie machine.

A very slow movie when the action is on pause, but very intense. If you're a Johnny To fan, this is a must see.

The Mission - 鎗火

The Mission (鎗火) is a 1999 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Jackie Lui, Lam Suet, Roy Cheung, and Simon Yam. The film was produced and directed by Johnny To.

5 of these guys are the guards for a triad boss. They take their jobs very seriously. You see a lot of different scenarios where they protect their boss and work as a fluid team. Stylist gun play and unique scenarios make the action amped up and never a let down.

The movie has been very highly regarded by many HK cinema enthusiast. However, I didn't like the film that much in 1999 and when I re-watched it a few weeks ago. The cats are totally too cool for their suits, but I didn't get the "wow" feeling after it ended. In fact, I was wondering when the movie would end.

But the movie is still very good. Johnny To goes on to make a lot more movies that are even more stylish than this.

Bad Blood - 滅門 - Upcoming

Bad Blood (滅門) is being released in Hong Kong on January 21. I don't normally do upcoming posts for HK films, but the trailer for this film looks insane. The Chinese title loosely translates to "clan extinction", which could mean "Bad Blood".

Check out the crazy trailer and visit the site while its still up. From the trailer and interviews. The action is going to be crazy. Looking forward to this.