MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG is a breakneck, roller-coaster ride of an action movie from those champions of cinema at the Shaw Brothers studio. It's one of their rare contemporary thrillers in which a hard-ass bunch of mercenaries are tasked with crossing the border into Cambodia and kidnapping a deadly assassin with a price on his head.
This is one of those ensemble all-star productions similar to THE A-TEAM or THE EXPENDABLES, but to my mind better than both. Ti Lung has never been tougher as the moustachioed lead and he assembles a crack squad of classic Shaw stars to go on the mission. Wong Yu is the magician who'll do anything for money; the great Lo Lieh is a sniper; the extremely tough Johnny Wang Lung Wei is a boxer; Michael Chan Wai-Man is a soldier with combat experience in Vietnam; Chan Pak-Cheung is the comic relief and ladies' man. The odds are stacked against the heroes, with a vengeful Yuen Wah hunting them in Hong Kong, Phillip Ko playing the target, and the ultra-imposing Lee Hoi San as a sinister character who keeps turning up to commit murder.
Don't go in expecting dense plotting, because the emphasis of this film is very much on the action, and it delivers in spades. From Lung's opening hit to the assembling of the team and the eventual mission, it's exciting stuff indeed with a strong mix of hand-to-hand combat and explosive gun-dominated set-pieces. The stakes continue to raise in the second half, and there's an admirably dark streak well handled by writer/director Wong Jing at the outset of his career. The only contemporary Shaw film that I like better than this is the exemplary HONG KONG GODFATHER.
This is one of those ensemble all-star productions similar to THE A-TEAM or THE EXPENDABLES, but to my mind better than both. Ti Lung has never been tougher as the moustachioed lead and he assembles a crack squad of classic Shaw stars to go on the mission. Wong Yu is the magician who'll do anything for money; the great Lo Lieh is a sniper; the extremely tough Johnny Wang Lung Wei is a boxer; Michael Chan Wai-Man is a soldier with combat experience in Vietnam; Chan Pak-Cheung is the comic relief and ladies' man. The odds are stacked against the heroes, with a vengeful Yuen Wah hunting them in Hong Kong, Phillip Ko playing the target, and the ultra-imposing Lee Hoi San as a sinister character who keeps turning up to commit murder.
Don't go in expecting dense plotting, because the emphasis of this film is very much on the action, and it delivers in spades. From Lung's opening hit to the assembling of the team and the eventual mission, it's exciting stuff indeed with a strong mix of hand-to-hand combat and explosive gun-dominated set-pieces. The stakes continue to raise in the second half, and there's an admirably dark streak well handled by writer/director Wong Jing at the outset of his career. The only contemporary Shaw film that I like better than this is the exemplary HONG KONG GODFATHER.