There are two great heroic bloodshed films by John Woo, and this irksome slog of a prequel.
Mark (Chow Yun Fat) owes everything to Anita Yuen- his shades, gunmanship, matchstick & trench coat- Anita is too amazing... she can fire a machine gun with one arm,pointing wildly around the room yet still mow down dozens of inept military personnel who just run into rooms. Her skills derive from being a nightclub singer, as they would.
The direction is clunky, editing laboriously bad , the dialogue cringeworthy. The love triangle is mawkish and feeble. The action scenes are uninvolving & predictable.
I watched this film not long after its release and actually enjoyed it mildly (though overall was disappointed) due to CYF's typically charismatic performance. I watched it again recently & it was an utter chore & bore to get through.
Its just far too contrived. Everything is a bit daft... eg- Opening scene- Mark has a cigarette in his mouth & the passport control admin points to a no-smoking sign. Mark hides the cigarette in his mouth, but could have just put it in his top pocket. Moments later he coughs up the now soggy mess of the cigarette for comic effect.
The is also a perfect leitmotif for the rest of the film-It is a soggy mess.
Others may claim this is a masterpiece, even the best of the series, I would seriously disagree and could list 50 films off the top of my head that were similar, yet far better made between the mid 80s to 90's in HK.
Mark (Chow Yun Fat) owes everything to Anita Yuen- his shades, gunmanship, matchstick & trench coat- Anita is too amazing... she can fire a machine gun with one arm,pointing wildly around the room yet still mow down dozens of inept military personnel who just run into rooms. Her skills derive from being a nightclub singer, as they would.
The direction is clunky, editing laboriously bad , the dialogue cringeworthy. The love triangle is mawkish and feeble. The action scenes are uninvolving & predictable.
I watched this film not long after its release and actually enjoyed it mildly (though overall was disappointed) due to CYF's typically charismatic performance. I watched it again recently & it was an utter chore & bore to get through.
Its just far too contrived. Everything is a bit daft... eg- Opening scene- Mark has a cigarette in his mouth & the passport control admin points to a no-smoking sign. Mark hides the cigarette in his mouth, but could have just put it in his top pocket. Moments later he coughs up the now soggy mess of the cigarette for comic effect.
The is also a perfect leitmotif for the rest of the film-It is a soggy mess.
Others may claim this is a masterpiece, even the best of the series, I would seriously disagree and could list 50 films off the top of my head that were similar, yet far better made between the mid 80s to 90's in HK.