I love Hong Kong cinema. I particularly love the wave of films released during the region´s most recent prominent filmmaking era, known as the Hong Kong New Wave. Filmmaker´s ushered in a slew of films during the period and left no genre untouched, no angle unfilmed and no actor underused (in one year, Chow Yun Fat made no less than 12 films!). One such actor, who has fallen out of the limelight in recent years, is Yuen Biao.
Biao is well known for being the younger "brother" of Seven Little Fortunes opera troupe members Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Even though he hasn´t had the same level of success, in his own right, Biao is known for being one of the most acrobatic martial artists to have ever graced the screen. With Dragon Dynasty´s release of "Above the Law" (also known as "Righting Wrongs"), Biao´s talent as a performer is for fronted, showing his abilities along with a slew of other performers, making for one memorable Hong Kong action film.
The story centers around Biao as he is finishing his law school education in England. Upon his return to Hong Kong he is given a case where he tries to convict some drug kingpin´s for their crimes but finds that this is more difficult to do than he could have ever anticipated. When a key witness and his family are murdered, Biao decides to take matters into his own hands and deliver his own brand of justice. After the boss is killed, a Hong Kong police detective (Cynthia Rothrock) is assigned to investigate the dealings, when her trail her to our hero, a deeper conspiracy forces the two of them to work together and bring the "more evil" criminals to justice.
The vigilante/revenge film has been done numerous times before in a number of countries in a number of styles, but here its delivered with such forceful zeal, it makes everything seem fresh. Director Corey Yuen (also a member of the Seven Little Fortunes) directs the over the top action with gusto and reverence for the genre. The story itself is a bit dark, trying to lament on government corruption and social apathy regarding certain crimes. Still the movie is weakened by characters that are bit on the shallow side in development and plotting that is often convenient – revelations come when it seems the movie needs to get from one moment to the next. For characters we´re essentially given ciphers to follow along with but it´s the dazzling fight/action scenes that make the film truly worthwhile.
Biao is in top form here, exchanging blows with Rothrock and Martial Artist Peter Cunningham, among others. Biao is used to the fullest extent here, so much so that he even doubles for Rothrock a few times, which is really only apparent to people who are looking for the moment. Biao even pulls of a few spectacular stunts that are right up there with Jackie Chan in terms of bravado. lthough it lacks an intriguing story to get you from beginning to end, "Above the Law" is a pretty nice ride through Hong Kong action cinema of the 80´s. The fights are great, well executed and shot. The performances are solid and help make the film a little more enjoyable than it probably should be.
Biao is well known for being the younger "brother" of Seven Little Fortunes opera troupe members Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Even though he hasn´t had the same level of success, in his own right, Biao is known for being one of the most acrobatic martial artists to have ever graced the screen. With Dragon Dynasty´s release of "Above the Law" (also known as "Righting Wrongs"), Biao´s talent as a performer is for fronted, showing his abilities along with a slew of other performers, making for one memorable Hong Kong action film.
The story centers around Biao as he is finishing his law school education in England. Upon his return to Hong Kong he is given a case where he tries to convict some drug kingpin´s for their crimes but finds that this is more difficult to do than he could have ever anticipated. When a key witness and his family are murdered, Biao decides to take matters into his own hands and deliver his own brand of justice. After the boss is killed, a Hong Kong police detective (Cynthia Rothrock) is assigned to investigate the dealings, when her trail her to our hero, a deeper conspiracy forces the two of them to work together and bring the "more evil" criminals to justice.
The vigilante/revenge film has been done numerous times before in a number of countries in a number of styles, but here its delivered with such forceful zeal, it makes everything seem fresh. Director Corey Yuen (also a member of the Seven Little Fortunes) directs the over the top action with gusto and reverence for the genre. The story itself is a bit dark, trying to lament on government corruption and social apathy regarding certain crimes. Still the movie is weakened by characters that are bit on the shallow side in development and plotting that is often convenient – revelations come when it seems the movie needs to get from one moment to the next. For characters we´re essentially given ciphers to follow along with but it´s the dazzling fight/action scenes that make the film truly worthwhile.
Biao is in top form here, exchanging blows with Rothrock and Martial Artist Peter Cunningham, among others. Biao is used to the fullest extent here, so much so that he even doubles for Rothrock a few times, which is really only apparent to people who are looking for the moment. Biao even pulls of a few spectacular stunts that are right up there with Jackie Chan in terms of bravado. lthough it lacks an intriguing story to get you from beginning to end, "Above the Law" is a pretty nice ride through Hong Kong action cinema of the 80´s. The fights are great, well executed and shot. The performances are solid and help make the film a little more enjoyable than it probably should be.
I love Hong Kong cinema. I particularly love the wave of films released during the region´s most recent prominent filmmaking era, known as the Hong Kong New Wave. Filmmaker´s ushered in a slew of films during the period and left no genre untouched, no angle unfilmed and no actor underused (in one year, Chow Yun Fat made no less than 12 films!). One such actor, who has fallen out of the limelight in recent years, is Yuen Biao.
Biao is well known for being the younger "brother" of Seven Little Fortunes opera troupe members Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Even though he hasn´t had the same level of success, in his own right, Biao is known for being one of the most acrobatic martial artists to have ever graced the screen. With Dragon Dynasty´s release of "Above the Law" (also known as "Righting Wrongs"), Biao´s talent as a performer is for fronted, showing his abilities along with a slew of other performers, making for one memorable Hong Kong action film.
The story centers around Biao as he is finishing his law school education in England. Upon his return to Hong Kong he is given a case where he tries to convict some drug kingpin´s for their crimes but finds that this is more difficult to do than he could have ever anticipated. When a key witness and his family are murdered, Biao decides to take matters into his own hands and deliver his own brand of justice. After the boss is killed, a Hong Kong police detective (Cynthia Rothrock) is assigned to investigate the dealings, when her trail her to our hero, a deeper conspiracy forces the two of them to work together and bring the "more evil" criminals to justice.
The vigilante/revenge film has been done numerous times before in a number of countries in a number of styles, but here its delivered with such forceful zeal, it makes everything seem fresh. Director Corey Yuen (also a member of the Seven Little Fortunes) directs the over the top action with gusto and reverence for the genre. The story itself is a bit dark, trying to lament on government corruption and social apathy regarding certain crimes. Still the movie is weakened by characters that are bit on the shallow side in development and plotting that is often convenient – revelations come when it seems the movie needs to get from one moment to the next. For characters we´re essentially given ciphers to follow along with but it´s the dazzling fight/action scenes that make the film truly worthwhile.
Biao is in top form here, exchanging blows with Rothrock and Martial Artist Peter Cunningham, among others. Biao is used to the fullest extent here, so much so that he even doubles for Rothrock a few times, which is really only apparent to people who are looking for the moment. Biao even pulls of a few spectacular stunts that are right up there with Jackie Chan in terms of bravado. lthough it lacks an intriguing story to get you from beginning to end, "Above the Law" is a pretty nice ride through Hong Kong action cinema of the 80´s. The fights are great, well executed and shot. The performances are solid and help make the film a little more enjoyable than it probably should be.
Biao is well known for being the younger "brother" of Seven Little Fortunes opera troupe members Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Even though he hasn´t had the same level of success, in his own right, Biao is known for being one of the most acrobatic martial artists to have ever graced the screen. With Dragon Dynasty´s release of "Above the Law" (also known as "Righting Wrongs"), Biao´s talent as a performer is for fronted, showing his abilities along with a slew of other performers, making for one memorable Hong Kong action film.
The story centers around Biao as he is finishing his law school education in England. Upon his return to Hong Kong he is given a case where he tries to convict some drug kingpin´s for their crimes but finds that this is more difficult to do than he could have ever anticipated. When a key witness and his family are murdered, Biao decides to take matters into his own hands and deliver his own brand of justice. After the boss is killed, a Hong Kong police detective (Cynthia Rothrock) is assigned to investigate the dealings, when her trail her to our hero, a deeper conspiracy forces the two of them to work together and bring the "more evil" criminals to justice.
The vigilante/revenge film has been done numerous times before in a number of countries in a number of styles, but here its delivered with such forceful zeal, it makes everything seem fresh. Director Corey Yuen (also a member of the Seven Little Fortunes) directs the over the top action with gusto and reverence for the genre. The story itself is a bit dark, trying to lament on government corruption and social apathy regarding certain crimes. Still the movie is weakened by characters that are bit on the shallow side in development and plotting that is often convenient – revelations come when it seems the movie needs to get from one moment to the next. For characters we´re essentially given ciphers to follow along with but it´s the dazzling fight/action scenes that make the film truly worthwhile.
Biao is in top form here, exchanging blows with Rothrock and Martial Artist Peter Cunningham, among others. Biao is used to the fullest extent here, so much so that he even doubles for Rothrock a few times, which is really only apparent to people who are looking for the moment. Biao even pulls of a few spectacular stunts that are right up there with Jackie Chan in terms of bravado. lthough it lacks an intriguing story to get you from beginning to end, "Above the Law" is a pretty nice ride through Hong Kong action cinema of the 80´s. The fights are great, well executed and shot. The performances are solid and help make the film a little more enjoyable than it probably should be.
No comments:
Post a Comment