This time around ghost fighting Taoist priest Yin Chek Ha (Louis Koo Tin Lok) on his first mission was sent to destroy the spirits at Black Hill, especially the 10,000 year old Tree Demon (Wai Ying Hung) but instead fell in love with the Fox Spirit Siu Sin (Liu Yifei), when he finally realized they could not be together, he used his ultimate weapon, which was meant for the tree spirit on Siu Sin to make him forget him completely. Then young bumbling scholar Ning Choi Shan (Yu Shaoqun) arrives at the town at the bottom of the hill, which is dyeing for lack of water, and they get him to go into the black hills to get the water flowing, along with a gang of convicts. They find the water source, where the tree is, but Siu Sin’s demon sisters take the convicts and eat them. Siu Sin likes the sweet Ning Choi Shan who gives her candy just as Yin did before, and Yin shows up and starts killing the spirits, and Ning Choi Shan thinks he is a murderer.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Ning Choi Shan uses a bomb to free the water, and gets back to the town, but the people are being turned into trees by the water. The Tree Demon must be destroyed to save them.

Yin Chek Ha’s master arrives, who lost his arm in the battle with the Tree Demon, where Yin no longer had his powerful weapon, this is Xia Xuefenglei (Louis Fan) and his sister Xia Bing (Wang Danyi) who are determined to kill all the spirits and the tree demons.

Of course the Tree Demon has to be destroyed, and Ning Choi Shan is determined to save Siu Sin by getting her remains out of the Lanruo Temple.

IN the end Yin Chek Ha takes the weapon out of Sui Sin, which makes her remember him, and sacrifices himself, using himself to hold the demon, and the weapon to destroy the beast, and the temple is sucked in on itself, and Sui Sin goes with it to be with her true love Yin Check Ha, leaving Ning Choi Shan alive, but alone.

••••

Really a let down, and pointless, even if it does look good. And changing the love story really ruined it altogether, as you can’t care about it, because it is not real, only a shallow replacement fro the true love story.

Andy Lau Tak Wah plays Warlord Hou in the early 1900′s fighting to carve China up. He chases a rival General to Shaolin where many refugees have gone to seek food and shelter. Huo’s right hand Tsao (Nicholas Tse Ting Fun) has shown some mercy, but Huo shoots his rival on the sacred grounds, teaching Tsao that he has to be non-compromising. Hou then makes a deal with a general who is a friend of his to marry his daughter to the other generals son, but in fact sets him up to betray him, but in turn is betrayed by Tsao. He runs with his daughter, but Tsao knocks them over a cliff and his little daughter is hurt. Both Huo and his wife (Fan Bing Bing) end up at Shaolin Temple, and they watch as the daughter dies, and Huo’s wife leaves him. Huo with no where to go stays at Shaolin, being apprenticed to the cook Uncle Wudao (Jackie Chan) and slowly starts practicing his martial arts and learning the ways of Shaolin.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The head student at Shaolin (Wu Jing) is dealign with some of his students sneaking out to steal food for the people at Shaolin as well as with Huo who he eventually lets train with them in Martial arts.

Huo also learns from WuDao who had trained in Martial arts at Shaolin, but then became a cook, but unknowingly uses his martial arts in his cooking. He always talks of leaving Shaolin, but is scared to leave, as he has never been anyplace else.

Huo eventually gives up his external life and becomes a monk, though of course things can’t all be good.

Tsao returns and his intent is to destroy Shaolin, and he has Huo’s wife as his prisoner. Tsao also has brought foreigners and their weapons with them. The monks must protect the people and get them out. Uncle WuDao leads out the people as the Temple Head gives his life to stop the soldiers, and Huo fights Tsao.

Huo though tries to save Tsao, but Tsao keeps fighting and is killed by the canon fire from his ‘allies.’ And the temple is destroyed, but Huo and the monks escape with all the refugees and of course Shaolin will survive as they survive. And Huo’s wife forgives him, as she likes and loves the man he has become.

•••

Good martial arts, great production design, and an epic story. Sure it could have had better writing, and some of the acting is iffy, but the film is fun, and Andy Lau is great, and the Jackie Chan cameo is a highlight.

Benny Chan may not be the best dirctor, but this film is totally enjoyable and worth checking out.l

Loy (Jacky Cheung Hok Yau) is getting older and has had only one real love in his life, and she got left him and got married, and so he has never grown up. He would sleep through every day if he could, though his aunt (Mimu Chu Mi Mi) wakes him and tried to get him going. His mom, Mrs Chiang (Bau Hei Jing) who runs an appliance store where he works keeps trying to set him up with women, and he is introduced at a dim sum lunch to Oi Ling (Tang Wei) a girl whose uncle and aunt adopted her and she works at their toilet shop. The meeting does not go well as Loy doesn’t care and Oi Ling has a boyfriend, a punk named Xu (Andy On Chi Kit) who is currently in jail for beating someone up. They do end up meeting again though, and make friends, going to a restaurant where the meet an Indian waiter, who keeps showing up, and they want to know who he actually is. The title refers to the road which you must cross to go from one’s parents shop to the next and changing neighborhoods.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Loy ends up with his childhood love (Maggie Cheung Ho Yee) back in his life, and back in her bed, though she obviously doesn’t care for him too much, but he does help her get new air condition for her art studio which she has gotten from her money from the divorce.

Mrs Chiang wants her son to do better, and also wants her relationship with Uncle Ching (the great Danny Lee Say Yin) who does their books and is an accountant, and whose little dog almost comes between Chiang and her sister.

Loy and Oi Ling keep hanging out, and becoming closer, and when Xu gets out of jail Oi Ling moves in with him, but sees what a rat he really is. He may have saved her once, but he is really not a good man, and only knows how to fight. And Loy sees how his love doesn’t really care about him, but she does enjoy the ease she has with him.

Xu beats Loy up, trying to get him to prove he can take care of Oi Ling, and he will. And eventually the two end up together, because their slow friendship is what is best for both of them.

••••

An enjoyable character piece. And Jackie Cheung is awesome as is his whole family. This is really a character piece and a very enjoyable film all around. And a must see for those not out for the typical romantic comedy.

The film opens with Kong Qiu [Confuscius played by Chow Yun Fat] as an old man remembering his life, looking out of badly digital windows. Then we got back to his period as an official in the Kingdom of Lu. He had been a mayor, but his ideals and disciples had turned the state into such a principled state, that the leader gets Chi Shun (Chen Jianbin) to give up his position as minister of Law to allow Confucius to gain that position and put his principles into affect. He first manages to save a burial slave from being slaughtered and killed with his dead master, and having the law changed to make the practice illegal. Kong then manages to get a treaty through with a warlike neighbor and get 3 cities back that had been taken in a previous conflict. He seems at the height of his powers, and according to the law starts to have the 3 walls taken down from the 3 powerful families fiefedoms, and this loses him his power, and he is banished from Lu.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Kong Qiu plans on going into exile alone, leaving his wife and daughter behind, but his followers decide to come with, and most stay with him for 14 years, as he travels from land to land spreading his ideals.

Another of the lands try to temp them to stay, and the kings consort (Zhou Xun) who runs the empire tries to temp him, but he and his disciples leave.

Over time Kong Qiu’s disciples get temped away and many end up dyeing in the process.

After 14 years and the death of the Lu king, Chi Shun invites Kong Qiu back as they need him to try and keep the land together, and he is finally able to return home.

We see Kong Qiu living an ideal life and finishing the book of his ideals before dyeing of old age.

•••

There is only the smallest character arc, once Confucius realizes that he has coveted power too much as an official, but that happens half way through, so there is no character drama here, just drawn out events that don’t add much to the story. Really not worth checking out.

Bo (Wu Jing) visits a restaurant and then heads to a rural island off of Hong Kong, where he goes and kills crime boss Chairman Ma (Kou Zhan-Wen) having first knocked out his men, who only saw that he was carrying a brown bag (which is actually a bowling bag). Bo heads back to the ferry, but it is stopped because of a typhoon warning, so he is stuck in the island. As Bo wanders around, he saves a woman named Hiu Wor (Celina Jade) when she falls out of a tree trying to retrieve her cat. The go back to her place, where he realizes she is a police office, and then head out to the one open restaurant to get some food. On the radio is a broadcast about 3 theives who are also eating dinner there. Hiu Wor confronts the men (led by Jackie Chan’s ex body guard Ken Lo), but gets attacked, so Bo must save her, and they head back to the police station.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Most of the cops take to Bo right off, especially the sergeant (Hui Siu Hung) as well as the cop played by Alex Fong Lik Sun, though he is not liked by one who likes Hui Wor (Ronald Cheng Chung Kei).

Meanwhile Charman Ma’s wife (Aoyama Norkio) sends a group of her men, led by the great Lam Suet to the island to find her husband, and when they find his body, to find his severed head.

The cops get a call about a disturbance at the temple (where Bo killed Ma) and Hui Wor and the suspicious cop head there on bikes and confront the gang and find Ma’s body which is missing a head. They are almost taken, but are saved by Bo, who tries not to be seen, but is. The cops take the body to their police station.

Ma’s wife sends the men to get her husband’s body back, so they assault the headquarters and kill the cop played by Alex Fong.

When the ferry’s start running, a group of cops come over to take over and find the killer. Bo is confronted by them all at the ferry, and Hui Gor opens his bag, finding only a bowling ball, and she gives him her number and her is allowed to leave.

Bo is confronted by Ma’s men on the other side and he drops his bag, and the bowling ball opens to reveal Ma’s head, and it is seen by cops, so they know it was Bo, but he gets away.

Ma’s wife has Hui Wor taken and locked up, and calls Bo from her phone. He goes to confront and save her, and fights his way through a hundred men, and does very well for himself, but is killed, but Ma’s wife killed him in front of Hui Gor, so they now have proof against her.

At the end their is a news report that Hui Gor sees about a woman that Chairman Ma killed, who was a missionary, and since Ma left his head on her grave, he was getting revenge for her death.

•••

Quite a let down. Some interesting action, but overall pretty much a waste.

This takes place during the Warring States period in Chinese history. The kingdom’s of Wei and Liang have a huge battle with 2000 Liang troops and 1000 Wei troops and wipe each other out. One Liang soldier does survive (Jackie Chan Sing Lung). He survived because he has rigged up a gag in his armor, which pops up an arrow on both sides and makes it look like he has already been shot. He is busy looting and getting a wagon ready when a Liang general turns out to be alive, and ends up fighting a surviving Wei General (Wang Lee Hom). The Wei general survives, but it wounded, much to the soldiers happiness. He uses his own mix of herbs to treat his wounds and ties him up to take him to Liang, as a captured General means enough land to farm on, and exemption from military service. Of course the General is being followed by more Wei who also want him dead, the Prince (Steve Yoo Sung Jun) and his general (Gai Chun Wa who I loved in the Seven Swords soap opera) are hunting him for reasons unknown.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The soldier is tricked by a singer (Lin Peng) who steals their horse and drugs them.

A gang of homeless steal the cart, but leave him the general.

The prince and his general follow, slaughtering all those that get in there way, and eventually the general agrees to go with the soldier, if only to die a worthy death, though the two still end up fighting along the way.

The soldier tells his story of how he had 2 brothers and his dad and his whole village were destroyed in the war, and his 2 brothers, and he is all that is left and wants to carry on the family name for his father, who gave him a map of the land. He proves to be a good man, when he finds the girl with his horse he gives her the horse and his map so she can find her way.

He and his general are taken captive by some Barbarians. When the prince and his men come on, the General is able to make trouble and the two sides battle allowing the general and soldier to try and escape.

There is a final battle, where the prince is proved to be the generals brother and the princes general was backing his own horse to be king, but the two end making friends, and finally the prince kills himself instead of letting his brother be killed by the barbarians for killing the clan chief’s woman.

The little soldier takes his big soldier in a boat to head to Liang, but at the shores lets him go, getting him to promise not to invade Liang for 10 years. The little soldier unfurls his hidden package a Liang flag and steps up, but finds that the kingdom of Qin has destroyed Liang as they would not submit. The little soldier refuses to submit and is shot and killed by the Qin soldiers.

We learn in Voice over that the general who is in fact the crown prince returned home to become king, and stopped the military expeditions and when Qin attacked he surrendered, keeping the people from harm and allowing Qin to unite the country.

•••

A sad movie, and not a complicated story, but is enjoyable, and a perfect role for the aging Chan!

Su Can (Vincent Zhao Zen Zhao) is a general working for a prince along with his adopted brother Yuan Lie (Andy On Chi Kit). They go out and save the prince, and he promises to make Su Can the governor of Hu Bei, but he turns it down, and asks that his brother be made governor instead. Su leaves to be with his wife Ying (Zhou Xun) who is Yuan Lie’s actual sister and to perfect his wushu. Su gives his sword to his comrade Ma (Guo Xiaodong) and leaves. 5 years pass and Su has a daughter, and his father tells them that Yuan is returning, and that it may be for vengeance since Su’s father killed Yuan’s father as he was practicing evil martial arts, and then adopted his children as his own. Su thinks it can’t be right, but when Yuan arrives he quickly kills his father using his Five Venom Fists,

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

When Su learns of the murder he rushes to confront his brother, but is attacked by the Iron Twins (Jiang Luzia and WIll Liu) and he follows them to a river’s rapids. There is Yuan and he gives his brother his father’s head, which he took as revenge.

Yuan and Su fight, but Yuan is protected by a strange armor that is literally sowed into his body. Yuan uses his poisoned Five Venom Fists and defeats Su. Ying begs for the life of her husband, but Yuan drops him into the rapids, and she jumps after him, leaving their daughter Feng (Suen Hanwen) with her uncle.

Ying and Su are found by an herbalist Dr. Du (Michelle Yeoh) who saves Su, but his strength is greatly weekend. Ying helps Su make alcohol to sell to make money to help the poor. Su first turns to drinking, but eventually starts focusing on training so he can save Feng there son.

Su finds a sacred site and is trained by the Wu Shu God (Jay Chou) for years until his skills greatly improve.

Dr Dry reveals that Su is going Mad and their probably no god or old sage, since she is the only one in the entire area. Ying follows Su to his training and finds him in fact training alone, and she tries to convince him, but he won’t realize the truth. When he finally does it is too late, as Ying has gone to save her son and confront her brother..

Ying is now held by her brother Yuan, along with Feng, there son. Su arrives and fights his way through the guards and takes out the iron twins.

Yuan has his sister Ying buried alive in a box, and kills the men who buried her, so only he knows where his sister is.

Su battles and defeats Yuan. Feng tries to stop his father from killing Yuan, but it is too late. Su and Feng search for their mother and find her, but she is already dead having suffocated.

Su has lost his mind and wonders the world with Feng taking care of him and getting him wine. When a Kung Fu master is murdered by a Foreign fight club, Ma, Su’s old friend must challenge them. There are Tigers under the stage, and no chance, as they keep adding new fighters.

Su goes to an inn and gets drunk, seeing the Wu Shu God as a drunkard who spars with him and teaches him drunken kung fu, and Su regains his sanity. Ma is called in to deal with Su and recognizes him. Su asks Ma to take care of Feng as he is a bad father, but Feng sneaks back to his father.

Su and Feng go with Ma to his battle and Su drinks while Ma gets beaten in the ring. When Feng tries to stop Ma from being killed it brings Su out of his stupor, and he goes to fight. Anthony (David Carradine in his last role) sends in 3 wrestlers but Su is able to defeat the fighters, even if heavily hurt.

It sends with Su back to being cleaned up, but with long hair practicing again as he did in his insane period, once again having discovered martial arts.

****

Some great action, but only an OK film. Great action, but could certainly have been better. Still Vincent Zhao was awesome. I always wondered why he did not have as big of a career as Jet li!

The film stars with Cloud (Aaron Kwok Fu Sing) and Chu Chu (Tiffany Tang Yan, it seems Shu Qi was smart enough not to return to this disaster) already captured by the evil Godless (even the great Simon Yam Tat Wah can’t make this crap good). Also captured is Cloud and Wind’s new master Nameless (Kenny Ho Kar King) as well as some other masters. Cloudless and his son Heart (Nicholas Tse Ting Fung) like Lord Conquerer before them want to take over the martial arts world and the whole world. Cloud and Nameless get free with the help of Wind (Ekin Cheng Yee Kin), as they had planned, but Nameless is wounded. They decide they need to power up to defeat this new threat.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

They first go to see Lord Wicked (Kenny Wong Tak Bun) but he can only give evil power. Cloud is too temperamental for this, so Wind will take the evil power.

At the same time Nameless is giving his power to Cloud as he develops new sword skills in a style called Ba. Godless sends Assassins to kill them, but Cloud dispatches them.

WInd meanwhile leaves his training early (his training seems to be sitting in an evil black goo) when Second Dream (Charlene Choi Cheuk Yin) is injured by the Assassins. Wind does not finish his training, but leaves anyway, which is quite dangerous.

Godless and Heart are searching for an object called the Dragon Bone, and they have captured and are threatening the Emperor and his family. They get to the Dragon Tomb, and heart is able to figure out the correct path using his power. Heart then starts killing the emperors wife and children to find out more about the tomb.

Cloud arrives, and the Emperors Guards help him, and he is able to knock back Heart, and fight with Godless. Cloud has no chance because of Godless’s invincible armor. The fight unveils the real entrance to the Dragon tomb and Godless almost beats Cloud, but Wind arrives and fights them both, killing Godless by chopping of his arm.

Wind the runs with the Dragon Bone.

The Emperor begs Cloud to retrieve the Dragon Bone and he sets off after him. Second Dream finds wind, but he is unresponsive.

The emperor’s guards arrive to take it back, but Heart shows up and kills them and fights with Second Dream, and it is broken and Wind becomes completely evil.

Cloud arrives and fights Wind, but he kills Chu Chu and wounds Second Dream.

Cloud finally manages to awaken Wind, but the cliff falls and Wind and Second Dream fall off the cliff. Cloud jumps off after them and manages to push Wind and Second Dream back up, but forcing him down faster.

Wind laments the death of his friend and that Cloud did not kill him earlier.

•••

Really a mediocre film with not enough plot, a not very good story, and no characterization. THIS MOVIE STINKS!

A trio of cops who specialize in bugs and wiretaps are working with the CCB or Commercial Crime Bureau to investigate insider trading. The cops are Johnny (Lau Ching Wan) who is dating Mandy (Zhang Jinchu, who is amazingly lovely and I first saw in Huayao Bride in Shangrila and then Seven Swords) the estranged wife of his kind of friend, and boss Kelvin (Alex Fong Chung-Sun). Max is the smart kid, who is marrying into money, and now spends at least 3 days a week with the chief of police and his father in law playing gold, when not doing nights on the police force. The final friend is Gene (Louis Koo Tin-Lok) a married man whose son has cancer, and he has 3 other young children, and not nearly enough money, especially once he finds out that his son will be fine, but he won’t last another year. They almost were caught when they planted mics and cameras into the offices they are spying on, but use their brains and get out. They trio do night duty listening to Executive Mr. Low (the great Waise Lee Chi-Hung) having sex with secretary (Quennie Chu) and using their ability to listen to any Cell Phone with a battery in to spy on their feelow cops (William Chan Wai-Ting and Sharon Luk Tze Wan) who are having an affair, though she is the big inspector’s girlfriend. On the job, while Johnny is out for a smoke, Gene and Max hear their mark, executive Mr. Low giving a tip about some stock that is going to go way up the next day, and Gene convinces Max to help him erase the recording, to get money for his family, and Max needs money since his father in law wants him to quit the force and work for him. The next morning Gene and Max go with their life savings to invest in E&T stock, and Johnny wants to stop them, but he is such a nice guy, they get him to go along, because they need the money, and the stock does quickly rise, but then is frozen for illegal trading, and they may have lost all their money.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Now Johnny is in over his head, and already lying to his friends about his affair with Mandy, and then they hear about the big boss (Michael Wong Mun-Tak) going to kill Mr. Low. Johnny can’t stand it, since the run on the stock was partially there fault, so he makes the other two go to save Mr. Low and his mistress on his boat, knocking out the killer, but Johnny’s face is seen by the Mistress, so they end up taking them all hostage until the stock deal can be taken care of after the weekend, and hiding them in Max’s brand new house.

On Monday they go to sell their stock, but amazingly when the stock starts trading, the money goes up and up, and they make a ton of money selling it, and are able to let their hostages go, threatening them to run.

Johny then proposes to Mandy, though he has yet to tell Kelvin. And Gene calls his wife to get her and the kids from the grandmother’s, after they had left when he took all their money out of there joint account.

The cops think that their unit is at fault though, and take all their gear, and Johnny ends up having to lead them as they break into their own HQ to destroy the computer that could incriminate them, while Max convinces the broker to launder the money and take a bribe, ending up with 15 million out of the 25 million they earned.

And the big boss isn’t too happy either, and he goes after and takes Max, and has Gene and his car with his family smashed. Johnny goes to run with Mandy, but Kelvin shows up and shoots her, but then is shot and killed by an assassin sent to kill Johnny.

Johnny gets Mandy to the hospital, and sees Gene lose a leg and arm, and his whole family dies. The Inspector tries to get him to go in, but he sneaks out to find Max, and finds him dead, and is taken to the wilderness and shot while the big boss watches.

A year later, the big boss is making deals, and calling for more deaths, and then has a big speech at a charity event he is hosting, when the cops play the video of him doing illegal dealings and ordering deaths, and Johnny comes up and arrests him. It seems Johnny used the 15 million to pay off his assassin, and the man did not shoot, but shot next to him, and took the money, and Johnny has since worked to take him down.

They go back to the station, but the big boss goes in his own car, making calls to try to save himself, but the car veers away from the police onto an unfinished bridge and we see the driver is Gene, with a missing arm and leg, who drives them both right off the bridge into the water, and to their death!

And Gene is of course saddened by his friends deaths, for the acts that they did.

••••

As I said a pretty enjoyable thriller that looks great, and has a pretty good story, though as I said I would like to see the good guys who did bad things, maybe not have to pay with their lives, but that is how it is has been in Hong Kong cinema since the handover.

Worth checking out, and Michael Wong is as hysterical as ever. I love him talking half in chinese and english, and acting like everyone always understands him all the time, as if he was speaking one language. He is comedy itself, but I like him for some reason. Didn’t even realize he was in the film until I saw his back and heard his unmistakable voice! Oh the comedy.

Damn I want Lau Ching Wan to get more movies like this. He is never better than in Police Dramas!

Steelhead (Jackie Chan Sing Lung) is a Chinese farmer, who lived happily in his village, until the love of his life Xiu Xiu (Xu Jinglei) loses touch after her aunt dies in Japan, and he goes to find her, sneaking into Japan illegally. He sneaks into Tokyo, and finds his childhood friend Jie (Daniel Wu) and his friends, including Dai (the great Ken Lo, formerly Jackie’s personal Bodyguard) and Lao Gewi (the great Lam Suet), who all live together and do any work they can to survive. Steelhead and Jie do any work they can get, working in a dump, or wherever. When Steelhead saves Hong Kong Boy (Chin Kar-Lok) at the dump, he gives Steelhead a bunch of illegal calling cards, and Steelhead starts to see the underbelly of Japanese society. Meanwhile there is a bit of a power struggle going on within the Yakuza because of the death of a leader, and Mob bosses Taro Watagawa (Kurata Yasuaki) and Toshinari Eguchi (Kato Masaya) vie for power. Steelhead and his friends are working in the sewers when the cops show up, led by Inspector Kitano (the great Takenaka Naoto who I will never forget for his role in Shall We Dance). Kitano chases Steelhead, but when he falls into the water, Steelhead saves the cop, who cannot swim, and the cop looks for Steelhead to settle his debt.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Working on an odd job, Steelhead manages to save a club owner and hostess named Lily (Fan Bing Bing) but refuses to take her money as a reward, having done what he felt was right.

Steelhead is working at a club, when he sees his old girlfriend Xiu Xiu, now known as Yuko, and the wife of the Yakuza boss Eguchi. After this Ironhead goes out drinking with Jie, and they go and get hookers, as Steelhead has broken and his morals are now gone, as he has lost everything now. We learn he lost his papers on the way there, so he can never go back to China, and now he knows the whole reason for him coming is moot, as Xiu Xiu is married.

Steelhead’s attempt to be good is over, and he starts selling illegal calling cards, and stealing purses, and starts dating the hostess owner Lily, and introduces her to his friends. He decides they all need to start losing Chinese, and she promises to help them.

They know Jie does not want to do anything illegal, so they all buy him a cart so he can sell roasted chestnuts, and he goes out and flirts with a Chinese girl, whose father Uncle Tak (Paul Cun Pui) beats him up and steals his cart. Steelhead goes to get car, ripping down a Chinese forbidden sign, and smash up the club, and steals back the cart. Steelhead is almost caught, but he is let go by Inspector Kitano, who gives him his card, and lets him go.

Jie’s bad luck continues, when the Taiwanese Triad leader Gao Jie (Jack Kao) find a tampered with pachinko machine that the Chinese are making money with. Dai leaves it for a minute and has Jie watch it, he is caught, having his face badly cut, and his right hand cut off and cooked in his cart, before Steelhead and his men can get him back.

Steelhead goes with a sword for revenge to kill Gao Jie, but he sneaks him and hears them plotting to kill Eguchi with orders from the head of the Yakuza. Steelhead helps Eguchi escape, and agrees to kill Eguchi’s 2 main rivals in the Yakuza in exchange for Gao Jie’s territories in Shinjuki, and he gets them, and meets Xiu Xiu/Yuko who is happily married with a lovely daughter. Eguchi’s right hand is getting pissed that the Chinese are getting so much, and is doubting Eguchi because of his actions, though he is now the Yakuza boss.

Steelhead tells the Chinese that he does not want them to be illegal, and not do the illegal things that Gao’s gang did, and he does not want to take protection money, though Uncle Tak convinces him he must. Steelhead starts a construction business, gets his papers, and spends his time with Lily, but his gang does not agree, especially Jie who sells drug, and has all the punk newcomers join his gang.

Steelhead gets a visit by Inspector Kitano, who settles his life debt by telling Steelhead about his gang’s wrong doing’s, and telling him he is considered the biggest Triad leader in Japan. He wants evidence against Eguchi, and he knows who Steelhead killed. Lily wants Steelhead to leave with her for Brazil, but he refuses, and she leaves him, and gets Kitano to go with him, he wants to confront the gang.

Jie, now a punk with white hair, again hits on Uncle Tak’s daughter, beating the hell out of her boyfriend when he tries to stop him.

Eguchi gets questioned about the Chinese by one of the elder Yakuza bosses, but he finds them useless, and honors his promises.

Eguchi’s right hand betrays him, and goes to Gao.

Eguchi is meanwhile with Jie to hire his people to murder for him, and settle up the Yakuza.

Steelhead and Kitano go to the gang to confront them, and Eguchi and Jie are there. He says that Eguchi has betrayed them, and he was only trying to make them safe, not into a Triad.. Kitano’s gun ends up getting grabbed by Jie, and Hongkong boy gets killed, as Eguchi’s right hand and Gao’s gang attack with rocks, and then rush the building.

A huge bloody fight ensues. Eguchi gets killed, and gives Steelhead, all the info to take down the Yakuza who betrayed him. Steelhead and Kitano run, and cops come and Kitano is safe. Steelhead calls Xiu Xiu to try to get her to safety, but Eguchi’s men are there, and they betray him, and stealhead is shot, but Kitano and his men kill Eguchi’s betrayer as well.

Steelhead sneaks off bleading into the sewer, and Kitano follows him. Steelhead gives Kitano Eguchi’s info to bust the Triad, and then floats off into the sewer, having done right.

••••

This could have been much better and more interesting, perhaps without Chan, who seems to not allow his character to get as dark as it should since he does go bad, but then refuses to go too bad, even though he has already become a hired assassin. And maybe someone else could have pulled it off better, but then it would not have been as big as a Jackie Chan film. Still I think it is the fact that it is a Jackie Chan film that raised the expectations a bit too high. I mean look at this cast, and it does have a cool premise, so allot is expected, and it is enjoyable, just not as good as it could have been.

A must see for all Hong Kong movie fans.

A young beat cop named OJ (Edison Chen) and his partner hear a call about some seriously armed robbers, and they see the car parked on the side of the road, and go to investigate a building off in the jungle. Luckily for them a Sniper team led by Hartmen (Richie Ren) is doing reconnaissance there, and Hartmen orders them in to save the cops. The partner is shot and taken hostage, and OK and Hartmen end up going against the villains, OJ takes Hartmen’s shooting advice and shoots the perp right in the head, and Hartmen realizes he has a potential new member of his elite police sniper team, and he recruits him. The team has some issues. Hartmen’s ex-wife (Michelle Ye) is suicidal, and their daughter finds her. And an ex team member named Lincoln (Huang Xiaoming) who has been in prison, has been released, and has gotten a sniper rifle, and seems to be threatening Hartmen’s family. We also see OJ going to try and give some money to his estranged father (Stephen Tung Wai) with his girlfriend, but this plot just goes away after that.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Lincoln ends up tipping off Hartmen to his help of a Triad boss named Tao (Jack Kao) who with his men (Liu Kai Chi is quite underused here) escapes while being transported to see a doctor. Lincoln also meets up with OJ at a bar, and tips him how he is such a good sniper, by holding his breathe to fire multiple shots, which Hartmen hates, saying it makes the hand shaky, and he makes OK stop doing it. Lincoln meanwhile is doing all this for his girlfriend Crystal (Mango Wong) who he loves very much it seems.

Lincoln ends up joining Tao, to help him plan a big bank robbery that he can deal with the cops on.

Eventually we see that Lincoln was the top sniper on the team, and at a bank robbery being done by Tao, he and Hartmen were ready to shoot Tao, when the came in that the family of the banker was going to pay the ransom and to pull back. Lincoln claimed he saw Tao pull the grenade pin, and shot to stop him from killing everyone, but Hartmen claimed to have not seen it, and Lincoln was sent to prison for 5 years. During this time Lincoln yelled at Crystal and she went home and accidently fell to her death, so he has been seeing someone only in his head, having gone completely mad. Lincoln even captures Hartmen’s number 2, his only friend on the team, and loses it, killing him.

Finally at the big robbery, Lincoln ends up betraying and killing Tao, he only wanted to lead in the Sniper team. The team moves in, and gets mowed down one by one by Lincoln, who is the best shot.

Even Hartmen is hit, and only the skills of OJ are able to go up against Lincoln and take him out. And we see Hartmen smile as he dies, having helped take Lincoln out, because as we see, he did in fact see Tao’s finger on the grenade, and he betrayed Lincoln to be the best Sniper, leaving OJ to be the top sniper, but he will not compete like Lincoln and Hartmen did.

••••

Decent enough, though I personally would have rather seen the complete film instead of having it cut down because of the whole Edison Chen sex scandal. And you would think it would be OK by now, but I guess not.

May (Maggie Siu Mei Kei) has dinner with her old school classmates, where her school lover Ken (Anthony Tang Ho Kwong), who is now divorced admits she was always his love, and wishes she had left with him to study in America. May then jumps up from the table to stop a fight at the bar, and they all talk about how she can’t stop being a cop. She and Sam’s (Simon Yam Tat Wah) teams get a new member, Rocky (Chiu Tien You) who is the nephew of the Super-Intendant and an engineer. Meanwhile “Fatty” Tong (the one and only Lam Suet) goes to a nightclub to talk a half indian guy named Velu Chan (Peter Chan Bei Dak) who has just gotten out of prison (Tong busted him) and who might be able to find out about some rumors of some Indian assassins being hired. May finds out her Philippine maid has all her money stolen by her cousin who was supposed to be getting married with it, but ran off with some Pakistani guy. Velu goes looking for his brother Ricky (Ricky Chan Bo Yuen) who is now working for the gangster Jaga, who deals drugs, and who Velu worked for when he got busted and went to jail for 4 years. Jaga ends up making Velu make a drug handoff out of the car, which pisses him off, so he jumps out of the car, as Jaga did nothing for him while he was in jail, except recruit his only brother.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

May searches for the woman who took her maids money, and it leads her to Velu who talks about Nepalese ripping off women, and tells May where the girl might be broke and hiding.

Yalu goes to see his Uncle, who is Jaga’s father, and leaves some money, promises to come back for his birthday.

The rest of the PTU don’t like Rocky as he is too by the book, only eating at the prescribed places, so he won’t even eat with the rest of his unit. Tong has lunch with May and Sam, telling them he is searching for some assassins, South East Asians.

When searching a parking lot, Rocky sees a robber and runs off, and is dragged by a car. He gets disciplined by May for not following procedure, and running off on his own.

Velu goes to a club to pick up his full Chinese girlfriend, and is harassed by the security guard and gets angry, and PTU is called in. Sam manages to get any charges dropped against Velu because they will post racism charges otherwise.

Sam and Elvis look for pick pockets, and follow a lead to a Nepalese man who is stealing man covers.

Velu goes to his uncles birthday, and ends up drinking with Jaga, who wants him to join him again, but all Velu wants if for him to let Ricky go.

PTU goes and arrests the Nepalese assassins all living in a building, and Elvis must again be helped, this time by May.

Tong goes to Velu to find out about more Assassins, promising this will be the last time he bothers him. Velu goes to Jaga.

Jaga and Ricky do drugs, and Jaga gets Ricky to admit that he has the side job to get more assassins, and Jaga wants him to stop, because he will be blamed though he has nothing to do with it. Ricky ends up beating up Jaga, when he does not believe that Velu is an informer.

We see May in bed with her school love, who wants her to quite the force and Mary him, but she thinks he should accept her for who she is. May interviews the woman who stole her maids money, and finds out about the new group of assassins.

Ricky goes with the assassins who are supposed to kill the commissioner, who is Rocky’s uncle, and Rocky walks by to go see him, while the other PTU eat at the prescribed restaurant. As Rocky walks away, the assassins attack, and he goes back to stop them, though his uncle is stabbed. Velu also comes to stop his brother, and the PTU come, with Rocky shooting one of the assassins, and then being told to hang back when the PTU team arrives.

Velu wants to take the blame for his brother, but instead Rocky is shot, and the kid is saved.

Fatty Tong ends up riding the ambulance with Velu and Ricky. He promises Velu he will not bother him again.

Rocky sees his stabbed Uncle before he is taken in the ambulance, and Sam tells him to stand up straight, and the other cops smile at him, as he is finally accepted on the team.

May refuses to leave her job to get married, says he should accept her as she is. She has her review and does well.

Jaga goes on the run back to India, leaving his father.

Sam talks to Rocky about being a cop, and about feeling bad about shooting. Says if you do well in PTU, you can be a real cop. Rocky then goes with the team to eat in the prescribed, but delicious restaurant. Rocky asks them all if they ever think about quitting, when they get a call for a robbery, and all run out.

•••

Another enjoyable film in the series, and contrary to what I though, it did not explain the events prior to the fifth film, but it was still another enjoyable police drama!

Inspector Fatty Tong (Lam Suet) has been demoted to a PTU driver, and Sam has also lost some of his cache, and the new Inspector (Ben Wong Chi Yin) favors May (Maggie Siu Mei Kei). And May no longer gets along with Sam either, and is doing everything in her power to promote her people over Sam’s. When they all chase a robber, the two units fight each other, and May gets all the credit for her and her men. The transfers are in a week, and the assignments come up, and May and her closest (Samuel Pang King Chi) get promotions. At the celebration party, Tong gets drunk and when his mother-in-law calls and lost all his money in stocks, he gets drunk and accuses the Inspector of favoring May, and the units get in a fight. The last day before the transfers an armored car is robbed by 4 armed men, who escape into the mountains, and the PTU is mobilized to find them. The Inspector Ho Ka Kitputs May in charge, though Sam is much more experienced, and this causes more dissension.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The teams head into the mountains, and first run into a crazy old man and some kids playing paintball.

The Inspector orders Tong to drive up and deliver food to the PTU, but he gets a flat, and throws away his tire so he doesn’t have to do the inspector’s dirty work.

Sam ends up seeing a hidden hut, and when they go in they find a wallet, and a guy breaks in with a knife and grabs it and runs. May’s best, and Sam’s guy (VIncent Sze) chase the knife, and May’s guy gets stabbed, and Sam’s guy stays with him, and helps him, though they get followed by the guy who wants his wallet back.

Tong gets found by the 4 robbers, who take him and mace him, and get him to help them get away from the Police. They bury his stuff, but he takes a baton, and he manages to get a message to the Inspector that he is in toruble.

Sam finds a PTU helmet with blood on it, and he and May fight, and he disobeys her orders to go out and contact the Inspector (since the radio is not working), and he goes to find the wounded man or men. May’s team gets lost and goes in circles, and gets freaked out, and she ends up falling from a cliff and getting separated from her people.

The Inspector goes in to find men, and finds Tong’s abandoned vehicle.

Tong ends up escaping from the robbers, by knocking open one of their money cases, which activates gas, and he steals the second canister and runs, with them hot on his heals.

The wounded PTU guy give a letter to his father about his promotion to his rival, but the robber follows them.

Sam has a guy sprain his ankle, and he flips on him and orders his men to leave him or keep going.

Fatty Tong sets off the last case accidently, letting smoke off, and ends up being found by Sam. Sam gets angry and leaves the men, to go on his own.

The Inspector chases the crazy old man into the woods.

Sam runs into the guy with knife and chases him, while May runs into the armed robbers. Sam gets attacked by the knife guy, and chases, but ends up finding May. They find a village, and go eat with them, but the robbers show up, and Sam sends May away with the people to save them, while he covers.

Tong gets gun, and he and the two guys go the village, and the Inspector follows the old man there, and Sam’s guy gets there with the wounded guy.

The police finally all work together and take the robbers in custody, and they all realize they must work together.

•••

Very enjoyable.

Detective Lam “Fatty” Tong (Lam Suett) owes money to the gangsters Hung (Gordon Lam Ka Tung) and he wants exorbitant interest added to what he already owes. And it is already considered a bad luck time for the cops, as the chief has taken away their god Kuan’s which they worship before going on patrol. Meanwhile a group of 4 former mainland cops, now robbers led by Berg Ng Tong Yip break in on a drug deal, killing both sides of it, and take the money, but destroy the drugs. Sam (Simon Yam Tat Wah) and May (Maggie Siu Mei Kei) and there teams are in a patrol van, that gets in an accident, right outside of the gun war, and when the robbers come out, they shoot up the van, and then take off, so they find the dead bodies, along with a lot of dropped money. They also find a mainland ID. When Tong arrives, both Sam and May see that he is tempted to steal some money to pay his debts. When Tong gets to his apartment, Hung is there, and is telling schoolchildren that he owns him money, and his wife sees. Tong takes off, and gets an apartment, where he cleans the bloody money he has taken. His wife calls him and tells him she is going to be leaving with their kid for America without him.

REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS…

An investigation is launched of PTU because money has been stolen from the crime scene, and of course May and Sam suspect Tong, but Sam wants to clear his name, as he is a friend.

Tong gives Hung money, but Hung wants more, saying the interest has doubled the money. He makes a bet, and loses, and when the gangsters are about to arrive at his new place, he hears them making fun of him, so he sneaks out the window and into the neighbors place, which turns out to be the robbers apartment. He takes there money, and when out in the hall sees the landlord, and feeling bad pays their late rent, but they show up and pay him back.

Sam gets some of his money and turns it in, and then goes to Tong and takes off his uniform and hits him for what he has done. Sam then goes to see Hung to see if he can pay off the debt of his friend.

Hung and his men are caught by May beating a guy, but the guy won’t press charges. Sam shows up late, and May no longer trusts him.

Tong makes friends with the robbers, and tells them of his driving skills. The robbers realize their current driver has stolen money, so they kill him. When TOng is chased by Hung’s men, he runs into the robbers in their car, and the let him in, and see just how good his driving skills are, drive them to a building, and they have him wait in the car.

Hung pulls up and starts beating Tong, knocking him out, then their are gunshots, and a police officer is shot.

Tong wakes up in his bed, with blood on his shirt. He goes to the crimes scene, and sees it is where he was, and finds a money lender was killed, and a cop shot.

Tong sneaks back into his neighbors apartment and finds money and gun, but is found, and is forced to join them as their driver, and they will give him a million, though they actually plan on just killing him.

Sam runs into Tong praying at the wounded officers room in the hospital and is even more suspect.

Video is found of Hung at the scene, so Sam and May go after him, though he gets away.

Hung meets with Tong and blackmails him for a million, so Tong must join robbers as they rob a chinese antique dealer.

PTU is sent, and Tong shoots the leader in the head, and helps kill the other 2

Tong goes to arrest Hung for usury, as he has turned himself in. He gets a medal for his work, and finally God Kwan is returned to police stations.

•••

I love Lam Suet, so of course I found this an enjoyable addition to the PTU story.

The PTU, led by Sergeant Sam (SImon Yam) start a crack down on triad activities in Portland Street. Sam picks on a lowly peon named Fai (Derek Tsang Kwok CHeung) who sells illegal cigarettes for the Triad, and even gets picked on by them. Sam beats him and forces him to help them get into the place where they are selling the cigarettes. The crack down causes the two Triad gangs of portland street go head to head, with both sides blaming Fai, so he can’t even support his hooker girlfriend (Wu Li). The younger hot head (Samuel Pang King Chi) in the gang Fai works for ends up killing a member of the other gang, and they try to pin it on Fai, offering him money to take the wrap, and go to prison, he knows he has no choice, so he agrees.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

When Fai gets to his girlfriend, she convinces him to run, but the hothead is waiting, and beats Fai until he is completely gimped, and rapes his girlfriend, and burns down their apartment. The two are then out on the street, trying to survive, but have to try to stay away from anyone, because the girlfriend is illegal and will be deported if found out (they have to run from a hospital, because the charges are much higher because she is an illegal).

Fai ends up running into the girlfriend when she is giving a blowjob to an old man for bread, and loses it, attacking the old man, and the girlfriend does too, to protect him, but Sam and the cops find them, and the old man presses charges against the girl and she is arrested.

Fai is at the end of his rope, and he buys a knife, and starts following Sam and the other PTU cops including (Maggie Siu Mei Kei) and her unit.

Sam starts to think about Fai, and how they have wronged him, and he wants to make it right. He realizes Fai is after him, because it was him who started it all, so he plans to let Fai get to him, so he can calm him down, and gets his friend (Lam SUet) to get the girl released. The plans are all for naught as Fai is too far gone, and takes a stab at Sam, even with his girlfriend there, and ends up stabbing the Triad boss who betrayed him, and Fai is shot by the other cops, the girlfriend then takes the knife and stabs Sam, before she is killed, as it was too late, and they had no way out.

•••

Wow, this is a depressing on, really, really depressing, but well done, with good acting. And quite bloody and adult for being made for TV. Really worth checking out. My favorite of the first 2 in the series.

The film starts with the police having to launch an internal investigation, because a surveillance camera picked up 3 PTU officers brutalizing a suspect in an alley. CAPO (Complaints Against Police Officers) is sent in to investigate, and to try and find the suspect who has not reported. The unit in question is led by Sam (Simon Yam), and he sets off to find the suspect first and get him to clam up. Meanwhile one member of his unit, the straight shooting Eight (Lee Kwok Lun) is such an honest cop that he has confessed he is in bad debt to their superior, so he is getting transfered off active duty, and is totally distraught about it. He has never done anything wrong as a cop, and always goes by the book, and feels he is being punished for it. Sam has his friend leading another unit May Cheung (Maggie Siu Mei Kei) and Officer Lo (Lam Suet) helping out in the search, as CAPO is on their trail at every turn.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Sam finds out the location of the silver haired suspect from a local triad boss, and ends up having May and her team get him and bring him in, and they give Sam a chance to go and talk to him before CAPO, but they can’t make it because of Eight.

When Sam and his team were looking for the suspect, they saw him in a drug deal, and Eight chased down the other guy and caught him, but he got in a fight, and ended up beating the suspect just as their superior pulls up. The superior suspends Eight, and has him go back to base and turn in his gun, but when Sam and the guys return they can’t find Eight, and he has been acting weird, and has not turned in his gun. Eight plans on shooting his superior, not knowing that not only did he try to get Eight cleared of the debt, but he also tried talking to Lo to see if he could talk to the suspect first.

Lo meanwhile owes money to the suspects boss, so he takes him to the bathroom, but they learn that the boss who gave him up has died from wounds given by the suspect, so he can’t let him go, but the suspect takes Lo’s gun, and runs in the police station.

Eight goes to shoot his superior, but ends up running instead.

The whole force locks down the station to get the suspect, and Sam and his men go for Eight on the room, but end up finding the suspect, and Eight goes after the suspect, and gets him, but is shot by the suspect, before the other cops kill him.

The film ends with Eight now working in a court as a bailiff, unable to have a gun, but seemingly happy when he talks to Sam.

The head of the police then meet as they got a better video, which shows Sam and his guys beating the suspect, but they agree to destroy the evidence because CAPO has already closed it’s investigation.

•••

A good cop drama, but certainly not nearly as good as PTU which it is based on. Still enjoyable enough though, it just doesn’t live up to the promise that this cast engendered.

The film starts with the people of the Red Cliff and Liu Bei’s (You Yong) men awaiting the attack of Cao Cao (Zhang Fengi) from across the river. Zhuge Liang (Kaneshiro Takeshi) and Zhou Yu (Tony Leung Chu Wai) plot their attack on Cao Cao’s forces. Sun Quan’s (Chang Chen) sister Sun Xiang-Shang (Zhao Wei) has infiltrated Cao Cao’s camp as a male soldier, and is sending messages back to Zhuge Liang. Cao Cao has the superior force, so he is confident, and has his troops train in kick ball, and has his admirals strap the ships together with iron beams so that the ground troops won’t get sea sick on the crossing. He does have some sickness in camp, and uses it to play dirty, sending the corpses over to Red Hill, where soldiers and townspeople are exposed. The sickness is weakening the side badly, and causes Liu Bei and his troops to pack up and leave, though Zhuge Liang stays back to keep his promise to Zhou Yu and help in the fight. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang compete to each fulfill a seemingly impossible task in the help of the battle against Cao Cao, each if they lose agreeing to give up their heads. Zhuge Liang agrees to get 100,000 arrows in 3 days, and Zhou Yu promisses to get the heads of Cao Cao’s two admirals Cai Mao (Yi ZHao) and Zhang Yun (Jia Hongwei). Meanwhile Sun Xiang-Shang befriends a enemy soldier (Tong Dawei) who is good at kickball, and is made a troop leader of arrow men, the two play together, and Xiang-Shang uses him to help finish her map of the enemy camp, but does start to truly like him as well.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Neither seems worried by there bet and don’t do much of anything about it for days.

Finally on the last day Zhuge Liang goes out in a fleet of boats, having predicted the fog, and has his boats covered in straw and when Cai Mao and ZHang Yun attack, his boats get so filled with arrows they must turn around so the other sides can get filled up or they will tip over.

Zhou Yu hosts an old friend for drinks, but the friend works for Cao Cao and was always getting tricked by Zhou Yu as a child, so Zhao Yu lets him have a note that is purportedly from Zai Mao and ZHang Yun saying they will deliver Cao Cao’s head, and he lets the man go with it.

Cao Cao is incensed, and when the admirals return saying they have been in battle with the enemy, and find one stray ship which is fake and covered in arrows, and with the note, has them beheaded without thinking about the fact that he will have no admirals anymore.

Both men have completed their tasks, and become even closer friends.

Zhuge Liang then predicts that their will be a weather change with the wind heading back to Cao Cao, while Cao Cao plans to attack with the good wind.

Sun Xiang-Shang returns from the camp, almost getting her friend in trouble when she leaves, and gets help to leave.

Zhao Yu’s gorgeous wife Lady Mi (the lovely He Yin) learns that Cao Cao started the war because he wanted her, so she sets off on her own to try and slow down Cao Cao until the wind changes, not worrying about herself or her unborn sun. And she does manage to bewitch Cao Cao and delay him until the wind shifts.

Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu set off lanterns as they ready to attack, and send fire ships into Cao Cao’s fleet. The wind shifts and they attack with fireboats, starting the locked together fleet into an inferno.

And the lanterns have their effect, and Liu Bei and his army who are waiting on all sides of Cao Cao, so his troops are surrounded. The Navy is decimated, and the loyal troops go in, using shield tactics to get through, and decimate Cao Cao’s forces.

Sun Xiang-Shang sees her friend killed trying to defend Cao Cao and is crushed.

They go in and fight the leaders of Cao Cao’s army, though they have taken Lady Mi hostage. They manage to save Lady Mi, and take out all of Cao Cao’s men, letting only him go, completely defeated.

Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu have a final conversation about them being such good friends, and not wanting to ever be on opposite sides. Lady Mi gives ZHuge Liang the foal he helped to birth, but makes him promise to never use it as a warhorse, and he agrees.

••••

Really a fantastic film all the way around, with great action, directing, cinematography, acting and effects. IN fact it is great all the way around. Sure it is not 100% accurate to the book, but it is a good adaption, and captures the spirit very well. A very enjoyable film.

Well Red Cliff just lost to Ip Man for best film in Hong Kong, but it did manage to pick up best visuals, art direction, costume and make-up, sound effects, and score. I think John Woo was ripped off, as this is such a better film than IP MAN! 

Donnie Yen plays the titular Ip Man a Wing Chun martial arts master in a town of masters named Foshan, but one who likes to keep his skills secret, as he is not a show off. Ip Man lives a quite life with his wife Wing Cheng (Lynn Hung) and young son. One day Ip Man is challenged by a fellow master named Liao (Chen Zhi Hui) and Ip man easily bests him, and this is witnessed by a local named Aha Da Yuan (Wong You-Nam) who was getting his kite from a tree. Sha Da Yuan goes into town and tells everyone what he saw, publicly humiliating Master Liao. Master Liao starts a fight, and local Inspector Li Zhao (Lam Ka-Tyung) intervenes, saying people fight with guns now, and not fists, though Ip Man easily disarms him, and removes the cylinder from the gun. A martial artist from out of town named Jin Shan Zhao (Fan Siu-Wong) comes in and starts challenging the masters of all the schools, and defeating them all. The teahouse owner who is also a martial artist named Lin (Xing Yu) tells Ip Man, but Ip man can’t help because of his wife’s disapproval of his fighting.Jin comes to challenge Ip man, and starts breaking things, and this causes Wing Cheng to allow him to fight, and he quickly defeats him. The whole town starts to respect Ip Man, and his Wing Chung.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

The Japanese invade in 1937, and everyone’s lives turn for worse, and Ip Man loses his house and he and his family are forced to move to a decrepit abandoned house.

Ip Man refuses charity from his wealthy friend Zhou Qing Quan (Simon Yam Tat Wah) who he had lent money to start his cotton mill, and instead takes a job as a coolie working at a coal mine where many martial arts masters are working.

Ip Man is reunited with his friend Lin, and he tells him that his brotehr Sha Da Yuan is missing.

The japanese troops of General Miura (Ikeuchi Kiroyuki) arrives to get martial artists to go and fight the Japanese offering rich as a ward. They are lead by Sato (Tenma Shibuya) along with Li Zhao who is now an interpreter for the Japanese. Lin and some of his friends go to take up the challenge.

Miura agrees to fight 3 men at once, and that includes Lin, but Lin will not give up, and is beaten to death.

Ip Man notices his friend is gone, and decides to go fight. He sees Master Miao fight to earn rice, and then is shot by Sato and killed. Ip Man also learns that Lin was killed here, so he demands to fight 10 fighters, and quickly brutally cripples them all, refusing all the rice, except MIao’s bag which was covered in his blood, and Miura wants him back the next day.

Ip Man ends up getting help from Li Zhao who hates the Japanese, and helps to hide his family.

Ip Man goes to hide at the Cotton Mill, where it has recently been attacked by a gang led by Jin Shan Zhao and Jin Shan Zhao is one of them. Ip Man hides there, and then trains the people to fight back, and when Jin Shan Zhao comes back they beat him. And Ip Man gives Jin a metal box he got from his brother, and see it has his old kite in it.

The Japanese look for Ip Man and raid the mill, so Ip Man turns himself in, and getting Zhou to take his family out of Foshan.

General Miura offers to spare Ip Man if he will teach the Japanese Army martial arts, Ip man refuses and challenges Miura to a dual.

Sato says he will kill Ip Man if he wins.

Zhou leaves with Ip man’s faily.

Ip Man manages to beat Miura, but Sato shoots Ip Man in the shoulder, and the crowd goes crazy and attacks the Japanese and Sato is killed.

Ip Man escapes with his wound to go to Hong Kong.

••••

Quit enjoyable, with great action.

The film just won the best film in Hong Kong, beating  out John Woo’s RED CLIFF, which I am really surprised about, because I think both RED CLIFF films blow IP man out of the water. Maybe it split the votes with the 2 parts? I don’t know, but I don’t think Ip Man comes close to RED CLIFF.

The first story is that of Cop 223 He Qiu-Wu (Kaneshiro Takeshi) a plainclothes detective that we see running through the city (the film is printed with step framing so the world blurs around him) and catches a pimp, but not before running into a strange woman in a blond wig (Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia) who he says he will fall in love with, but that running into her was the closest he will be to her. Then we see him mostly hanging out around a food stall pining over his lost girlfriend May, and trying to call other girls, none of whom want to hear from him. He decides he will move on on May 1st, his birthday, a month away if he has not heard from her, and goes to a convenience store and buys a can of pineapples that will expire on May 1st each day, and he plans on eating them on May 1st.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS….

Meanwhile the blond lady, gets set up by a bartender to smuggle drugs using a group of Pakistani’s. She gets them all set up, tailored clothes to fit everything, but they disappear on her at the airport, leaving only their passports, so she must find them, or she is warned on May 1st she will be killed.

Depressed on his birthday he ponders expirations of cans and love affairs, and eats all of pineapple, before going out to a bar, where he tries to chat up the blond girl, and eventually they get soused, and he takes her to a hotel because she passed out, and he just sits and eats and watches TV all night. In the morning he gets up to leave, and takes off her shoes, and goes running to work.

WHen she wakes up, she sees where she is, then goes and gets a gun, and kills the bartender, and loses the wig and disappears into the crowds.

The second story also centers around the Midnight Express food stall, where a new beat cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), and he keeps buying the same food for his girlfriend an air hostess (Valerie Chow Kar Ling) each night, until the boss gets him to change one night, and the next she leaves him because she wants more change. He is totally depressed and doesn’t notice Faye (Wong Faye) who works at the midnight Express for her cousin, and has taken a fancy to him.

The air hostess leaves a letter and her keys to the cop’s apartment, and the cop doesn’t take it. Faye ends up looking at the letter and eventually taking the key and going into 663′s apartment and replacing all the stuff that was from the air hostess, eventually even erasing a message from her, and getting caught, but running out.

663 goes to make a date with her at the bar California across the street from the Midnight Express, but she never shows. He goes to the Midnight Express and learns Faye headed for the real California, and left him a letter, which he isn’t going to read, and lets it get wet, but then goes back for it. It is a written ticket for sick months, but the destination is unreadable.

6 Months later Faye returns, now an airline hostess, and finds that 663 is no longer a cop, and now runs the Midnight Express, and is redoing it, and he asks her for the old destination, and she writes him a new one.

••••

Really a lovely film about relationships and loss, and not being able to see what is right in front of your face. Such a light and fun film, really a breath of fresh air, and Wong Faye is so damn cute, like an elf. And I love her version of the cranberries song in Chinese! A must watch again and again.

A local militia officer named Wang Shen (Aloys Chen) saves a fox demon named Xiaowei (Zhou Xun) thinking she is an innocent girl, and takes her home to his town and into his house, though his wife Peirong (Vicki Zhao Wei) is not happy, and instantly realizes something is wrong. And the town becomes beset by a serial killer who is taking hearts, this is a demon (Qi Yuwu) who is devoted to Peirong, and loves her, and brings her hearts so she can stay looking beautiful and human, but she does not love him, she loves Wang Shen and wants to make him love only her. In this atmosphere Yong (Donnie Yen Ji Dan) shows up. He was the old militia leader, and the lover of Peirong, but when she left him for Wang Shen (we never know why) he gave up fighting them and became a lone drifter, but he comes to town, and is going to help with the serial killer. Yong ends up getting help from a self proclaimed demon buster named Zia Bing (Betty Sun Li who played the blind girl in Fearless). So we have multiple lover triangles going on here.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Wang Sheng is constantly having erotic dreams about Xiaowei, but stays loyal to his wife in form at least, not making advances to the girl he saved, though she keeps trying.

Peirong gets help from Yong, and he brings along Zia Bing who has a demon rod from her father to slay demons, but can’t seem to figure out how to use it. They try to prove that Xiaowei is a demon, but are unable too, because they trick them, and Yong ends up getting framed as the serial killer, so has to go on the run.

Xiaowei tries to get Wang Sheng to at least make her his concubine, though he does not, though he wants to.

Xiaowei then takes a different tact, and shows Peirong that she is a demon. She says she will kill everyone unless Peirong admits to being the demon, and Xiaowei gets to become the wife. Peirong says she will do it if Xiaowei will stop killing and takes a poison that turns her hair and skin white, and she is about to be killed when Yong and Zia Bing save her and take her to the graveyard.

Wang Shen shows up with his men, as does Xiaowei.

Wang Shen is going to kill his wife, but he can’t and instead she kills herself to save him, and he goes to kill himself for having betrayed his wife, and wanting Xiaowei. Xiaowei reveals herself as the demon, and is going to give up her life to save Wang Shen and Peirong for the one she loves, but her demon shows up and takes the escence and Yong must fight him, but gets badly hurt, until Zia Bing starts using her blood, which is the key to killing demons, and when her blood gets on the Demon Baton, it opens, and she uses it to kill the demon, but also badly hurts Yong.

Xiaowei’s essence is used to save both Wang Sheng and Peirong, and even the badly hurt Yong ends up being alive, and leaves happily with Zia Bing who is now dressed as a girl instead of as a tom boy.

••••

Such potential but so slow, and borring overall, and Zhou Xun just didn’t sell it for me like Joey Young did in the original Chinese Ghost Story, and Wang Sheng and his men were such idiots to believe in her, that it was painful!

Really a waste of time!