Hong Kong 97
                                                                                                    
Director: Albert Pyun
Year: 1994
Rating: 5.5
This was directed by Albert Pyun which I expect tells a lot of people who have seen his films about the quality of the film. It was straight to video which is where it belonged. I have seen only a film or two of his and not the ones that are considered his best, so I can't judge where this falls in his filmography. It isn't terrible, it isn't great. One thing I noticed going thru his films is that for a director with a reputation as a low budget independent filmmaker is that over the years, he managed to hire some very solid actors - and he does so here as well with Robert Patrick post his Terminator role and Ming-na Wen post Joy Luck Club.  It is also an interesting idea. Though made in 1994, it takes place in Hong Kong in 1997 on the day before the Handover. People are leaving in droves, expectations are that the army will march in and look for dissidents from China and basically put the city into lockdown. Much of it is shot in Hong Kong but the Philippines had to pass for Hong Kong in certain scenes.



Reginald (Patrick) boards one of those Jumbo restaurant boats in the harbor and plugs three men - one being a Mainland General. He hops on a speedboat and makes his getaway with the lovely Li (Selina Chau-yuet) at the helm. Back at his apartment though he is at the helm as he has sex with her on the floor. Killing three people will do that. But before they reach climax about ten men in black crash into his room through the balcony, He and Salina take care of them - her in the nude - but it spoils the mood. Turns out he is a paid assassin for a large Trading Company and the General was a crook tied up with the triads. But the word and a price on his head has gotten out and everyone but the grandmothers are out to kill him. A bunch of shootouts follow. No one would mistake them for being from John Woo. Point the gun and shoot and someone falls. But there are a bunch of them. His colleague and friend Simon (Brion James doing a haphazard British accent) tells him he has to get out of town tonight.



He goes to an old girlfriend's apartment to get off the streets and Ming-na Wen looks lovely but challenges James for the worst British accent. She runs a martial arts school. Isn't that handy and turns out to be pretty good with a gun as well. Perhaps this was the beginning of her turn towards being an action star (Mandalorian, Boba Fett) and she is fine. It is kind of a slog when people are not shooting at one another, but it runs a fairly quick 90-minutes. One scene had me going good grief - he and Ming-na are about to board Philippines Airline out of the hell hole when some thirty guys just walk onto the tarmac and start shooting. Did airport security take the night off to watch the fireworks?  Or maybe when they are captured by a large group of men with guns pointed at their heads and he gives Ming-na a code and they manage to kill them all. The main bad guy never shuts up. He deserved to die. "I can't wait to kill you". So, kill him. "I have been looking forward to this for a long time". Just pull the trigger. "I am going to enjoy this but let me to talk some more first and give you a chance to kill all of us".