Red Fists
Director: Guo Bao-chang
Year: 1991
Rating: 6.0
Ouch!! That was my
main reaction to this almost non-stop action film that has some of the most
painful looking falls I have seen in a Hong Kong film. There is a constant
barrage of guys getting hit and falling onto hard objects – often far below
– and it looks very real and very stressful. Yu Rong Guang, who was also
responsible for the choreography of these falls, doesn’t spare himself either.
He takes a couple very hard knocks and one in particular was a doozy. Filmed
in one shot – he jumps out of a second floor window – falls on to the ledge
below – rolls off on to a car far below – bounces off of that and lands finally
on the hard pavement. No damage done of course but don't try it at home!
Clearly this film believes that if something is not happening on screen that
involves a car racing through the streets, people chasing after others, gunfights
full of shattering glass or people getting beaten to a pulp it is not worth
filming. Of the ninety minute running time, I would have to estimate that
at least seventy minutes of it is devoted to some sort of action – or the
lead up to action. There are only a couple of scenes that are presented to
establish character – one involving a bonding over eating dog meat – and
they are done with as quickly as possible to get back to the good stuff.
This was fine with me since there was nothing particularly original about
the plot or the characters.
Cops in Hong Kong are attempting to track down some counterfeiters, while
at the same time unknown to them the cops in the Mainland are doing the same.
In HK the investigation is being headed up by Sharon Kwok who in my opinion
has one of the best smiles in HK films – her lip curls in a most attractive
way. At any rate it isn’t her curling upper lip that stops crime but instead
a lethal trigger finger and some nice kung fu moves. I am not sure if Sharon’s
martial arts training went beyond being married to Chin Sui Ho for a few
years – but she manages to look fairly good in her fight scenes – with the
help no doubt of some imaginative editing.
Going undercover in the Mainland is Yu Rong Guang and he is able to infiltrate
the gang and is brought to HK to meet the boss. Sporting longer hair than
I recall seeing on his head, Yu gives himself ample opportunities in this
film to show his martial arts abilities – very little - if any - of it wire
enhanced. Things are looking good for him – though he finds himself in the
middle of some internal gang strife as the gangster’s son (Kong Wa) is being
egged on by his Lady MacBeth wife to take over the gang.
At any rate, his cover is soon blown when Sharon intrudes and tries to arrest
him and send him back to the Mainland. Circumstances of course force the
two of them to work together and after a wild car chase, a bicycle chase,
a helicopter shootout, some solid fights and a number of shootouts (Mark
Houghton and Chi Cheung-hua being two of the baddies) they close in on their
target. All in all it is rather unchallenging but fun for what it is – and
both Yu and Sharon give solid performances and manage to take a lot of punishment
and keep on ticking. Sharon Kwok is always a treat to come across but her
career only lasted five years. She had been Runner-Up to Michelle Reis in
the 1988 Miss Hong Kong Contest. Born to an American father and a Chinese
mother, she now devotes much of her time to conservationship projects. She
was married at one time to Siu-Ho Chin
and they had a son who is an actor named Andrew Pong.She still looks fabulous.
