Mercenaries from Hong Kong
Director: Wong Jing
Year: 1982
Rating: 8.0
I always forget that Wong Jing began his directing
career for Shaw Brothers and stayed with them till they stopped making movies
in 1985. His first non-Shaw film was the fun action film Magic Crystal in
1986. The films he directed for Shaw were basically comedies - Challenge
of the Gamesters, Winner Takes All, Hong Kong Playboy, Girl with the Diamond
Slipper. Of the nine films he directed for them, eight were comedies often
starring the dreaded Natalis Chan in most. He and Natalis were to have an
ongoing relationship for years making Natalis a big star in Hong Kong. Mercenaries
from Hong Kong though is the one film that is not a comedy - though early
on it does have a bit of goofy silliness provided of course by Natalis. The
rest of the film is dead serious and chock-full of action. It is clearly
influenced by the Dirty Dozen but at the same time may have influenced Eastern
Condors. It doesn't feel like Shaw really - much more a Cantonese vibe with
more grit and less slickness. Three of the main stars were mainstays of the
Shaw Brother's Mandarin films but within a few years had made the switch
to Cantonese films as Mandarin films disappeared.
It begins in great style with a terrific
action set piece. Ti Lung is working out showing he still has the physique
going for him. He is warming up for a kill. His niece has died by taking
too many pills and he is going for revenge. To kill the son of a big triad
dope dealer who had supplied the pills and then had her body thrown into
the bay. He kills his way into the son's bedroom where he is trying to kill
another woman on drugs, forces him to take all the pills, jumps out the window
from the 10th floor to a waiting mattress below on a truck, goes in, comes
out on a motorcycle, has a big chase, a few cars crash and he ends up jumping
on to a waiting ship. Very cool start. The action choreography comes from
Yuen Bun and Tong Kai. Two of the best in the business - Yuen had been in
Opera school with Jackie, Sammo, Yuen Biao while Tong Kai had partnered with
Lau Kar-leung on many classic Shaw films. The action in this is not fancy,
no wires, no grace - just good hand to hand and a lot of shooting.
After Ti Lung gets away he figures the gang
will come looking for him and they do, but not how he expects. Not with guns
but with a proposal. The daughter of a murdered triad boss wants him to track
down the killer and bring him back along with a tape of inside incriminating
information. She is played by Candice Yu On-on (ex-wife of Chow Yun-fat).
He agrees and puts together a team of five others all with special skills.
A nice team of Michael Chan, Lo Lieh, Johnny Wang, Wong Yu and yes Natalis
Chan. The man they have to capture is in Cambodia being protected by Khmer
Rouge guerillas. He is played by Philip Kwok. But before they can go they
are all attacked by a gang of triads headed by Yuen Wah in a fine fight that
speards all over a mall. Of course, it is possible they were being attacked
by the fashion police for their ghastly matching outfits of blue and white.
It is action all the way as they have to
take out the guerillas and capture Kwok. But betrayals are waiting for them
and lots more action when they get back. Just having Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Johnny
Wang, Wong Yu (not Wang-yu) and Michael Chan together wiping out lots of
bad guys is kind of a treat. Between them they were involved in so many great
Shaw martial arts films. Wong Jing is the screen writer as well - an interesting
foray into modern day down and dirty action. He gives all of them good time
on the screen with Ti Lung getting the spotlight. It isn't sophisticated,
the plot is clunky, it gets really violent and it is great fun for action
junkies. It also feels like a transition movie from the classy Shaw films
to the Cantonese films of the 1980s and Heroic Bloodshed.
