The Hidden Enforcers

                                                        
Director: Nam Yin
Year: 2002
Rating: 4.0
Sammo Hung was in a career slump when this was made. He had been in one for a few years appearing in either fairly obscure films or getting small roles in bigger ones. He has since rebounded as is only right. In my book, he and Tsui Hark were the architects of the Hong Kong action films of the 1980s and 90s. Jackie Chan got a lot more credit than Sammo but Sammo was the one who produced, directed and brought along actors during these years while Jackie was basically a one-man show - being the weasel he has proven to be. Girls with Guns, Mr. Vampire, supernatural action, supernatural comedy, the Lucky Stars were all thanks to Sammo. Ok, I need to say that every now and then. But this film is nothing to be proud of. Shot on video with a bunch of basically B actors.



It is such a bad action film that I began to wonder if it was actually a comedy and I had missed the cues. Maybe, but I don't think so - but these are without a doubt the worst killers put on celluloid. At one point, they are being chased by the cops in Hong Kong and are carrying one of their dead comrades because they have promised to take him back home - to Thailand - and they get hungry and so stop at a restaurant for something to eat - which they gorge like wild animals - with their dead friend sitting at the table with them. Not eating though. Maybe not a good time to stop and eat? That had to be meant to be funny, right? Killing with Bernie?



Sammo was a cop and when one of his subordinates is killed and another has his arm hacked off - he arrests the fellow only to see him go free. He resigns and moves to Thailand on the beach outside of Pattaya - and adopts four young children. Not because he likes children but of course to train them to be killers. Some fifteen years later, he thinks they are ready. He gathers them together - do you want to know why I adopted you? Because you will kill all the bad guys who don't get sent to jail. Oh, so that is why you had us kill a tiger. Yes, no difference between killing a tiger or a person. Not true. People who kill a tiger should go to jail. We eat tiger but not people, right? I want the tiger thigh yells one. 



Here is your first mission - a female drug lord is in town - go and kill her. Played by Emily Kwan all in white so the blood shows better - they gun her and her many bodyguards down in broad daylight in a Pattaya street. In one shot, you can see a fellow sitting at a table on the sidewalk reading the newspaper. This must be a common occurrence in Pattaya. It isn't called Sin City for nothing. Then they casually stroll away knowing the cops will find something better to do.



One bad person down. Now let's go to Hong Kong to kill some more! Cool, Hong Kong where every other person is a hitman. The target this time is the guy Sammo arrested all those years ago (William Ho) and his number two guy (Simon Lui). I should name the actors who are our four killers because you won't want to forget them like everyone else has - Ken Wong, David Lee, Tong Ka-fai, Monica Lo and their babysitter is Nnadia Chan (formerly Nadia Chan). This next hit doesn't go so well. Maybe silencers would have been a good idea. In a restaurant they open up on him and his party - then kill a bunch of cops getting away - stop to go shopping for new clothes like it's Pretty Woman - decide to go to a disco - then a karaoke - and then start killing more people. Sammo forgot to teach them a few tricks of the trade. Like common sense. Sammo is like oh hell, I forgot to tell them not to kill everyone. Only the bad guys. Directed by Nam Yin and the respectable choreographer is Ridley Tsui.