FLASH POINT: Donnie Yen vs. Emma Thompson

FLASH POINT (Blu-ray)

2007 / 88 min

Well Go USA

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Brawler😸

As a reviewer of physical media, I often need to determine the order that I watch and write about the discs I’m sent, especially when a bunch arrive all at once (which happens a lot). Usually, I place priority on titles that are probably more anticipated than others. For example, the revered, Oscar-winning Merchant Ivory classic, Howard’s End, is finally being released on 4K UHD. Conversely, Well Go USA is putting out a Blu-ray re-issue of the 2007 Hong Kong fightfest, Flash Point.

But I must confess my review schedule sometimes depends on my own personal preferences. Of course, Howard’s End is a fine film…aesthetically elegant and boasting fine performances by a respected cast. However, neither Emma Thompson nor Anthony Hopkins are capable of putting a beatdown like Donnie Yen, Louis Koo and Collin Chou. So on this particular night, the Schlegels and Wilcoxes would have to wait. In my house, Donnie Yen movies almost always get placed at the top of the stack (even old Donnie Yen movies).

Not that all of his movies are good. Yen has made plenty of shitty ones, too. But when he’s on, you’d be hard-pressed to name another action star more dedicated to bringing the pain for our amusement, even in flicks with plots that could be summarized on a cocktail napkin. Fortunately, Flash Point is a good one. 

Donnie remembered to pack his angry eyes.

Yen plays Inspector Ma Jun, whose brutal methods frequently run afoul of his captain, which makes him sort of a Hong Kong Dirty Harry. He and partner Wilson (Louis Koo) are working to bring down a trio of violent sibling Vietnamese gangsters. After one of the brothers is apprehended, the other two target anyone whose testimony could convict him (including Wilson, who had infiltrated the gang until his cover was blown).

Though the plot would probably require both sides of that cocktail napkin, Flash Point is largely driven by violent action, which it delivers quite well. Bits of personal drama tend to stall the momentum at times, but for the most part, the film serves up fights, gunplay and chases with aplomb. Yen’s considerable skills are on full display here, especially during two extended fight sequences. But while Yen choreographs those scenes himself, he’s not the entire show here. Koo and Collin Chou both enjoy their fare share of consummate asskicking, especially the latter.

Still, it’s mostly Donnie Yen who makes the movie memorable, because even when not delivering blows or blasting bad guys, he’s always been an engaging actor. Flash Point doesn’t rank among his greatest films, but it’s solid entertainment that delivers plenty of exciting action. And in my house, there’s always time for movie like this. Merchant Ivory can wait.

EXTRA KIBBLES

MAKING OF FEATURETTE - Unlike the 5 minute promos Well Go USA typically offers, this one runs 20 minutes.

SHOOTING DIARY

DELETED SCENES

TRAILERS

ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION

THE CAT is a Crazy Concoction

THE CAT (Blu-ray)

1992 / 89 min

88 Films

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Doppleganger

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mr. Bonnie, one of several writers of the feline persuasion who tow the line around here while Dave gets all the credit (but at least he feeds us on time). Dave also hands out the review assignments, and in my paws he dropped The Cat, a Hong Kong science-fiction film from 1992. 

“Why me?” I asked. “Doesn’t Pepper usually review the sci-fi stuff?”

“I thought you’d get a kick out of it,” Dave said. “It’s about a cat from space. And Look at the cover. The cat looks just like you.”

“I guess that explains why you kept The Picture of Dorian Gray for yourself. The painting looks just like you.” He didn’t think I was funny.

Unlike the movie I reviewed earlier this year with the same title, at least this one features a cat, even if he isn’t the actual star. Named General, he’s just one of three aliens who’ve arrived to save Earth from a blobby, goopy monster that sometimes absorbs people, others times burns them alive, and occasionally assumes their identity (depending on the requirements of the plot at the time). So creature-wise, there are similarities to The Thing, The Blob and a bowl of marinara sauce.

Scene stealer.

The main protagonist is Wisely (Waise Lee), a writer who uncannily determines General and his friends are aliens who must be stopped. He and the police are determined to hunt the cat down, which proves impossible. This leads to my personal favorite scene in the entire movie…a lengthy junkyard brawl where General kicks a dog’s ass (landing it in the hospital). But when his companion, Pai So (Christine Ng), assures Wisely they’re here to stop the monster from getting-hold of an artifact called the Octagon (which is actually some kind of weapon), he teams up with them. 

The special effects are as goofy as the plot, a kooky combination of rubber monsters, puppetry, wild gore, bluescreen and good ol’ stop motion. Speaking of which…I’ll concede that Dave is right about one thing: General really does resemble yours truly, save for numerous bits where he looks like a stuffed animal being thrown across the room.

The whole thing culminates with a climax that must have been sponsored in-part by Fanta, because the soda company’s logo is prominently featured among scenes of death and destruction. The Cat is as crazy and campy as it sounds, but at least it’s never boring, even when that handsome devil of a title character isn’t onscreen. It’s one of those fun what-the-hell-did-I-just-watch flicks.

EXTRA KIBBLES

JAPANESE CUT - With English subtitles, and waaay different than the original (less fun, too).

INTERVIEW - An extensive interview with the film’s screenwriter, Gordon Chan.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Frank Djeng.

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Includes two essay, color photos, cast & crew credits.

IMAGE GALLERY

TRAILER

REVERSIBLE COVER - With new and original artwork.

5” x 7” POSTER ART REPLICA - Two sided, with new and original artwork.

CUSTOMS FRONTLINE Brings the Kaboom

CUSTOMS FRONTLINE (Blu-ray)

2024 / 116 min

From Well Go USA

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Boat Inspector😼

Customs Frontline sounds more like a wholesale furniture outlet than an action movie. Maybe something got lost in the translation, though it is indeed about Hong Kong customs agents. I suspect such a job is seldom as dangerous and exciting as depicted here, but that’s okay. After all, who the hell would wanna watch a cop movie where its characters spend most of their time filing police reports?

Dedicated agent Chow Ching-lai (Nicholas Tse), his mentor/boss, Cheung Wan-nam (Jacky Cheung), and their team come across an adrift cargo ship. The crew is dead, but the ship is loaded with weapons stolen from Thailand. While escorting two Thai agents to the customs warehouse where the weapons are being held, they are ambushed by mercenaries working for an enigmatic arms dealer known as Dr. Raw (Amanda Strang), stealing them back to sell to a couple of countries at war with each other.

"Stand down, guys...that's just my DoorDash delivery."

That’s the nutshell plot, which largely has Chow and Thai agent Ying (Cya Liu) trying to track down both the weapons and Dr. Raw. When focused on the action, Customs Frontline is generally pretty entertaining. There’s fighting, gunplay and plenty o' kaboom, which is all well executed...save for the laughable CGI blood spurting from gunshot wounds (come on, guys, are squibs really that expensive?).

But the film gets bogged down by its subplots. We’re led to expect Chow’s pending divorce to have some kind of significance, but instead, that thread sort of disappears into the ether. Additionally, the film establishes Cheung as suffering from bipolar disorder, a well-presented development that might have made an interesting film itself, but I fail to see how it really serves this narrative.

For the most part, though, Customs Frontline is a pretty decent way to kill a couple of hours. The fiery, destructive climax is especially exciting, which I suppose can be considered our reward for enduring the weak attempts to inject human drama. And if nothing else, it makes the job of customs agent look more thrilling than it probably is in real life.

EXTRA KIBBLES

MAKING OF FEATURETTE

TRAILER

THE ADVENTURERS: Andy Lau Brings the Pain

THE ADVENTURERS (Blu-ray)

1995 / 110 min

From Eureka Entertainment

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Badass😺

When this arrived, I initially thought it was a rerelease of an identically-titled film I once reviewed which also starred Andy Lau. And I had no problem with that. I generally enjoy Lau’s action movies and 2017’s The Adventurers was a fairly entertaining heist flick. But 1995’s The Adventurers is a completely different animal. It’s one of director Ringo Lam’s lesser-known films on this side of the pond, having never been released on Blu-ray until now.

Lay plays Wai Lok-yan, a Cambodian fighter pilot still traumatized from witnessing the murder of his entire family when he was a boy. The man who killed them is Ray Lui (Paul Chun), a treasonous former CIA operative who’s since become rich as an illegal arms dealer. Wai has had revenge on his mind ever since, and after a failed attempt to assassinate Ray, he’s recruited by the CIA to go undercover as a ganglord in order to help bring Ray (and his much bigger associates) to justice.

Andy Lau suffers for his art.

The job takes him to San Francisco, where he wastes no time taking over territories. He also insinuates himself into the life of Ray’s estranged daughter, Crystal (Jacklyn Wu), eventually marrying her to get closer to his target. The problem is he’s also fallen in love with her, which creates a moral quandary, especially after he learns she’s pregnant. And absolutely none of this sits well with Mona (Rosamund Kwan), Ray’s mistress with whom Wai enjoyed a brief tryst. 

It's occured to me that I’m making The Adventurers sound like a melodramatic soap opera. While some narrative elements reflect that, it’s primarily a violent, complex action film. Some of the story doesn’t always come across as plausible, but it’s certainly exciting, with some excellent action sequences. Lau has always been a solid physical & dramatic actor, and he’s in fine form here. As Ray, Chun makes a wonderfully hateful foe, while Kwan could sort-of be viewed as a femme fatale…and a compelling one at that.

The Adventurers is nowhere near as upbeat as the somewhat misleading title suggests. For the most part, the tone is dark and serious, compounded by brutal violence and a massive body count, especially during the kaboom-laden climax. For Andy Lau and Ringo Lam fans, this one-time collaboration is worth seeking out. 

On an amusing side note, the original poster (reproduced on the Blu-ray cover) shows Lau standing in front of a New York skyline, even though none of the movie takes place there.

EXTRA KIBBLES

INTERVIEWS - Two Adventurers features Asian Cinema journal editor Gary Bettinson, who thoroughly discusses the golden era of Hong Kong action films, focusing largely on director Ringo Lam and The Adventurers; Interview with writer-producer Sandy Shaw.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By critic David West.

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET - Includes “Unconventional Heroism,” an essay by Han Joon Magnan Park; cast, crew & Blu-ray credits.

TRAILER

Litter Box Treasures: FIRESTORM (2013)

In Litter Box Treasures, we focus on a variety of older films which aren’t necessarily classics, but are well-worth discovering.

FIRESTORM (2013)

Starring Andy Lao, Yao Chen, Gordon Lam, Hu Jun, Ray Lui. Directed by Alan Yuen. (110 min)

BY D.M. ANDERSON💀

Imagine if Michael Mann’s Heat were directed instead by the late Tony Scott, and you'll have a good idea what to expect from Firestorm. Subtlety and restraint were never part of Scott’s vocabulary and you won’t find either of those qualities here, either. This violent Hong Kong action epic, directed by Alan Yuen, is unabashedly bombastic, in-your-face and over-the-top. But hey, if you are going to draw your primary inspiration from one of the most revered films of the 90s, you might as well go whole-hog and crank everything up to 11.

Firestorm has a gang of thieves who commit daring armored car robberies in broad daylight in the middle of Hong Kong. The main characters are two men on opposite ends of the law. Lui (the great Andy Lau) is a police inspector, so desperate to nail this gang that he resorts to ethically-questionable tactics. Bong (Gordon Lam), just released from prison, is torn between returning to his old ways and trying to change for the sake of his pregnant girlfriend, Law (Yao Chen), but ultimately falls in with this vicious group of thieves.

Lui and Bong have known each other since their school days. This familiar plot device serves a similar function to the DeNiro/Pacino pairing in Heat…to establish our protagonist isn’t exactly a saint, nor is our antagonist a total demon. The same can’t be said for the rest of Bong’s gang, who are as extraordinarily ruthless, shooting hostages in the head, tossing children from second-story windows and unconcerned with collateral damage when blasting their way out of stand-offs with police.

A tender moment in Firestorm.

Despite nicely creating flawed-yet-sympathetic characters, mayhem is the main message here, which isn’t meant as a criticism. This tightly-wound film features several well-edited action set-pieces, each bigger and more violent than the last, culminating in a climactic showdown on the streets of downtown Hong Kong. This final confrontation, at least a half-hour long, must be seen to be believed. Sure, a lot suspension of disbelief is required, but the nearly-orgasmic level of gunplay, explosions and carnage makes the similar firefight in Heat look like Nerf Gun battle.

On a side note, the film’s synopsis touts a typhoon-level storm approaching Hong Kong, indicating it’s a major part of the story. However, this storm is only fleetingly mentioned in background newscasts and briefly discussed among the gang of thieves (who essentially blow it off…no pun intended). Disaster movie fans should take note: at no point does this storm factor into anything that happens. But don’t worry, kids, your thirst for urban destruction will be sated through other means.

YES, MADAM! and ROYAL WARRIORS: Two Early Michelle Yeoh Thrillers

YES, MADAM! and ROYAL WARRIORS (Blu-ray)

FROM 88 FILMS

Review by Pepper the Poopy😽

A couple of years ago, both of these films were released as part of 88 Films’ In the Line of Duty boxed set, even though they weren’t initially part of the franchise. Now they’re being reissued individually under their original titles. They are particularly noteworthy for featuring Michelle Yeoh, whose career was just beginning to take off at the time. 

YES, MADAM!

1985 / 93 min

Yes, Madam! gave Yeoh her first starring role, playing Inspector Ng, and also boasts the debut of American martial arts champion Cynthia Rothrock. Together, they’re investigating the murder of their mentor, who had microfilm that could incriminate a powerful Hong Kong businessman. However, it has fallen into the possession of three bumbling petty thieves. Ridiculous but enjoyable, it has a rousing climax that showcases these ladies’ considerable skills. Though not quite as accomplished an actor as she’d someday become, Yeoh’s charisma is already apparent here. Conversely, Rothrock’s physical abilities far outweigh her thespian skills, enough for a lucrative straight-to-video career.

EXTRA KIBBLES

ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION

INTERVIEWS - Individual interviews with Cynthia Rothrock, Michaelle Yeoh & Mang Hoi.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Frank Djeng

SCENE SPECIFIC COMMENTARIES - By Cynthia Rothrock & Frank Djeng

“BATTLING BABES” - Featurette

ORIGINAL HONG KONG TRAILER

The movie on this flight sucks.

ROYAL WARRIORS

1986 / 96 min

In Royal Warriors, dedicated cop Michelle Yip (Yeoh) is a Japanese Interpol agent. After she and an obnoxious air marshal thwart an airline hijacking, they’re targeted by a group of vicious war veterans who’ve made a pact to avenge the deaths of their friends. This wildly-plotted film features ample gunplay, explosions, fights and a shitload of broken glass. The opening close-quarters clash on-board an airliner is especially impressive and typically over-the-top. Attempts at broad comedy sit uncomfortably alongside scenes of brutal violence, but overall, the movie is a fun ride.

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Frank Djeng

2 TRAILERS

NEW & CLASSIC ENGLISH DUBS

MISSING AEROPLANE INSERTS

NEW ENGLISH SUBTITLES

REVERSIBLE COVER - With new & original artwork

Neither film is indispensable, but certainly of interest for those with a keen interest in Michelle Yeoh’s early career - long before she became a household name. And since none of the movies in the franchise are related anyway, these individual releases are a decent alternative to the pricier In the Line of Duty boxed set.