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Directed by: Wong Jing, Corey Yuen Starring: Jet Li, Chingmy Yau, Jacky Cheung In 1993 Jackie Chan and so-called Hong Kong king of schlock Wong Jing joined forces to make City Hunter, a generally silly adaptation of the Japanese manga and anime of the same name. From this it appears that the two really hated working with each other because 1995’s Shu dan long wei (also known as High Risk and Meltdown) seems like a big old “gently caress you” towards the Hong Kong megastar. Kit (Jet Li) is a former cop who has moved on after the rather shocking death of his wife and kid at the hands of a terrorist bomber by the name of “The Doctor”. Now a bodyguard (and regular stunt double) for phony martial arts megastar Frankie (Jacky Cheung), he is soon forced to contend with the diabolical plans of The Doctor once again when his gang of robbers take over a diamond exhibition with Frankie and a bunch of other people in attendance. Like City Hunter, High Risk is a mish-mash of sudden violence and lowbrow humour, but this time with an even less coherent plot. Along with several quite obvious nods to (read: blatant ripping off) Die Hard, High Risk also showcases a number of inexplicably dumb scenes (see below), eventually ending the movie with a whimper rather than a bang (literally, it involves diffusing a bomb). And despite getting top billing Jet Li only has one genuine fight scene, with much of the focus on Frankie’s barely-funny antics as he hides from the terrorists. In fact, it seems Wong Jing really had it in for Jackie, devoting whole reels of the film to portraying Frankie as a womanising drunken coward including the climatic fight of the film! But somehow High Risk still manages to create a sense of fun with the proceedings, and while the silly gags and dumb humour are pretty lame the mayhem that ensures may prove entertaining for some. Well, that and picking at the plot holes. 2.5/5 PROS: The bit where they drive a car into an elevator and then the terrorists are waiting for them to come out of the elevator but then the car suddenly smashes through a door right next to the elevator was pretty funny. CONS: Jet Li taking a back seat, the pretty dumb humour, inexplicable scenes like the one above. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114437/ mrkillboy fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Oct 2, 2004 |
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Oct 2, 2004 10:49
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 07:31 |
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First Jet Li movie I ever saw, which was marketed at an independent theater as an incredibly over-the-top satire on the HK action genre. As a result, I was very much entertained by the unbelievable physics-defying action and the cheesy humor that resulted from Jacky Cheung's antics. The standout scenes are the ones in the lobby and the final martial arts showdown between Cheung and the terrorist obsessed with kicking his rear end. Overall, an enjoyable rental (despite the fact that I own this movie). 4.5/5 Mr. Sleep fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Oct 14, 2004 |
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Oct 13, 2004 05:39
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