Year:  2017

Director:  Wong Jing and Jason Kwan

Rated:  MA15+

Release:  January 31 digital, February 21 disc

Distributor: Icon

Running time: 129 minutes

Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

Cast:
Donnie Yen, Andy Lau

Intro:
...a solidly entertaining, dependably violent run through the usual "rise-of-a-bad-guy" tropes delivered with some tasty Cantonese seasoning.

Structurally a riff on Scarface set in the Hong Kong of the 1960s and 1970s, Chasing the Dragon is a slick crime thriller that sees Chinese superstar Donnie Yen, currently enjoying newfound prominence in the West thanks to his turn in Rogue One, as Crippled Ho, a refugee from mainland (that is: Communist) China who battles his way to the top of the rackets.

For fans of Hong Kong action cinema, Chasing the Dragon has a pretty fine pedigree. It’s a remake of 1991’s well-regarded To Be the Best for one thing; for another, it boasts Andy Lau in a major supporting role as ambitious and genially corrupt cop Lee Rock, a figure he previously played in the eponymous duology directed by Lawrence Ah Mon. And for a third, co-director Wong Jing is pretty much Hong Kong’s answer to Roger Corman, a gleefully B grade peddler of exploitation and genre fare from way back, whose works as actor, writer, producer, and director span everything from action comedy Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, to sexploitation flick Naked Killer, to the Chow Yun Fat-starring God of Gamblers, to notorious Triad series Young and Dangerous.

Chasing the Dragon is never so transgressive as some of Wong’s wilder work, but it’s a good time nonetheless. It’s actually surprisingly light for the most part, for all that it deals with drug-dealing, corruption, ruthless ambition, and so on. The film never really interrogates the actions of Ho and his patron, Rock, instead framing them as modern day folk heroes helping the Chinese hold their own against outside influences – chief among them the corrupt and arrogant British officers of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. Ho and his cronies, a fiercely loyal squad of efficient thugs, might be down for a spot of brutal violence at a moment’s notice, but at least they’re not the long arm of British Imperialism – a common theme in Hong Kong cinema that’s become all the more prominent in recent years.

And fair enough – colonialism is there to be fought in any case, and Wong and his co-director, Jason Kwan, get points for smuggling in a bit of regime criticism simply by dint of having Ho be a refugee – he has to be running away from something fairly awful, right? That subtle stab aside, the film’s critical eye remains firmly outward focused, and these are the nicest and most honourable heroin dealers and murderers you’re likely to meet.

It’s a fun ride, though, slickly produced and punctuated with superb action sequences – there’s a mid-point chase/fight sequence through Kowloon’s famous Walled City slum that is one for the books – a bit of business that would serve well as the climax for most action films. The recreation of late ’70s HK is pretty great, definitely leaning towards the more excessive elements of costuming and design to sell the vibe, but effective nonetheless. The performances are solid, as you’d expect for veterans like Yen and Lau; the former in particular is convincing as Ho, who goes from gregarious low level grinder to first among brothers to ruthless – but still heroic! – kingpin over the course of the film. Of the supporting cast, veteran character actor Kent Cheng deserves a shout out for his turn as Rock’s sly police partner, Piggy, equally open to corruption but happy to take a 2IC position enforcing Rock’s will.

Chasing the Dragon is no instant classic, but it’s a solidly entertaining, dependably violent run through the usual “rise-of-a-bad-guy” tropes delivered with some tasty Cantonese seasoning. Anyone only familiar with Yen’s work in the West is especially encouraged to track this one down.

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