Raging Fire (2021)

In a final swan song only director Benny Chan could deliver, Raging Fire is a quintessential modern Hong Kong cinematic action experience, powered by an incredible dual lead performance and propelled by dynamic and explosive action set pieces. 

 

Director: Benny Chan

Notable Cast: Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Jeana Ho, Ray Lui, Patrick Tam, Ben Lam, Chris Collins, Ken Lo, Simon Yam

 

During the final action sequence, an epiphany came to me. The culminating chess game between the two leads of the film, Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse, erupts into a full Michael Mann street war. On one side, cops in Kevlar vests and tactical gear. They storm the streets of Hong Kong, determined to disrupt the burglary in progress. On the other side, sharply suited villains armed to the teeth with automatic rifles and grenades aiming to make off with a significant heist, and nothing - not even an army of well-armed police officers, will stand in their way. It’s an explosive set-piece, erupting in rollicking explosions, showers of glass, and concussive blasts of gunfire where no character is safe and the tension has built to snarling intensity. 

 

That’s not the epiphany. That’s just the setup. 

 

Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch (2019)

Directors: Wong Jing, Jason Kwan

Notable Cast: Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Louis Koo Tin-Lok, Gordon Lam Ka-Tung, Sabrina Qiu Lu-Fan, Willie Wai Kar-Hung, Jason Wong Chung-Fung, Simon Yam, Du Jiang, Candice Yu On-On

One of the most beautiful and baffling things about Hong Kong and more recently Mainland Chinese cinema is their ability to embrace the thematic franchise. A franchise doesn’t need to inherently share characters or plot lines and for the longest time, HK has done it best – expressly in their action franchises. When the first Chasing the Dragon film became a relative success, thanks mostly to a unique performance by Donnie Yen as the villain and Andy Lau to parallel his story, it wasn’t all that shocking that its sequel would be a thematic one. Instead of a drug kingpin in the '70s, Chasing the Dragon II: Wild Wild Bunch tells the ‘based on a true story’ of a '90s kidnapping mogul and the undercover cop set to unravel his massive money-making schemes. Once again, the film is powered on the sheer skill of two brilliant actors, Tony Leung and Louis “I’m in every film” Koo, and the combination of its cast with another easy to consume slab of crime entertainment does have its merits. Wild Wild Bunch is infectiously enjoyable in a way that betrays its obvious mainstream pandering and occasionally overzealous style. Partner that with the scene devouring performances and Wild Wild Bunch is borderline criminal in its entertaining qualities.

Operation Red Sea (2018)

Director: Dante Lam

Notable Cast: Zhang Yi, Du Jiang, Hai Qing, Wang Yutian, Jiang Luxia, Huang Jingyu, Yin Fang, Henry Prince Mak, Guo Jiahao, Michelle Bai, Zhang Hanyu, Wang Qiang, Simon Yam

Dante Lam has risen to be one of the most recognizable forces in Chinese cinema. What makes this so impressive is that he has done it by making strong films in a variety of different genres. Cheesy Michael Bay influenced action, dramatic focused sports films, or the classic Hong Kong action thrillers. You name it. For his latest, Lam continues on where he left off with his worldwide hit, Operation Mekong, and fully embraces the moment to produce a full on military action thriller. Operation Red Sea, based on a true event, is a chaotic and action-packed ride into the events surrounding a vicious mission for a small team of Chinese Navy operatives as they try to evacuate some Chinese civilians out of an erupting war zone. The film is a unique blend of the Hollywood style military action drama with hints of Dante Lam’s own love of the Hong Kong style that is almost problematically focused on its plot and narrative sprint. Still, Lam delivers on his promises with action, tension, and a remarkably diverse set of sequences that will have action fans happy with the results.

Legend of the Naga Pearls (2017)

Director: Yang Lei

Notable Cast: Darren Wang, Zhang Tianai, Sheng Guansen, Simon Yam, Wang Xun, Zhao Jian, Xing Yu, Hu Bing, Sui He

From the outside, it seems that Chinese film audiences love big, special effects packed spectacle films. Even when a film is more personal and less fantasy driven, like the record breaking Wolf Warrior II, it follows the pattern that audiences love to be entertained by the outrageous more than anything. Which is why Legend of the Naga Pearls seems so fitting. Even for those more in tune with the robust style of Hollywood, this film can seem a bit overwhelming as it takes the popular fantasy adventure film and slathers it with stylish elements of the popular tomb raiding design and classic wuxia aspects. As a film, obviously meant to be more of a family friendly affair, Legend of the Naga Pearls is not groundbreaking and it follows a lot of tropes that make it predictable and easy to consume as a narrative. Yet, it also carries with it a rambunctious energy and spirit that makes the more ridiculous nature of its style and the bland plotting something much better than it should be. Legend of the Naga Pearls is big, spectacular fantasy action with enough charm to quench the blockbuster popcorn tone that it’s aiming for even if the foundation its built on is thin.