Monday, June 20, 2016

Wild City, Ringo Lam, 2015

Everything's in the right place, and Ringo Lam still is second to few when it comes to action scenes set in public space. But when Shawn Yue tries to hit Michael Tse with a candlestand, Louis Koo takes the weapon away from her, and she has to throw a weak punch with her fist. Throughout the film, emotion and action is toned down for tactical reasons. The result is a film that feels, for all its obvious competence, tactical itself, or at least rather non-committal. Still, if the main purpose of this was for Lam to prove he can make a decent film in the current marketplace, it sure is a success. And judging from teaser and cover art, SKY ON FIRE might be a different kind of beast.

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