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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
What's more important, loyalty or
justice? That's the dilemma facing undercover cop Ko Chow (Chow
Yun-Fat) in Ringo Lam's excellent crime drama City on Fire.
The film is a definite must see for HK enthusiasts, if for no other
reason than to witness what a Ringo Lam movie was like before he
became Jean Claude Van Damme's director of choice.
Like Donnie Brasco and other
films of its kind, City on Fire explores the internal ethical
struggle for a policeman who get too close to his prey. The plot:
after a fellow cop is knifed to death in the streets, detective
Ko Chow is put on the trail of some jewel thieves by his world-weary
superior, Inspector Lau (Sun Yeuh). Chow, however, has deep reservations
about the assignment. "I fulfill my duties?" Chow complains,
"But I betray my friends!" Despite his protests, Chow
agrees to the job and attempts to befriend head crook Lee Fu (Danny
Lee).
After a few tense situations, Chow is eventually accepted
into the Fu's confidence and asked to join in on the crew's next
big score. As the two strike up a friendship, Chow's personal ethics
are put to the test as he finds himself genuinely liking Fu, the
very man he's supposed to arrest. Later, the climactic jewelry heist
goes terribly wrong with bullets flying everywhere and bodies littering
the streets. In the end, Chow is forced to make a definitive, but
not surprising, decision on where his loyalties reside, with fatal
results.
There have been many comparisons made
between this film and Quentin Tarantino's "re-imagining" (An unfortunate
buzzword that emerged after Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes debacle. But I digress). Though similar in theme, City on Fire and Reservoir Dogs are dramatically different in execution.
Whereas Quentin Tarantino's debut film had a sleek look and crackling
dialogue, City on Fire does not—and that's not necessarily
a criticism of Lam's flick. Tarantino's world is a kind of hyper-reality
in which common thugs can riff on pop culture; Ringo Lam's domain
seems a tad bit more realistic. The criminal element depicted in City on Fire operates in a grim, gritty underworld that's
only shred of romanticism lies in the immutable loyalty between
brothers. Same idea, different methods—but both pretty damn
cool movies. (Calvin McMillin 2002) |
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