The Group (1998)



	The Group		Return to Review Archive - G
	Year:	1998
	Director:	Alfred Cheung Kin-Ting
	Action:	Dion Lam Dik-On, Guk Hin-Chiu
	Cast:	Francis Ng Chun-Yu, Christine Ng Wing-Mei, Almen Wong Pui-Ha, Alfred Cheung Kin-Ting, Ken Wong Hap-Hei, Miriam Yeung Chin-Wah, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Chong Wing, Ken Lo Wai-Kwong, Law Koon-Lan, Ngai Sing, Simon Lui Yu-Yeung, Michael Lam Wai-Leung
	The Skinny:	Big cast, bad movie. Mediocre script gives its big cast a lot to do, but has nothing truly interesting to offer.
	Review by Kozo:	Like last year’s Downtown Torpedoes, this new flick focuses on a group of individuals who band together to pull off well-orchestrated techno-heists that attempt to enthrall us with their cleverness and technological wizardry. However, unlike Downtown Torpedoes, this film is inconsistent and plagued by the jokey, wacky HK ways that just do not work when you’re trying to emulate a Western film. What’s left is an amusing but disjointed disappointment. The plot focuses on a group of orphans who get together once a year to fulfill a favor for charity in honor of the priest who raised them. This year the stakes are raised so the six friends decide to rip off the HK government to feed starving children in Africa. Francis Ng is the leader, a techno-geek who exults in overacting whenever he has the chance. His compatriots have various professions, including Alfred Cheung as a film director (not exactly an amusing in-joke) and Almen Wong as a kick-butt self-defense instructor. The friends plan their heist effectively, but it all goes wrong when other parties get involved. Attempting to discuss this plot in a salient, cohesive manner is impossible. Whatever promise the set-up provides is underdone by Alfred Cheung’s lackluster direction and a mediocre script that meanders uselessly. There are plenty of asides for everything from wackiness to decent action, but it just doesn’t work. This film feels like Aces Go Places with less charm and more characters. The actors are likable in their overwritten, cloying parts. Francis Ng gets to overact as a guy who likes to overact, and he does his usual fine job. However, maybe some restraint might have been a good idea as it would have given the film some sense of pacing. One highlight of the film is the ferociousness that Almen Wong displays when she’s called upon to pummel someone. This is passable entertainment, but you have to remember that a “C” is a passing grade. (Kozo 1998)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Widesight Entertainment Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Widesight Entertainment
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