Definitely a movie that could've done with just less of everything and stuck to the original idea of a black comedy instead of taking a wild tonal shift in the second half, but oh well. The thriller half isn't bad, just a little over the top, at least the stakes feel much realer than a more comedic tone would've had them.
Definitely not so subtle commentary on Korean machismo and how it can ruin people's lives, while everyone's a shithead…
While all the references are in code, this is still an incredibly ballsy movie to make in 1988 Hong Kong, especially for an actual studio film and not some indie project. Especially ballsy considering it appears this had extremely real consequences for Angie Chen's career, if she hadn't made this... maybe she'd be spoken of in the same light as more famous women New Wave contemporaries like Ann Hui and Mabel Cheung.
I think if you look at this as…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
The fact that Hollywood still made a Street Fighter movie when this already existed is a crime. Probably the only good video game movie, maybe ever? I'm sure that's a statement that would start arguments amongst people that I don't really want to talk about films with.
Either way, as someone who's entire experience with the Street Fighter franchise is cultural osmosis and ten minutes of playing an arcade cabinet on a ferry when I was like 12, I'm pretty…
A little surprised by the medium reception this is getting because I haven't seen an HK comedy that reeked this much of soul and effort in some time. I understand Louis Koo being tied to this so directly puts some expectations in people's minds but he's clearly more here behind the scenes. To comparisons are not at all unwarranted IMO down to the self references.
Expect Table For Six with Throw Down vibes here and there, not Walled In as…
