Hong Kong Bronx Review

 

Hong Kong Bronx follows the story of Neil, a ex triad who was just released after serving eights years in prison. Feeling a responsibility to look after his two younger sisters, Neil gives up his former life choosing to turn his back on the triads. A wrench is thrown into these plans when Uncle Bo wants Neil to take over Kowloon East, a violent triad district. Neil refuses the offer but this action by Uncle Bo upsets Johnny, a up and coming hotheaded gangster, who wants Kowloon East all to himself. Johnny persists to hassle and get to Neil any way he can, even going as far as violating his sisters. An enraged Neil takes matters into his own hands and the only resolve is through sheer brute force.

Thoughts On The Film

Ryan

Where do I start with this film? There wasn’t much that I liked about Hong Kong Bronx. The film starts off with a brutal attack on the hood of our main characters car. Being that Hong Kong Bronx is a crime film I liked that they jumped right in and got down to business early in the beginning, but it all went down hill from there. Pacing wise the film was really slow. I didn’t find the characters very interesting, also there wasn’t enough gritty action to keep me entertained since the characters weren’t drawing me in. When the action does kick in most of the blood is CGI and distracting, also distracting is the way that they spliced in comic art every few seconds in the final fight scene. I may have been able to enjoy the sequence more without the comic art inserted. Even with all it’s faults Hong Kong Bronx does have a something good going for it in the performance of the always great Jordan Chan. Chan carries as much of the film as he can, and his was the only character that I cared about. Hong Kong Bronx was directed by Billy Chung who tries to bring the film up to the level it should be by keeping the film dark and playing on it’s melodrama, but the script material just doesn’t allow him to bring the film above it’s mediocrity. If you want to see a better film directed by Billy Chung check out Colour of Loyalty. If you want to see better films featuring Jordan Chan check out the Young and Dangerous series. Even though I didn’t really care for Hong Kong Bronx I can say that it was not as bad as Chaos. See this film only if you have to see every crime film ever made.

Mark

Hong Kong Bronx is a brutal and unforgiving tale of triad life on the streets of Hong Kong. While Hong Kong Bronx starts off as a simple story of a man trying to escape a violent past, it soon turns into a bloodbath of cosmic proportions. Having said that, the film leaves nothing to the imagination in terms of hacking a person into bits with a machete. Though, I did like all the mindless violence, I didn’t enjoy all the cg animated blood that would sprout from all the hapless victims of carnage. At times, I felt that I was watching a cartoon instead of a live action film. That aspect of the film did turn me off, but at times, I did enjoy the films cheesy B-movie feel. Jordan Chan is always a welcome addition in terms of casting in any Hong Kong movie. He brings his very highly touted star power to the role of Neil. I must admit that however much I disliked this film, I enjoyed Jordan Chan’s performance. With Neil, Chan’s performance at times elevates Hong Kong Bronx from sheer mediocrity to decent. His performance is also way better than what the film truly deserves. Seeing Chan carrying a machete, once again, in the name of righteousness recalls the old days of The Young and Dangerous movies. Chan carries every scene with sheer intensity and presence, as he makes the audience feel his character’s plight.

But, that  performance alone could not save Hong Kong Bronx from mediocrity. The film’s production values were obviously very low, but not low enough to where I bash the movie for that reason alone. The film is relatively emotionless in terms of execution and direction. Had Billy Chung spent more time on character development and less time showing us how to gut a human being, I would have really enjoyed the film. Instead, the film-makers opt for brutality as the overall entertainment factor. Don’t get me wrong, I love my violence served on a silver platter. But, with Hong Kong Bronx, cartoon violence just doesn’t match the rest of the film, and when I say doesn’t match, I mean visually. Hong Kong Bronx has some of the worst put together cgi blood ever assembled in post production. You just might find yourself laughing at how ridiculously fake the violence looks. I don’t know if the bad cgi violence was intentional or just pure laziness on part of the director. But, the impact of the violence would have been way more satisfying had the film implemented some sort of on set blood effects. Instead, we are treated to a non intentionally funny climax when it evidently should have been more serious. If the film would have opted for more character development minus the bad cgi, along with a more energetic director behind the scenes, we could be talking about a solid 4 out of 5 stars for this one. But, as it is, Hong Kong Bronx is a very forgettable experience.

Ryan

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Mark

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