City of Darkness

I expected great fight scenes, great backdrop, some over acting, and a bit of fun. I got this.

The beginning was a good setup for the film and drew me in immediately. The main actor was very good.

The first half was actually better than I expected. It was well paced and gave you a good understanding of the character and how he finally felt at home with a new family while also not losing out on some action scenes. Plus, the environment was wonderfully dystopian and looked just what I imagined Kowloon would have been like.

The second half, OH MY, was a whimsical, non-sensical, over-the-top, non-stop fighting fest. It certainly wasn't 'The Raid' standard but it was still a fun watch.

Overall, totally worth a watch.

I didn't make it to Hong Kong til 1994 so this famous Kowloon walled city had already gone but it's legend hadn't. It was the equivalent of a large block of properties, within properties - a mass of alleys, corridors and tunnels in which the law was enforced in a very different way from the outside. This story starts with a battle that sees control pass from "Jim" to "Cyclone" (Louis Koo). There's now a truce of sorts that exists between the bosses and the outside world, but that's about to be thrown into turmoil by the arrival of "Lok" (Raymond Lam). He works hard to get an official ID card but is fleeced by "Mr. Big" (Sammo Hung) and escapes with a bag of his cocaine into the walled city. That's where he encounters it's ruler and his sidekick "Shin" (Terrence Lau) and where his willingness to work and his fortitude ingratiates him with the boss. On the outside, "Cyclone" has a business relationship with "Chau" (Richie Jen) who has really only one purpose left in life. That's to avenge the murder of his family by the now dead "Jim". The focus of his revenge is that man's own son - but nobody nows what happened to him. Well, swiftly you can add two and two and get "Lok". Loyalties are now tested, friendships challenged and forged whilst the fragile peace is soon in tatters. With battle lines drawn and ambitions clear, it's all out war and the action mounts up. This is a sold end-to-end martial arts film with plenty of nimble and lithe combat; acrobatics and bodies that must be made of skin-clad tungsten steel. It's got a little bit of mysticism and embodies human nature, whether benign or not, quite entertainingly and by not just throwing itself about, but by at least trying to create and develop the characters. The denouement takes it's time and does become a bit repetitive, but as a quickly paced drama it really does fly by for two hours. Honour amongst thieves - but always sleep with your back to the wall.

This film featured a star-studded cast, such as Hong Kong film veteran Sammo Hung and Louis Koo, while TVB drama fans would be familiar with Raymond Lam and Wong Tak Bun. Heavenly King Aaron Kwok made a minor appearance as a guest star.

Those who love kungfu fighting and gangster movies, this may be suitable for you. Fight scenes are aplenty, especially after the 2nd half and towards the ending. Since this movie's original sources was from a novel and comic ("manwa"), there are fight scenes which are over the top and illogical. But I wonder, wouldn't it be better for the overall movie if they just made the entire show more realistic by omitting those fanciful effects?

Main strengths of the movie:

1) The main setting of the movie featured the Kowloon "walled city"/slums which was depicted in a realistic manner, and camera angles were panned well. This area has historical significance in Hong Kong. I thought it was a unique idea to bring these to the big screen.

2) The beginning part of the movie was done well too, with the main characters in the "walled city" being quickly introduced and building up the suspense between the various factions of power.

3) The main theme of loyalty and brotherhood was consistently emphasised and showcased. The movie direction was clear.

Flaws of the movie: The lack of a solid ending was the Achilles' heel. It was just too convenient to resort to the conventional style of good vs evil. Too many fighting scenes led to deprivation of screentime for character development, especially the villain played by Philip Ng, who could had offered more.

Conclusion: It is an interesting film if you're longing for some Hong Kong martial arts movie. But this isn't near Hong Kong's best.

The sets look absolutely stunning and elaborate, very vivid and rich in detail and you can tell a lot of love and care and nostalgia went into the recreations of Kowloon Walled City. Also a lot of extras. And for sure a lot of money.

This is Jackie Chan on steroids. Kind of. I mean I can see it as the result of decades of evolution of martial arts movies and a deserving heir of that tradition. However I am not necessarily a fan of the genre and my experience with it is extremely limited. Still, the action scenes and the choreographies are excellent, creative and breathtaking even. With the caveat that of course in real life these people would be dead ten times over from the many blows and injuries they sustain. And they keep coming back for more, only to defeat the adversary at the very last minute, when all looked lost. Yes, it's a trope. I suppose fans love it, but it bothers me each time. It bothered me here a lot because the rest of it looked so gritty and raw that I expected some anchor to reality. But no. It only amplifies as the movie unfolds. Up to large old men fighting as if they were in their prime and the absolute offender - spirit power. Yes, that's right. They incorporated some fantasy martial arts/cultivation movies motifs - the most annoying and evil guy in the whole movie, who also sports a mullet and lets out a hysterical laugh way too often, possesses spirit power, meaning that nothing blunt can penetrate his skin. Could be a trick to keep him alive for as long as possible to give the good guys something to do, but was it really necessary? Couldn't they just make him very, very good and very lucky?

The poster could have been sexier. Those four last standing deserved that. Maybe they banked on the star power of the veterans. Again, I am not the target audience for this.

I didn't read the book or comic so I watched it without prior knowledge. This movie got really great set pieces remind me of old shops I have visited in Hong Kong when I was little. The set pieces and art directions is top notch and respect to they chosen to film close ups of it all during the end credits.

But story wise it is a run off the mill revenge and triad story, so if you were gonna to expect some interesting story it quite lacks it. Next to that the more interesting stories were happening around the main story, with people working in the walled city and especially the little girl doing all kinds of odd jobs was more interesting then the all the main character combined and also the only character you really feel most for. But also it feels like we are missing a whole prequel movie that was shown in the flashbacks moments, to understand the main story a lot better.

The movie has a lot of over the top action, but also comic characters who are over the top with special moves. But for me the final fight felt it dragged on for too long.

For me for I wished they made another movie with these set pieces, but too bad all of it is long gone as they were filmed several years ago. I would rather watched a less triad involved simple romantic or coming of age stories set in the walled city.