Bad Blood

i don't know what these other people are talking about!? this was not a bad movie at all! this movie was very good! when it comes to the martial arts scenes! if you have good taste you- should like this film for that reason alone!! especially when it comes to the two women fighters that are in it!!! and Bernice was no joke! now she played the bad guy in it! was cold blooded to her family by killing them all! but her skills are the best that i have ever seen!!-besides Lucy Lu's and Uma Thurman's! and the other woman who worked with Audrey's brother! she was-like a ninja in this one! both were awesome! and i will never forget it! i recommend it to be watched over and over for the fighting scenes the most! was mind-blowing! so to each his own as the sayings goes!but i enjoyed it- for the good part!

Jumpin right into the action, we watch as a gang of baddies dressed in Red-Ex uniforms run through a village to evade the chasing cops. The gang includes Ken Lo, Hung Yan Yan, Andy On and Simon Yam to name but a few. As the gang breaks, and the feet fly, Yam breaks off with gang leader, Eddie Cheung, who just happens to have the copper-plates they stole, for their counterfeiting operation. As the rest escape, Cheung soon gets caught and is taken by the police to be executed in a sports field - complete with audience, one of which is his daughter, Bernice Liu.

The one and only Michael Chan Wai Man, from The Club and Project A 2, sports one of the worst wigs yet and plays the more, mature member of the triad gang. He calls for the voting of a new head of the family. Simon (known here as Funky), gets chosen and quickly starts putting his foot down which angers some of the contenders for the throne. Liu's brother (Chris Lai) soon returns home to sort the will, but with Cheung leaving everything to his children, the tempers of his triad peers soon rise and it isn't long before Chris gets killed in an explosion. Of course, Bernice Liu sets out for revenge!

Dennis Law has forever received nothing but bad criticism for his films - most of which I do enjoy. He's one of the few Hong Kong directors that actually tires hard to recreate the very-much-missed, golden days of Hong Kong action cinema, but often with flawed results. Although he studied film in LA, Law went on to work in real estate before Bad Blood presenter Charles Heung coaxed him back into film. He worked with Johnnie To as a producer for a bit before setting out on his own journey as writer and director. While both of these subjects have never been his strong point, he still gets the job done, often with a great cast and some pretty sweet moments. Here, he is aided by his old friend and ace-director, Herman Yau, as director of photography...

In Bad Blood, Law brings a great cast together along with some new faces, and works alongside JC Stunt Team member Nicky Li for some amazing martial arts action. Helping Li is Huang kai Sen who has worked on many great movies as an actor and action director, such as Invisible Target, Rob-B-Hood, Kiss Of The Dragon, and Black Mask. Its a great team-up as most of the action in Bad Blood is what saves it from becoming a pretty forgettable movie. Nicky Li had also choreographed the fantastic action in law's Fatal Contact, and does just as great a job here.

While the fight for the throne amongst the triad gang may be the main story of the film, the sub-plot with Andy On gets me a little more excited. Complete with large birthmark on his face, On has befriended a mute girl played by the super tiny yet highly impressive Jiang Liu Xia from Coweb and True Legend (of which she also co-starred with Andy in). Aside from enjoying kicking the hell out of each other, the pair like to ride around town at night on their motorcycle, picking out gangs for a fight to see how quickly Jiang can take them down in a bizarre training method. It makes for a lot of great action and is a close to the late 80's/early 90's Hong Kong style of film-making we all miss. With a hint of unspoken romance between them, I would like to have seen more about them in the film. But alas, this crime-thriller is also known as the King Of Triads for a reason, although more notably should have been named, Queen Of Triads due to Bernice Liu's role as the twisted, Audrey. I haven't seen a lot of Bernice, but her portrayal of Audrey is quite good, and she definitely impresses in the action department.

As well as being flawed in its writing, the film is void of any excitement during the dramatic scenes, offers some tired performances from its aged cast, and some silly directional choices here and there that has its audience asking 'why?'. But, as mentioned, Bad Blood is saved by its fight scenes offering some of the most exciting and brilliantly choreographed action of its time. And while the action is aplenty throughout, its just a shame that Dennis Law kills off most of his best fighters before the end, resulting in a fun-but-short-lived face off with Liu versus Jiang Lui Xia before going out with a bang!

Overall: Once you get past the flaws, Bad Blood features some fantastic martial arts action and stunts that will get any Hong Kong film fans excited!

Don't you hate it when the first half of the movie is unrelentingly badass only for the second half to turn it into a steaming pile of crap? Simon Yam is listed as the star of this movie, but it really is Andy On. He has developed into a genuinely skilled martial artist with a tough guy attitude and he has plenty of scenes in this movie to show it off. Nicky Li does the choreography, which is aggressive, hard-hitting, violent, and requires athleticism to pull off. Li also did Invisible Target and Legendary Assassin (both Wu Jing vehicles); picture Wu Jing's speed combined with Tony Jaa's visceral power and that's the kind of fighting you get to see Andy On do here. His fight against Ken Lo in an empty dojo is particularly outstanding.

Except...the film itself sucks, and sucks bad. I can't explain why it's so terrible without spoiling it, but I will say that the second half feels more like a horror movie more than an action thriller. There are movies with heavy darkness and grittiness to them that can be compelling (see: Dog Bite Dog) but this movie will instead make you crack up repeatedly at its ridiculously bad script and predictable storyline.

In fact, I wanted to laugh at how bad it was, but I was too busy being mad at how bad it was, if that makes any sense.

Oh, did I mention that Andy On is ridiculously badass?

Talk about underusing talent. Here you got Simon Yam,Andy On,Luxia Jiang and more recognizable faces. The moment you see Simon Yam you will be asking yourself what he is doing in a movie like this. Because this movie is real bad. With a cast like this this movie should have been a bad ass movie. Dennis Law is a terrible writer and even more terrible director. And you can see that the action scenes are directed by another guy since they are good and basically save this movie. There is one other redeeming factor and it's the movie villain. Bernice Liu doesn't blow you away with a stellar performance but still she manages to convince the audience that she is bad to the bone. Her looks helped in enhancing that. As I said earlier the action scenes are pretty good. Only wished there were more off them. I also missed some validity for not using guns especially in the opening scene. A gang of crooks are chased by cops and for some reason the cops don't shoot. In stead they resort to hand to hand combat. I love martial arts but a scene like this screamed for a big shootout. And this opening scene pretty much shows what is wrong with this movie. The lack of excitement. Bad blood is worth your time if you are craving for some nice action. Other than that it is forgettable.