Arena do Tigre

I happened to stumble upon the 1988 movie "Tiger Cage" (aka "Dak ging to lung") from director Woo-Ping Yuen in 2020. Needless to say that with my fascination of the Hong Kong cinema, of course I sat down to watch this movie.

Not only is it a Hong Kong movie, but it also has a pretty interesting cast ensemble, which includes the likes of Simon Yam, Donnie Yen and Jacky Cheung. So the movie does have a pretty good foundation of having strong performances and being interesting to watch.

Turned out that "Tiger Cage" was actually a rather enjoyable crime/action movie. Sure, it was generic, especially for the movies of the genre in late 1980s from Hong Kong cinema. But it proved to be an entertaining movie nonetheless. The storyline was well enough composed by writers Wing-Fai Wong and Kwong Kim Yip, although it was rather straight forward and somewhat generic actually.

There is a good mixture of drama and action in the storyline to actually keep the movie going at a good pace. And while there are no surprises along the way as the movie plays out, it doesn't make it a boring movie given the pacing and the storyline.

My rating of "Tiger Cage" is a six out of ten stars. If you enjoy the 'older' Hong Kong cinema, then "Tiger Cage" is definitely well worth watching.

In the 70's Hong Kong gave birth to the period (classic) kung fu film. The 90's saw the rise of the `flying' kung fu film. And, the 80's saw the surge of cops and crooks films with titles like Long Arm of the Law, the In the Line of Duty series, and Tiger Cage.

Jacky Cheung plays the title role of a cop out to bust some dope dealers, and eventually the very interior of his corrupt department. Carol Do Do Cheng, Donnie Yen, and Simon Yam also star as fellow cops- Carols husband, a fellow cop, being killed by the dope gang, Donnie as a young rookie who finds out his mentor is dirty, and Simon as the two faced, nothing but evil, corrupt supervisor. Its a dark, double crossing tale offset by moments of kung fu and comedy amongst the standard police drama plotline. From the opening shootout that begins the film, you know that you are in for some rough and tumble action, as hundreds of bullets are shot, bodies fall and are hit by cars, the fighting is gritty, and so on. Donnie gets one fight scene (really the only martial arts sequence) with two drug dealing gwailos. Simon Yam is just plain bad with a capitol B. Jacky over-grimaces his way though the drama, and poor Carol gets the stuffing beat out of her a couple of times. The story is well paced, by the great Yuen Woo Ping, and is a competent addition to the Hong Kong cop film library.

There are more than the usual subtitle language errors like- "My gun has no eyes.", "I want you to be limply in jail all your life.", "I am ready for discinplinary and investify.", "They're now fugitive with arms."

Hong Kong used to produce some of the most hardcore action movies in the 80's and early 90's. Having not producing any in a while, their trying to come back to formula with movies like Fulltime Killer and Infernal Affairs. Anyway, in my opinion, Tiger Cage is an excellent crime thriller amongst Hong Kong cinema. It still stands above some movies in Hong Kong and the all "arrogant" Hollywood. They don't make movies like these anymore. The plot is great, and the movie didn't seem to have any flaws. Whether a protagonist or a antagonist, Simon Yam always proves that he is the man for the job. As for this movie, he plays the villain very well. Might I also add that Jacky Cheung gives a gritty performance. Donnie Yen gives Michael Woods a run for his money, and Carol "Do Do" Cheng is great as a female cop who struggles to keep her personal life as well as her cop life intact.

The action is top notch. Hardcore and served with devastating blows is the way I like it. Master Yuen Woo Ping did a fine job with this one. Also, look out for his minute Cameo. While Martial Arts was evident in the movie, old-fashioned street fighting was served with the main course. Watch the last 15 minutes and see what I mean. Donnie Yen is always impressive, but I was surprised at Jacky Cheung. The boy has some kicks to his disposal. He does it with so much vengeance. This is one of Yuen Woo Ping's better movies. In fact, this is one of his best movies (way better than that Matrix BS).

Overall, this movie is one of Hong Kong's best efforts and deserves a re-release and restoration. One can only hope that this and more Asian movies are treated with respect (MIRAMAX AAARGGGH!!!!).

Final Judgment: ****/****

Fortunately we have an all-star cast of Hong Kong legends working their magic here, (Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Ka-Yan Leung) along with director Woo-ping Yuen helming this action extravaganza. The story is nothing special, straightforward with a few twists thrown in to keep the audience interested. Drug smuggling ring, betrayals, corrupt cops, and all the other usual elements of a late 80's HK crime flick. Dull in this regard however the movie wasn't intended to showcase script writing, rather we get some nice displays of martial arts fighting.

The fight choreography and shootouts are the highlights of the film, although the plot wedged in-between sequences feels painfully like filler to meet the minimum run time. In typical fashion bizarre Chinese humor is used as a device to provide character development, and as usual it feels misplaced in a serious crime movie such as this. Despite the small amount of character development it's sufficient to provoke a reaction when the protagonists end up in peril. Donnie Yen only is given a few minutes of screen time, but during his few minutes he really steals the show. The action is entertaining but not enough to deem a second watch. I would only recommend to those wanting to see Donnie Yen's early work. -6/10

You generally can't go wrong with action movies from Hong Kong, and it's also hard to go wrong with Yuen Woo-Ping. I feel as though I should eventually watch everything he ever directed or did the action choreography for, since the way he does that stuff is always so good. Words kind of fail to express what makes his take on action so good. All I know is that it's really good, and that's all that matters.

With Tiger Cage, it's him doing the kind of movie John Woo is best known for directing. Woo-Ping usually makes action movies with more hand-to-hand combat, but he can do shoot-em-ups, too. Similarly, Woo is best known for the heroic bloodshed films of his, but he also proved himself to be great at more traditional martial arts stuff with the eternally underrated Last Hurrah for Chivalry. John Woo is more well-known than Woo-Ping, and his highs are higher, but I think he's missed a little more often than Woo-Ping seems to have.

Also, to go back to Tiger Cage... well, what can be said? The non-action stuff is serviceable, and that's all it really needs to be. It's about a bunch of young cops taking on criminals and corruption, and it's all very heightened, bombastic, and bloody. The term "heroic bloodshed" is also interesting. These characters are physically impressive, but they do bleed, and sometimes die, more than American heroes from Action movies in that part of the world.

Anyway, Tiger Cage starts at a ridiculously impressive pace that it can't entirely maintain throughout, but the action was just about always very good, and I didn't mind the non-action parts all too much either. It made for a satisfying watch, and if you like Hong Kong action/crime films from around this era, it shouldn't be overlooked.