Do sing dai hang: San gor chuen kei

Not having seen the 1992 Hong Kong crime action drama "Do Sing Dai Hang: San Gor Chuen Kei" (aka "Casino Tycoon") before now in 2022, I must admit that I was actually looking forward to watching it, as the movie had Andy Lau in the leading role.

However, I have to admit that I found the storyline in the movie to be somewhat erratic and skittish. It felt like writer and director Jing Wong was just making things up as the filming of the movie was progressing. I didn't really feel that there was a fully cohesive and constructed narrative to the movie. The things that happened throughout the movie felt too random and one scene wasn't really leading up to the next.

The acting performances in the movie were adequate, taking into consideration the shortcomings of the script and storyline. Andy Lau was delivering his usual good performance, so at least he made the movie watchable. The movie also had the likes of Chingmy Yau, Paul Chun and Hoi-San Kwan on the cast list, so there are some familiar faces for fans of the Hong Kong cinema.

Now that I have seen "Do Sing Dai Hang: San Gor Chuen Kei", I can check it off of my to-watch-list. However, I doubt that I will ever return to watch this movie a second time. And if you are a newcomer to the Hong Kong cinema, then this is not a movie that I would recommend as something you should sit down and watch.

My rating of "Do Sing Dai Hang: San Gor Chuen Kei" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Based on the lives of three Hong Kong magnates who made their fortune with the Casino in Macau, it is very reminiscent of "The Bund" in context and overall execution, good production, simple, flawed, a little exaggerated, however good...

I enjoyed "Casino Tycoon" a lot, though I feel that I should point out that I am quite familiar with Hong Kong cinema and how crazy it can get at times. Western viewers who sit down to watch this movie and are not familiar with Hong Kong cinema may be taken aback at times. That's because the movie throws in a number of genres along the way and jumbles them around. Sometimes the movie is a gangster movie, sometimes it's a romantic movie, sometimes it's a kung fu movie, sometimes it's a revenge saga, sometimes it's a look at characters over a long period of time... see what I mean? It's is kind of messy at times, but I admit that it's never dull, so if you are prepared for it like I am, you should find it enjoyable despite its two hour length. Looking forward to watching the sequel!