Tiger Cage - La Rançon des traîtres

Also no pun intended - also no Tiger come to think of it. This is the first movie in the Tiger Cage trilogy (which is the international title of course). Not even sure how "related" the movies are ... well actually they are not ... unless you count the title as a connection. But let's get back to the beginning! And a movie that has quite a few fine actors in it.

The movie starts off with an action scene, that could easily have been the climax/highlight of the movie. But it only is here to set the tone and "introduce" us to the characters. We will find out way more about them ... how they relate to each other, but also their morality.

Don't get it twisted though: this does not get too deep into the psyche. If someone is "evil" it is not that we will know their reasoning ... not for all of them that is. We get some explanation and there are some things that try to explain the logic of the character ... but that is not the main selling point here ... that is the action part(s) of it! If you dig that, you will have a grand ol time with this ... and the movie would deserve it too.

Tiger Cage is a change of pace for director Yuen Woo Ping . Being previously known for martial art comedy classics like Drunken Master, this is set in a contemporary setting and has little time for humor. Tiger Cage is gritty, dark and violent. This moves along nicely with fluid storytelling, memorable characters and good.acting. Jackie Chung gives a solid performance as male lead opposite actress Do Do Cheng. Ng Man Tat and Simon Yam were excellent as well and Donnie Yen does well in a early supporting role. This is a Yuen Woo Ping film so all of the fights and action are top tier. The action is as down and dirty as the subject matter of police corruption and betrayal. Tiger Cage as such is very bloody and very violent. However, this was a well made film and a good watch.

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 film maker veteran Yuen Woo Ping is best known for his wonderful kung fu classics like Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master from the late seventies, the films that made Jackie Chan a star. Yuen himself loves kung fu/martial art films most and prefers directing them over other genres. His another very noteworthy achievements include this film, Tiger Cage (1988), that spawned also two sequels. Tiger Cage belongs to the Hong Kong cinema category I like very much, the mean and gritty modern day action films that are at their most merciless and incredible impact in films like Johnnie Mak's Long Arm of the Law (1984), Johnnie To's and Andrew Kam's The Big Heat (1988), David Lam's The First Shot (1993) among many many others.

Jacky Cheung (Bullet in the Head), Dodo Cheng, Simon Yam (Bullet in the Head, Dr. Lamb etc.) and Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey, Once Upon a Time in China 2 etc.) star in this film telling the story of drug trafficking cops and gangsters and the violent struggle by the righteous officers to finish the illegal activities off from the streets of Hong Kong. There are some unexpected plot turns coming so there's no need in describing more about the plot which is after all nothing special and there only to give a good excuse to the many action scenes that are here as amazing as can be expected by Yuen.

The film is pretty dark and gritty but still miles away from Johnnie To and Andrew Kam's incredible The Big Heat that is perhaps the most infernal, brutal and mind blowing of these actioners I've ever seen. And it has some very strong social issues and problems to tell to make the film even more powerful and memorable. Also Tiger Cage has some good points about corrupt police officers and violence in the big city, and the end scene also gives a sadly deserved punch to the criminal character (and his ideals) who just couldn't stop when it still was possible. Also the final freeze frame of the film is pretty clever ending as the expression on the character's face is the final statement the film makers wanted to leave to the audience's mind about criminal life and violence.

The action choreography is pretty jaw dropping at times and includes some memorable fights with the super star Donnie Yen and (among others) some Western drug traffickers. Especially the final 10 minutes are among the most furious and insane action I've seen in any Hong Kong film and the viewer is quite breathless by the time the mentioned freeze frame comes. The film is very violent too and it is a little surprise by the director who has made many comic kung fu films without violence this gritty and honest.

The acting is pretty (or very) weak at times and the film also has some serious little errors like the clock times on the wall at one part. They change as nastily as possible with the edits. Also the "gas scene" near the end among some other similar things is too hard to take seriously as the characters act so stupidly and don't seem to do as anyone should do in a situation like that. Also, if they had concentrated a little more on the characters and their deeper relations it could have been much more interesting all the time. Not to speak of if they had wanted to make even more serious and noteworthy piece in the tradition of those mentioned and for example the work of John Woo. Now Tiger Cage is perhaps little too close to just another "Hong Kong action flick" without anything other purpose than just action and the entertainment received through that. Not good enough.

Tiger Cage fortunately lacks the typical comic elements of Hong Kong cinema and is pretty restricted all the time (the action of course excluded!). It is a pretty noteworthy albeit little film, and definitely another proof of its director's talent and also a good example of the modern day action genre that saw its birth in the eighties. Tiger Cage is now 7/10 level stuff and if I didn't appreciate the action choreography and things required to do scenes like that, I think the rating could be lower. Hopefully the sequel Tiger Cage II (1990) will improve in every department this film is lacking.

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