Chung on sat luk: O gei

To compare this film to the classics like The Killer or Beast Cops is unfair. This is more of a gritty drama than an action film, despite my one line summary.

This film has a few great elements going for it. The performances are quite good, especially Anthony Wong as the gangster pursued by Danny Lee (in another fine performance as a harried police inspector). Kirk Wong does a fine job on this film again - he seems to be in many ways like a Hong Kong version of Sidney Lumet. Both are obsessed with the police system, and this film is the one that illustrates that the most. This is not quite as good as the excellent Jackie Chan film Crime Story, which Wong also directed, but it's one to check out if you're a fan of Hong Kong films. Just don't expect the pyrotechnics of a John Woo film or the quirkiness of Gordon Chan and Dante Lam's Beast Cops. This is a very straightforward police procedural, boiled down to its purest essence.

Danny Lee is well known for being the "Dirty Harry of Hong Kong" and in my opinion this is his absolute best performance as the Inspector Lee character. Inspector Lee is a rogue, but ultra dedicated and overworked cop. He doesn't go by the book and breaks lots of rules in the process, but strongly believes in justice and does a good job. His team of cops are totally loyal and dedicated to Inspector Lee and always back him up. Opposite of that is Anthony Wong, a triad boss and jewel thief that along with his girlfriend (Cecelia Yip) really make the cops earn their pay in pursuit. Tung,(Anthony Wong) is generally a fairly honorable criminal and his gang are absolutely loyal to him as well. This ultra gritty police procedural is extremely well acted, tightly directed and slickly shot. This film shows Inspector Lee and Tung's world's collide and shows many layers of grey in the characterization and story. The action scenes and shootouts are more realistic and less stylized than something you would be accustomed to seeing in a John Woo film. In my opinion Kirk Wong as well as the cast and crew did an incredible job making this and is criminally underrated.

Organized Crime & Triad Bureau (Chungon satluk linggei) (1994).

A slightly above average entry in Hong Kong's continuing line of Triad thrillers, "Organized Crime & Triad Bureau" does contain some aspects that sets it apart from the mundane.

The first positive aspect is the acting of the two main stars, Anthony Wong and Danny Lee. Both of these actors are well experienced in this genre, with Danny Lee having done the gritty "The Big Heat" and Anthony Wong having done the classic "Hard Boiled."

However, the supporting cast is rather stereotypical, most are caricatures we have seen in many other films, often reduced to only a single trait and possessing no complex personality of their own. In addition, many of these actors' performances are over the top, thus diminishing the gritty realism the film sometimes succeeds in creating.

Yet another positive aspect is some well executed action scenes, most notably a scene near the beginning of the film where Danny Lee and Anthony Wong are sliding down a hill shooting at one another, a scene greatly reminiscent of Jon Woo's classics. Another scene to mention is the fatalistic ending which invokes the feeling of such films as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

Unfortunately, these action scenes are few and far between. We are treated with these two exceptional scenes as bookends to the film, but what is in the middle is what really suffers...

The narrative is typical to say the least, it contains story elements that we have seen not only seen in other Triad thrillers, but also any crime thriller in general. The film also seems to drag for the most part because of this predictable nature, we know what to expect so nothing seems fresh to us. However, spurts of gritty violence and realism does manage to keep the film from losing the audience's interest entirely.

In terms of the cinematography and direction, the film seems very typical of the Triad thrillers coming out at the time. The film possesses some slow motion sequences to emphasize the character's emotions and then move with quick cuts to show the action's intensity. However, this is merely the music video approach that was very popular in the early 1990's and seems to make the film feel overly melodramatic rather than aesthetic, leading to a rather pretentious and "cheesy" feel.

I would recommend this film only to genre enthusiasts as it is not strictly average thanks to some aspects of quality, but too many flaws in the film causes me to recommend to the general film viewer to skip it.

"Organised Crime and Triad Bureau" is another modern-day cops and robbers movie from Hong Kong. It focuses on the efforts of cop Danny Lee (also seen in "The Killer") trying to catch syndicate boss Tung (Anthony Wong aka the arms dealer from "Hard Boiled").

Naturally there is a little more to the story than that, including a romantic side plot for Tung, police corruption and dishonesty, as well as the involvement of internal affairs and Lee's superiors. However, it's the cat and mouse between the two leads which takes centre stage.

OC&TB is not a perfect movie by any stretch. It does take its time getting started, there is a long sequence on an island which becomes a touch boring after a while and the romantic plot is never particularly engaging.

Despite these faults, OC&TB does have a number of points in its favour which makes it reasonably entertaining viewing. There are several decent plot twists to keep the viewer guessing (although some are rather predictable), the cast give pretty convincing performances and the occasional injection of humour into the very serious story makes for a good change of tone. The sequence at the beginning where Lee and his cops tell off internal affairs and hide the blood stains with a cup of tea is particularly memorable.

Also, OC&TB has a quite good climax which should leave most viewers satisfied. This foot chase and shoot out through the crowded streets of Hong Kong is well staged and nicely captured by director Che Kirk Wong (who has since directed the Hollywood film "The Big Hit"). Although it's not a patch on the hospital shoot-out from "Hard Boiled" (how many are?), it's still the film's greatest drawcard in my opinion.

In summary, OC&TB is an OK film which should please most HK action fans, although it's not going to rival the best works of John Woo.

6.5 / 10

Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (1994) was another police procedural film that starred Danny Lee and Anthony Wong. Lee plays an Inspector who'll stop at nothing to apprehend the triad boss (smoothly portrayed by Anthony Wong). Both individuals believe in what they do and wont let the other get the upper hand. Wong has a mistress (Cecilia Yip) who'll do anything for him since he saved her a few years back from a vicious rapist. Lee has his own women troubles his long time lady (Elizabeth Lee) is acting strange and aloof. The questions raised in this film are pretty valid. How far will the law go in getting their criminals? You'll be surprised by the answer.

An interesting by-the-book film that was inspired by a real case. No one in this film is white or black. That's what I enjoyed about this movie. Everyone is a different shade of grey. No heroes or villains, just people doing what they have to do in order to survive the real world. Be it good or bad, right or wrong, just or unfair. Does Lee get his man? Why does Yip stay with Wong? You can't go wrong with this movie. Not a classic. Just a cool action movie with a lot of drama. Co-stars Roy Cheung, Pak Man Wong and Fan Siu Wong.

Highly recommended.