Chung gik tin ji moon sang

I'm gonna be honest: up until a couple of months ago, I had no idea Shaw Bros did anything other than kung fu. Their stuff runs the gamut from romantic comedies and women-in-prison flicks to war dramas and horror movies.

This one is a Hong Kong triad actioner. While there are several scenes featuring fisticuffs, the majority of the movie features gangsters hacking each other to death. Think John Woo, with fewer guns, more full frontal nudity and almost no subtlety.

In typical Shaw Bros. Fashion, the "story" (if you can even call it that) is little more than a vehicle for carnage. I copped this movie because I spotted it on a list of films rated Category 5 in Hong Kong. Let me tell you, it more than earns that classification during the last 15 minutes alone.

If you've seen the company's earlier forays into triad gang wars, like The Duel, you pretty much know what to expect here. Someone is betrayed, vengeance is sought, alliances are formed and the bodies pile up. That's pretty much what you get here. You can pretty much see the major twists coming from miles away.

Not that it matters - to me anyway. Hong Kong Godfather is a live action Looney Tunes cartoon of blood and violence. So, if plot is your thing, look elsewhere.

Hong Kong Godfather is more of a action movie than a gangster drama. The story is very simple: Two triad (H.K. mafia) gangs join to eliminate a third gang, Hung Hing Society, whose leader Mr. Koo have to escape H.K. because the police (wrongly) suspects him to be involved in the killing of another triad leader. Mark, York (Andy Lau) and the hot tempered Michael now have to take care of "business". Officer Leung (Roy Cheung) from the H.K. police has returned from U.K. and starts to interfere in the gang war.

There are no surprises or clever script writing and the story is very thin, as a matter of fact that was the whole story, now it is only the question about who is going to win the gangster war. The good thing, for those who like action, is that most of the movie contains of gangfighting. There are some bloodsquibs, but this is not a heroic bloodshed movie, there is much more fighting than gun play. The violence sometimes get bloody and brutal, like stabbing in the ear (somewhat hidden) and an axe that impales a back (on screen). Sometimes (only sometimes) it is hard to see who is attacking who, there are just a lot of gangmembers fighting it out in the streets. Among the best scenes are when York alone is attacked by a huge gang and the scene where Michael leads an attack on enemy leader Woody and his gang, plus of course the final battle between the gangs, a battle also joined by the police.

The tone is serious throughout the whole movie and we don't have to suffer from any childish H.K. humor. Unfortunately, the sound effects during the fights are like old fashioned kung fu movie sound effects, maybe a little toned down, that more often than not are out of sync with the movements. The music is very good though (probably stolen from another movie, as usual in H.K. movies) and contributes to somewhat lift the movie. Andy Lau is good but has an easy role, Roy Cheung is also good but I think he is better as a ruthless criminal.

There is hardly any character development and it is sometimes hard to understand the logic. Why is York hesitating to take over the leadership when it is obvious that Michael is too hot tempered and not intelligent enough to be a good leader ? Why does not Hung Hing Society let the other gang and the police finish their fight before they join the battle so that they only have to fight the remains ? How can gangleader Fred so easily manipulate gangleader Woody? But this is not about story, character development, smart tactics or logic, it is simply about action.

H.K. Godfather is well paced with a lot of action and some (not much) brutal violence. You will not be bored but don't expect a masterpiece. 6 / 10.