Ye shou xing jing

Interestingly, half of the comments listed here state this film is a complete disaster and the other half call it an action masterpiece. The film is neither of these extremes and its quality really is a compromise of both stances.

The begin with, the story it tells is rather straight forward with a typical flow of narrative we have seen in several other Asian thrillers. The story, however, is not a complete carbon copy of these other films and does have its own unique flavor, but the similarities can not be ignored.

What does set it apart from these other Asian thriller is the way it is told. The film is disclosed in a terrific and unique visual flair. The film features some savvy cinematography and flashy lighting to really add a wonderful ambiance and atmosphere to the proceedings which does help elevate its otherwise mundane plot.

The narrative also is infused with a good amount of comedy, causing the film to operate more as an action comedy rather than a straight action thriller. However, this is both to its advantage and disadvantage. The comedy does add a refreshing spin on the genre, making the film feel fresher than others of its ilk; but the comedy and serious violence is presented too unevenly making the film have a crisis in identity. At one moment the audience is expected to laugh and the next we are to cringe at the intensity and brutality of the action. This leads us to assume the film wasn't quite sure which direction to embrace.

However, the acting really is a key point that aids in its overall success. Anthony Wong is on hand to give another terrific performance. Many critics cite this as one of his best roles, if not the best one he ever had. The reasons are quite clear as Wong can both exemplify a tender heart in softer scenes and a determined, vengeful soul in harder scenes. On account of his performance, some of the uneven issues in tones are brought to an equilibrium, but are unfortunately not entirely resolved.

The acting form the supporting cast are adequate but nothing noteworthy. Some of the performances are rather over the top but that seems to be often the case in Asian thrillers, The rest are fortunately competent.

Overall, if the script had greater focus and didn't conform to several conventional elements, then this film would have been one of the better thrillers to come out of Hong Kong. As it is, the film is a rather typical action thriller told in an invigorating manor. Recommended for anyone interested in thriller genre, but if you are a causal film viewer or if the genre isn't your forte, then there are better examples out there.

This movie is a pretentious excuse to exploit the two lead actors and their fans. The script makes little sense, which is a bad filmmakers device to make you watch till the end so that you figure out eventually what's going on while this is definitely not the kind of a film that needs it. Acting is really uninspired from everybody, mainly because most of the time there's little to play with. Action is non-existent, people spend more time loitering, clubbing, eating out and in bed, than racing, shooting, fighting and chopping each other. When the action comes it is shot in a "can't see a thing it shakes so much"-vision and presented very badly to you, often employing speed-ups and various stylish editing techniques...badly! The trailer probably looked worthy of all the awards this movie got. Does it mean that there were no better films that year?

Winner of loads of Hong Kong film awards in 98 (Best Actor, Film Director etc), this built up quite an expectation for me. The story pretty much doesn't make sense (cops and robbers are all best friends), and there is more talk of safe sex and "crabs" than gunplay. Add to that Micheal Wong's totally abysmal acting and you've got a very average film. Anthony Wong was OK and Sam Lee was fairly amusing at times but overall there is not much worth watching in this film at all (Gordan Chan was never that good a director anyway)Disappointing Stuff! If you want to watch a great post 97 HK film try Ringo Lam's "Victim"

The cover of the BEAST COPS DVD makes it look like a cracking Hong Kong thriller with a dark edge; the involvement of Dante Lam led me to hope that it shared more than a few qualities with his excellent kidnapping story, BEAST STALKER.

Sadly, BEAST COPS turns out to be nothing like that movie; instead, it's a plot less film that flounders its way through an overlong running time while boring the viewer in the process. Don't get me wrong: the production values are faultless, the look and feel of the movie is right, and the characters are well drawn…it's just that everything exists apart from a storyline.

Anthony Wong and Michael Wong, playing a pair of tough cops, aimlessly wander from one scene to the next while the film struggles to find verve or momentum. There are a couple of decent sequences, with a chase about halfway through and a really killer ending, but these aren't enough to sit through the rest of the film for.

There's no faulting the performances – Anthony Wong has always delivered strong turns, and unlike many people, I don't have a problem with Michael Wong either; Sam Lee's comic supporting role is effective, too. But this film is just downright boring; it isn't about anything, and as an arty character study it lacks impetus and incident.

Anyone who didn't like this film must've come to the table with expectations. It does not cascade from one tightly-choreographed action scene to the next like the John Woo classics, which as good as they are to watch, are still played more for bullets and explosions than for story or characters. This is a totally different kind of film, with casual, believable dialogue, some great acting, and its "cowboys" and "indians" not so clearly defined.

Not that it isn't high on stylish shot-framing, editing and dynamite costume design; this is, after all, still a Hong Kong production. But I saw flashes of Cassavettes and Pedro Almodovar-less homage to Ringo Lam or Ronny Yu. Anthony Wong's character, "Brother Tung" still gets to go crazy at the end and spill a lot of blood, in a gritty hand-to-hand fight scene. What more could one ask? I've seen more than my share of slow-motion shootouts. This film is something more: a drama, at times a comedy, with cops and triads as its milieu, rather than its reason for being. An easy five stars.