Chan Sam Ying Hung (1998)

Nice.

The first half, in particular, is fantastic. To already pulls out all the stops here with a host of incredibly stylish scenes that beautifully introduced his typical stylistic features.

The scene in the bar is particularly brilliant. Nice and playful, a very tight stand-off between Lau and Lai without a single gun in the entire scene. But the action scenes are impressive too. All very stylishly filmed.

The music is distinctive, but I found it just a bit too cheesy here. Normally To gets away with it, but the songs he used here were just a little too corny. Additionally, I found the second part of the film somewhat less successful. The drama didn't really work for me, and the storyline consequently fizzled out.

Too bad, because at its peak this is vintage To, so it is pure enjoyment. A weaker second part causes me to lower my final score slightly.

3.5*

Translated from Dutch · View original

A particularly stylish film, a gangster film featuring cinematic tropes from the Western genre, in which two bodyguards for two warring triad bosses are symmetrically pitted against each other. They are almost mirror images of one another, and Johnnie To demonstrates this with carefully constructed action scenes in a visually stimulating film with little dialogue.

The musical score is so well chosen that the tune from that bar scene with the wine glasses (which returns in various versions) will stick in my head for a while. You also hear Morricone-esque chords supporting To's stylistic choices. I found the story to be a bit messy at the beginning, but it redeems itself later in the film when betrayal and revenge make their entrance. Johnnie To remains a distinctive director who always appeals to me quite a bit. This one is no exception.

Translated from Dutch · View original