Writer: Ezekiel Lee Zhiang Yang

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Watch this if you liked: “Laughing Gor: Turning Point”, “Young And Dangerous”

What everybody wants to know is - has Herman Yau gone soft?

If anyone thinks his recent tame caper "Laughing Gor: Turning Point" is indeed a turning point of some sort for a director who is best known for CAT III classics "Ebola Virus" and "Untold Story", they might not be wrong. Despite a CAT III rating, "Rebellion" is actually a story-driven movie which landed the label not because of gore or sex but rather excessively realistic gangland affairs, if anything.

Here is a relatively simple project (didn't make HK screens last year due to overcrowded slots, presumably) involving quite a few of the younger or lesser faces in Hong Kong cinema. If you take away the lead pair of Shawn Yue and Chapton To, the flick is pretty consistent example of a low-cost but effective Herman Yau piece, like his "The First 7th Night" earlier this year.

Told like a one-night-only gangland epic, Shawn Yue plays fighting ace Po, the unwilling temporary triad boss of the five-gang strong East District. Chaos is the order of the day due to a hit on the big boss and Po must hold the fort until First Lady / Big Sister Cheong Wah (special appearance by TV's Ada Choi) returns from abroad with further instructions. However, a guessing game takes place within the organisation and everyone from gang leaders to restaurant waitresses joins the chase. One particularly important guy to watch is Chapman To's character, Blackie, who is the No.2 who didn't get nominated for temporary boss. Shawn Yue's turn is standard while Chapman To's scene-stealing prowess gets another showcase. All characters seem necessary enough (except Elanne Kwong who fails to shine as a tag-along chick) and Jun Kung plays a particularly charismatic mob head - Brother Sand, reminiscent of Anthony Wong as Tai Fei in the "Young And Dangerous" days.

This reviewer complains of two things - one is the terribly simple climax (which may take away some satisfaction) and the other is the lazy movie poster. Still, if the money saved on that somehow goes into the pocket of the prolific entertainer Herman Yau, nobody ought to complain.


Cinema Online, 07 October 2009