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Sammo
Hung is Fat Goose the owner of a small market stall. Despite his
annoying mother he has a happy life, until one night when he witnesses
the murder of a cop. From that moment on he is on the run and after
his apartment is torched he decides to stay under police protection.
However, the criminals are one step ahead of him and wherever he
goes he is threatened by them. This all comes to a head when Sammo
and his new found policemen friend must fight to silence the murderers.
Although director Ringo Lam has disowned this film it is clear from
the outset that he is in control. All of his usual trademarks are
on show such as the dark nature of the plot and the neon soaked
streets of Hong Kong. There are some very nice touches as well such
as the puddle reflecting a red neon light to connote danger. This
said though, this is by no means Lam's best work. Despite a promising
start Sammo is not used to the best of his ability as either a dramatic
lead or a fighter. His performance is too similar to the other films
he was making around this time but is harder to sympathise with.
Also, the romantic subplots come to a very unsatisfying conclusion
and seem to be abandoned half way through. One interesting point
of note is that one scene of this film (where Sammo's policeman
friend attacks the murderer) is filmed in exactly the same restaurant
as Jackie Chan's introductory scene in 'Dragons Forever'.
The end scene here is also very similar to Lam's 'Full Contact'
shot using motorbikes and in the rain. Lam has obviously reused
many motifs and scenes from this film in 'Full Contact' and that
is by far the better film.
Not a complete waste of time but this film contains too many disappointments
to demand a second viewing. Given the talent involved it seems a
bit of a waste.
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