Mang lung (2005)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Daniel Lee

Writers:

Daniel Lee (written by) &
Ho Leung Lau (written by)

Release Date:

10 November 2005 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime

Plot:

Interpol agents and gangsters battle in Hong Kong.

Plot Keywords:

Interpol | Gangster | Sniper | Korean | Revenge

Cast

Vanness Wu	...	Officer Wang Sun-Ho
Shawn Yue	...	Officer Hung Kei-Lok
Yu Xia	...	PRC Luo Zai-Jun (as Xia Yu)
Shengyi Huang	...	Officer Pak Yut-Suet (as Eva Huang)
Lawrence Chou	...	Officer James Lam, INTERPOL
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	...	Kong Long (as Sammo Hung)
Michael Biehn	...	Petros Angelo
Bingbing Li	...	Yu Ching (as Li Bing Bing)
Jun-ho Heo	...	Captain Ko Tung-Yuen (as Huh Joon-Ho)
Maggie Q	...	Yuet
Simon Yam	...	Commander Hon Sun
Isabella Leong	...	Kong's Daughter
Mark Henderson	...	Joe Pearson
Philip Ng	...	Lee Chun Pei
Andy On	...	Suet's Undercover Target

Also Known As:

Dragon Heat (USA) (DVD title)
Dragon Squad (International: English title)
Dragon Squad (Finland) [fi]
Dragon Squad (France) [fr]
Dragon Squad (Italy) [it]
Dragon Squad (Japan: English title) [en]
I symmoria tou kokkinou drakou (Greece) (DVD title) [el]

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Singapore:M18 | Malaysia:18SG | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | Italy:VM14 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Mei Ah Films Production Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

Andy On was supposed to take on one of the leading roles of the film, but due to his tight schedule couldn't make it. He does make a cameo appearance in the film.

Micheal Mann, Hong Kong Style!

Film: Dragon Squad Year: 2005 Genre(s): Action/Drama Director: Daniel Lee Language(s): Cantonese, Madarin, English Running Time: 111 Mins Format: DVD(Hong Kong Release) Cast: Venness Wu, Shawn Yue, Xia Yu, Eva Haung, Lawrence Chou, Sammo Hung, Micheal Biehn, Simon Yam, Huh Joon Ho, Maggie Q

Synopsis: Five interpol agents are drafted into Hong Kong to keep watch over a witness in an important trial, while being transported the convoy is ambushed by a gang of masked gun man.

The agents, come together to solve who attacked them and, while being mentored by an almost retired officer, decide to take out the gang before more people are killed.

Review:

So this film has been receiving a lot of negative press, both from fans living in Hong Kong and those who live in other countries, having seen the flick, i's easy to understand why, the pacing is chaotic and the camera work as extremely frantic during it's many action sequences, add in some awkward attempts at character development and some repetitive flashbacks and you'd have a stinker on your hands right?

Well, I hate to break it to you guys but no, despite some of the films superficial flaws, it does not fail in being one of the finest films to come out of Hong Kong in 2005 and while it didn't get the box office reception it deserved, this reviewer felt refreshed to find some creativity among the watered down Rom-coms the local film industry have seem to be putting out this past year. So let's start with the plot.

It's your typical by the numbers tried and tested plot, there's the bad guys and there's the good guys, they fight, bad guys win, good guys get mentored by wise senior, fight again, good guys win.

So really the plot is an excuse for director Daniel Lee is experiment with some very Micheal Mann-esquire camera work, about that, the camera work for the most part does the job right, it creates excitement and tension which kept this reviewer glued o the screen throughout, as it suited the style of the action scene s very well.

Now the action, well, the good news is, there's plenty of it, lots of gun play with the odd martial arts sequence thrown in for good measure, the fighting mostly being done by Huh Joon Ho and Sammo Hung who confront each other twice, the second encounter being the most bloody and brutal. The shootouts are very well put together.

For a movie which could be considered a mainstream film in Hong Kong, it isn't afraid to be extremely violent when it wants to be, there's plenty of blood on offer here, so if the acting doesn't grab, the blood soaked action will.

The acting ranges from sleepy to extremely good. Micheal Biehn, who's a familiar face to Hollywood movie fans as Kyle Reese in James Cameron's seminal classic The Termintor, stars as the lead villain, for a man who's been working in the film industry for so long, I thought he would have brought some much needed acting to the movie but really he seems to be almost sleep walking in his role but one may interpret Biehn's characterisation as a person who's so cold, he shows very little emotion.

The actors who played the five interpol agents where all very good, although, really, I would have liked it if they had a little more personality, they all came off as a little bland in place. Eva Huang is extremely easy on the eyes, definitely a face to look out for in future movies. former pop star Vanness Wu gives a credible performance, while Shawn Yue gives his usual calibre of acting but this reviewer felt the best acting had to go to the one and only Sammo Hung, who plays a character reluctant to get involved but realises if he wants to leave the past behind him, he must confront his demons, it's also worth mentioning he has the best fight in the entire movie against Huh Joon Hoo, who plays a chillingly sociopathic villain.

So, overall I really liked it, I think it's nowhere near as bad as everyone seems to be making it out to be and deserves at least one viewing by anyone who's a fan of Hong Kong cinema or Micheal Bay.