Hard Boiled
John Woo has been called the world's foremost action film director, and, while his efforts since crossing the pond to Hollywood have often been hampered by indifferent acting and American studios' lower tolerance for unrelenting violence, Woo's work in his native Hong Kong more than justifies that assessment. His adept manipulation of pacing and emotion, and his total mastery of the visual language of violence set him apart from and above all others working within the genre.
Hard Boiled was Woo's Hong Kong swansong, his last film before jumping the Pacific to Hollywood. But, Woo being Woo, he left town in a blaze of glory (and gunfire).
The story of Hard Boiled is thoroughly unremarkable: it follows the efforts of hard charging, reckless detective 'Tequila' (Chow Yun-Fat) and equally off-the-reservation police infiltrator Tony (Tony Leung) to uncover and bring down a Triad gun running ring. In pursuit of their seperate (but shared) agendas, they inevitably cross paths (and wires) before settling into an uneasy partnership that culminates in a massive shootout and the destruction of those arrayed against them.
While the plot itself will win no awards for originality, Woo breathes life into tired action formulas by playing subtly with the expected cliches. The Tequila-Tony pairing is no 'odd couple' duo; both men share a penchant for unrestrained violence, a disdain for basic police ethics, and tortured spirits that express themselves through art (Tony makes paper cranes to memorialize his victims and Tequila is a jazz musician on the side). Other sly inversions are inserted into the script as well, Tequila's boss, Superintendent Pang (Philip Chan) is teasingly dangled as a possible corrupt conspirator in one scene, only to be revealed as a hard-ass with a heart of gold later. In another scene, the 'psychopathic' henchman Mad Dog (Philip Kwok) refuses to endanger innocent lives and is eventually undone by his own vestigal sense of honor.
But the real strength of Hard Boiled is John Woo in his guise as cinematic Poet of Carnage. The film has three major set piece gun battles, all of which could easily be considered among the greatest action sequences ever filmed. In particular, the 40 minute finale, set in a hospital and its underground morgue, is a masterpiece of visual style, tension, and elegaic mayhem. It is a fitting close to Woo's Hong Kong career. Here's hoping that we get an encore some day.
9/10
John Woo has been called the world's foremost action film director, and, while his efforts since crossing the pond to Hollywood have often been hampered by indifferent acting and American studios' lower tolerance for unrelenting violence, Woo's work in his native Hong Kong more than justifies that assessment. His adept manipulation of pacing and emotion, and his total mastery of the visual language of violence set him apart from and above all others working within the genre.
Hard Boiled was Woo's Hong Kong swansong, his last film before jumping the Pacific to Hollywood. But, Woo being Woo, he left town in a blaze of glory (and gunfire).
The story of Hard Boiled is thoroughly unremarkable: it follows the efforts of hard charging, reckless detective 'Tequila' (Chow Yun-Fat) and equally off-the-reservation police infiltrator Tony (Tony Leung) to uncover and bring down a Triad gun running ring. In pursuit of their seperate (but shared) agendas, they inevitably cross paths (and wires) before settling into an uneasy partnership that culminates in a massive shootout and the destruction of those arrayed against them.
While the plot itself will win no awards for originality, Woo breathes life into tired action formulas by playing subtly with the expected cliches. The Tequila-Tony pairing is no 'odd couple' duo; both men share a penchant for unrestrained violence, a disdain for basic police ethics, and tortured spirits that express themselves through art (Tony makes paper cranes to memorialize his victims and Tequila is a jazz musician on the side). Other sly inversions are inserted into the script as well, Tequila's boss, Superintendent Pang (Philip Chan) is teasingly dangled as a possible corrupt conspirator in one scene, only to be revealed as a hard-ass with a heart of gold later. In another scene, the 'psychopathic' henchman Mad Dog (Philip Kwok) refuses to endanger innocent lives and is eventually undone by his own vestigal sense of honor.
But the real strength of Hard Boiled is John Woo in his guise as cinematic Poet of Carnage. The film has three major set piece gun battles, all of which could easily be considered among the greatest action sequences ever filmed. In particular, the 40 minute finale, set in a hospital and its underground morgue, is a masterpiece of visual style, tension, and elegaic mayhem. It is a fitting close to Woo's Hong Kong career. Here's hoping that we get an encore some day.
9/10
