Saat po long: Taam long (2017) Reviews

• Best Chinese Film of 2017! The Best of the Bests!

  hilaryswank20112017-10-01

  Thank you Wilson Yep for making this advanced phase of Hong Kong film model for all fans! It is alternative strategy to expand Hong Kong filming base outside of China. Mainland China is just part of cooperator for Chinese blockbusters which mainly taking place in Mainland with Hong Kong movie stars. On the contrary, the best filmmaker of the contemporary Hong Kong, Wilson Yep successfully achieved the most sensitive, emotionally well involved HK action film with Thailand! The story structure is tragedy and real horror story that random victimization of human trafficking are seriously happening in South East Asia of today. The story is tragedy of capitalist greediness and brutal violence between good and evil. Audiences fully agree with the protagonist HK police Lee Chung-Chi who seeks his lost daughter Wing-Chi in Thailand. The main conflict comes from local human trafficking black market which runs by US gang star Sacha who wants to sell Wing-Chi's heart to heart-attacked politician. Lee's partners are all good colleagues HK officer in Thailand Tsui Kit and Thailand officer Tak who are involved in his revenge, and Tak is also well expressed by the local actor. The Kung Fu quality is as professional as Hong Kong Kung-fu stars. Wilson Yep understands cinematic expression is done by emotional responses to the tragic events and results of actions. Some audience can not bear the deepness and negativeness of emotional expressions during revenge for his daughter's death. However, this is the exactly correct way of being artistic and cinematic expression. Hong Kong filmmakers should know that you are not making films for awards but for creating high quality genre films for HK audiences without any compromising to bureaucrats control of film production. Do not indulge on award seeking. Just make high quality film like this! You are not art-film award seekers! Professional filmmakers are truly independent from bureaucracy! Hong Kong does not follow TW! This film production shows the alternative way of developing Hong Kong filmmaking internationally. Mainland China is not the only way of the survive of Hong Kong filmmaking.

• Every bit as fast, furious and fierce as its predecessors, this third 'SPL' installment is a great action thriller itself and a worthy addition to the series

  moviexclusive2017-08-20

  The 'SPL: Sha Po Lang' brand in Hong Kong action cinema has come to stand for brutal, bone-crunching action in such memorable duels as Donnie Yen and Wu Jing's alleyway brawl in the 2005 original, Yen and Sammo Hung's mano-a-mano on a nightclub stage in the same, and more recently Wu Jing, Tony Jaa and Zhang Jin's fight-to-the-death in the 2015 sequel. 'Paradox', the third in the 'SPL' canon, continues that grand tradition with director Wilson Yip returning at the helm and Hung as action director. Both franchise veterans ensure that the fights are just as fast, furious and fierce as their first film, but only judiciously bloody, so that the bloodletting never comes off as excessive. Among the highlights here are a daytime scuffle in an open bar that is followed by a breathless chase down Bangkok's busy streets, a close-quarter skirmish in a flat that continues into the dilapilated apartment building's corridor and onto its crowded rooftop, and last but not least a no-holds-barred showdown in a meat depot that is also a front for a mortuary of an illegal organ trafficking business. Each one of these action set-pieces are meticulously choreographed and beautifully executed, which is also credit to its stars Louis Koo, Wu Yue, Chris Collins and Jaa. Besides Jaa, the rest are not quite as well-known for their martial arts skills, but the training, practice and hard work that each one has put in is clearly evident. In particular, Koo's months of intensive training have paid off tremendously especially in the extended climax, which sees his character turn absolutely badass on tens of baddies successively in a vengeful rampage. Yue also proves quite the revelation; better known for his roles in Mainland TV drama serials than in movies (remember him in Police Story 2013?), the actor who holds a National Martial Arts Championship grade in wushu is less showy than his predecessors Yen and Wu but is no less precise or ferocious than them. Notwithstanding, you should know that Koo and Yue's top billing here isn't misleading; whereas Jaa took centrestage alongside his Chinese stars in the last movie, his presence here is no more than a glorified cameo – and it should also be said that his absence is sorely felt, given that his one-on-one rooftop fight with Collins is arguably the most breathtaking sequence in the entire movie. To Yip's credit, as much as the fighting is the movie's top draw, it never becomes its raison d'être but in service of the overall narrative. In that regard, all three movies have been thematically related, based upon the Chinese title's astrological reference of three individuals whose position relative to one another signified death and destruction. Here, these three are Hong Kong detective Lee Chung-chi (Koo), who has arrived in Bangkok to search for his missing teenage daughter (Hanna Chan); local Thai-Chinese cop Chui Kit (Yue), who has a six-month pregnant wife and whose father-in-law is the police commissioner Chai (Vithaya Pansringarm); and political aide Cheng Hon-Sau (Gordon Lam), who will resort to any means necessary to get an urgent heart transplant for the ailing Bangkok mayor in order to sustain the latter's re-election bid. Caught up in the ensuing melee is Chui Kit's fellow police colleagues Kit (Jaa) and Ban (Ken Low) as well as the leader of an illegal organ trafficking syndicate Sacha (Collins). It isn't hard to guess just how the characters are connected to one another, but returning series writer Jill Leung builds the story nicely to have us empathise with Chi's desperation, grief and vengeance as a single father at the loss of his beloved daughter. Just as visceral is the sense of powerlessness he feels against the corruption of those more powerful than him, so much so that despite responding in shockingly vicious ways, our sympathies remain firmly with him and his fists. More so than the earlier two movies, the storytelling here is a lot more fluid, confident and propulsive, good enough at least for us to overlook some of the obvious coincidences (like how Chui Kit and Tak's vehicles seem to agree not to start one after another so both can end up at the same place at the same time). So really, 'Paradox' is as solid an hard-boiled action thriller as it gets. The plotting is not just functional, endeavouring and largely succeeding to tell a story about karma, retribution and reconciliation. The acting is solid, each one of the performances a strong emotional anchor for the flawed characters whose relationships next to one another are defined by their respective choices and consequences. And perhaps most importantly to its fans, the action is as awesome as its predecessors, the fisticuffs often white-knuckle intense. This is as raw and real as it gets, set entirely against appropriately grimy backdrops in Thailand. As far as the 'SPL' canon is concerned, 'Paradox' is as fitting and satisfying an entry as it deserves, demonstrating not only that there is life yet to the series but that it is very much alive, kicking and definitive to Hong Kong action cinema itself.

• Excellent Chinese action flick with a great story and amazing choreographed fight scenes

  TheTopDawgCritic2017-12-25

  This film had all the elements of a Hollywood production. The story was told well, had a lot of heart, with lots of twists and turns. The score could have been better and I would have loved to see more of Tony Jaa, but nevertheless, the directing and cinematography where on point and all the leads played their roles great. The action was not overwhelming and just right for the story being told. The pace and length of the film were perfect and the subtitles on screen at the right speed/length. Very enjoyable and a recommended viewing from me. A well deserved 9/10!

• Typically I get bored with it before it's over...

  steveo1222018-01-12

  Chopsocky (or chop-socky) is a colloquial term for martial arts movies and kung fu films made primarily in Hong Kong and Taiwan between the late 1960s and early 1980s. Though I am in no way qualified to judge all that's come since then, I still feel safe calling this the pinnacle of the chop-socky form. The production qualities are near-impeccable, including the script, which includes all of the expected elements of the form but layers in depths of characterization and emotional involvement, if you want it. The mayhem, the point of it all, is brutal, batshit crazy, clever and choreographed better than I have seen. Typically I get bored with it before it's over but this time I didn't even think about it.

• A very good action film. Great stunt work.

  latinfineart2017-12-16

  This film far exceeding my expectations. Louis Koo was amazing. Tony Ja was his usual self. Impressive as hell. Though he played a more subordinate role, for a change. Good story, well written. If I have any criticism of the story, I think they give the Thai police way, way too much credit. They are essentially a group of bumbling fools who barely work, unless there is money on the side. Public welfare does not fall within their purvue. However, they showed the police commissioner as every police commissioner in the country has ever been. Corrupt as hell, and with a heart of darkness. They also portrayed the politicians in the same light. Totally accurate. Absolutely possessed with hearts of darkness. Totally self absorbed. Up to no good. No concern for the public good. Spot on. Thailand is a lovely country on so many levels. But, you do not want to get mixed up with the mafia, nor the police. Almost the same thing. And the last people you want to associate with are the politicians. They are as dirty as they come. The choreography of the action sequences was outstanding, and it was a tremendous display of the martial arts. Kudos to the stars, the director, and the rest of the crew.