Yi ben man hua: Chuang tian ya (1990)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Ka-Yan Leung

Writer:

Ka-Yan Leung (written by)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy | Action

Tagline:

Absurdity, friendship, murder, plot, fate...That's just the film!

Plot:

A busboy who loves reading Manga comic books gives up his job to work for the Triad. |

Plot Keywords:

Triad | Comic | Friendship Between Men | Vietnamese | Killer

Cast

Ann Bridgewater	...	Ann
Tao Chiang
Stephen Chow	...	Sing
James Ha		(as James Ha Chim Si)
Wilson Lam	...	Chun
Ka-Yan Leung	...	Hung Yi (as Kar Yan Leung)
Lily Li		(as Lily Li Li-Li)
Ming Yan Lung	...	Vietnamese Boss
Hong-Ning Ng	...	Wai's Bodyguard
Fui-On Shing	...	Bill
Pomson Shi
Kwan Yeung	...	Wai
Woo-ping Yuen	...	Master Yi

Also Known As:

My Hero (Hong Kong: English title)
Yat boon maan wa: Chong tin ngaai (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | English | Thai | Vietnamese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Hong Kong:IIB

Company:

Chun Sing Film Company

Quotes:

Chun: Hey, you understand music?
Sing: I'm just too good at it.
Chun: Too good? Are you boasting?
Sing: No. I was to have been a singing contest champion. That Jacky Cheung would not have been so famous without me.

A slick, violent, and entertaining action/comedy, even if it spoofs John Woo's A Better Tomorrow. (* * * out of * * * *)

My Hero (1990), at first parodies John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986), and later imitates it, and, despite the possibly numerous rip-offs, the target here does not prove elusive. This is an entertaining film, emotional, well-paced, with a few laughs, and a lot of violence.

Sing (Chow) loves reading Manga comic books. He's also a waiter, who gets caught in gangster crossfire and ends up being hired by kingpin Wai (world-renowned martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping) to help kill rival kingpin Hung Yi.

To do so, he teams up with Wai's top men, the rough and ugly Bill (Shing Fui-On) and the super-cool, trench coat wearing, two-pistol shooting Chun (Wilson Lam). Although Sing does not have courage under fire, he does manage to save his friend during a violent trip in Vietnam. The trio eventually wind up becoming good friends as well as a good team.

The film is written and directed by Leung Ka-Yan, who co-stars as Hung Yi and is one of the film's action directors. Leung keeps the pace moving slowly, and it's nice watching the heroes dress up like the film inspirational character, Mark Gor (the iconic character that made Chow Yun-Fat a star). And Leung's not afraid of adding his own elements such as the hero, Sing, being afraid to kill someone, and the hit-man being a dwarf.

My only complaint is that Ann Bridgewater has the incredibly thankless role as the forgettable, obligatory love interest. The emotional core lies within its three leads.

As a movie, My Hero is an entertaining film about a friendship, and how the group of friends finds that the lifestyle of a triad has its ups and downs.