Chasing the Dragon (2017)

An illegal immigrant from Mainland China sneaks into corrupt British-colonized Hong Kong in 1963, transforming himself into a ruthless and emerging drug lord.

Directors:

Jason Kwan, Jing Wong

Writers:

Jing Wong, Koon-Nam Lui (screenplay) (co-writer)

Stars:

Donnie Yen, Andy Lau, Philip Keung

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Donnie Yen	...	Crippled Ho
Andy Lau	...	Lee Rock
Philip Keung	...	Will
Wilfred Lau	...	Wayne
Kang Yu	...	Chad
Kent Cheng	...	Piggy
Bryan Larkin	...	Ernest Hunt
Ben Ng	...	Chubby
Ken Tong	...	Tong (as Chun-Yip Tong)
Dongdong Xu	...	Rose (as Raquel Xu)
Michelle Hu	...	Jane
Niki Chow	...	May
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sahajak Boonthanakit	...	General Piyamas
Chloe Chan	...	Alva
Michael Wai-Man Chan	...	Master Dane (as Wai-Man Chan)

Storyline

The year is 1963, an illegal immigrant named Ho (Donnie Yen) sneaks into British-ruled Hong Kong. Equipped with guts and combat skills, he plunges into the underground world getting into constant conflict with rivals. After many adversaries, the once good-natured man is physically crippled and turns into a monster more atrocious than all the most corrupted cops and ruthless drug dealers. Ho eventually emerges as the most powerful drug lord under the control of Chief Detective Sergeant, Lee Rock (Andy Lau). However, with the establishment of Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) by the law enforcement in 1974, Rock is forced into premature retirement. But Ho still insists he would not be stopped as he determines to become the sole dictator of the drug empire.

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Plot Keywords:

hong kong | based on true story | police officer | police officer killed | police officer shot in the chest | 

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Genres:

Action | Biography | Crime | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Andy Lau is reprising the role of Lui Lok (aka Lee Rock) he previously played in Lee Rock (1991) and Lee Rock II (1991)

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Goofs

The movie shows a Boeing 747 flying in, but 747s were not flown commercially until 1970.

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Connections

Follows Lee Rock (1991)

User Reviews

Featuring Donnie Yen in his most significant acting breakthrough since 'Ip Man', this compelling gangster drama is his and Wong Jing's best in a long while

Just when you've come to hate him more than love him for truly frustrating duds such as 'From Vegas to Macau 3' and 'Mission Milano', Hong Kong's most prolific filmmaker Wong Jing compels you to take him seriously once again with the best gangster drama we've seen in a long while.

Written, produced and co-directed by Wong Jing, his latest period epic charts the rise and fall of two of Hong Kong's most infamous real- life characters from the 60s and 70s – the one-time most powerful drug lord in Hong Kong Ng Sik-ho (or better known as 'Crippled Ho') and the notoriously corrupt detective Lui Lok (or otherwise known as 'Lee Rock').

Perhaps because he had already previously told Lee Rock's story, Wong Jing anchors this movie around Sik-ho (Donnie Yen), who first steps foot in Hong Kong in 1960 as an illegal immigrant from Chaozhou with his three buddies (Philip Keung, Wilfred Lau and Kang Yu) and younger brother Peter (Jonathan Lee). Although engaged in odd jobs, the quartet find more lucrative means of employment by being paid to make up the numbers in street fights. One such fight is that purportedly between rivalling triad heads Comic (Jason Wong) and Grizzly Bear (Ricky Yi). Unfortunately, the fight turns ugly with the arrival of the riot police led by the British Superintendent Hunter (Bryan Larkin), and before the night is over, Sik-ho ends up in a run-in with the arrogant and supercilious 'gwei-lo'.

All that is witnessed by Lee Rock (Andy Lau) and his right-hand man Piggy (Kent Cheng), who spies Sik-ho's superior fighting skills and decides to recruit him and his buddies while they are in lock-up. As circumstances would have it, in order to save one of his buddies caught stealing from mafia boss Bro Chubby (Ben Ng), Sik-ho will end up working too for the former, running his drug business within the legendary Kowloon Walled City.

It is within this hotbed of lawlessness that Lee will venture into one day. Things go south obviously, and the subsequent turn of events binds Sik-ho and Lee in a complex brotherhood embrace – Sik-ho springs to Lee's rescue but ends up caught in the crosshairs of another parallel ambush sprung by Sir Ngan in collusion with Chubby. In the ensuing scuffle, Chubby breaks Sik-ho's right leg as punishment, thus birthing a hardened and even more driven 'Crippled Ho' upon his discharge from hospital.

Sik-ho's transformation comes at the midway point, and it is in the second hour that he truly comes into his own. Not only does he resist Lee's manoeuvres to alter the state of play, Sik-ho takes matters into his own hands against Lee's better advice in order to exact his own vendetta against Superintendent Hunter. There is a lot of plot crammed into a slightly-past-two-hour runtime, but its machinations consistently revolve around the dynamic between Sik-ho and Lee; an especially poignant scene near the end has a visibly embittered Sik- ho pointing out squarely to Lee the personal costs and consequences of the latter's actions over the decade plus on the both of them, and the duo coming to recognise how little of life, death, or anything in between they can truly control.

Oh yes, the movie is equal parts plot and character-driven, and Wong Jing's (rare) achievement is how he balances both perfectly to deliver a sprawling but constantly spellbinding account of the fates and fortunes of his two key male protagonists. Due credit also goes to his co-director cum director-of-photography Jason Kwan, who not only brings a vivid cinematic feel to the visuals but also imposes rigour in crafting and building up several pivotal sequences, both of which are too often lost on a frequently sloppy Wong Jing.

More prominently, 'Chasing the Dragon' has been sold as a showcase of Donnie Yen's acting chops, and sure enough, Yen doesn't disappoint; in fact, as Sik-ho, Yen probably makes the most significant breakthrough of his career since 'Ip Man'. His portrayal of Sik-ho is understated, nuanced and impressively authentic, especially in depicting his character's transformation from underdog to kingpin. Yen and Lau don't share as many scenes together as we'd have liked, but the duo have great chemistry when they do, embodying the genuine camaraderie between their characters as well as the seeds of distrust, suspicion and resentment sowed by their own respective ambitions, egos and greed.

It should also be said that this gangster tale is always careful not to glorify its socially deviant protagonists – principally for fear of running afoul of Chinese censors – and is therefore less unhinged than the early 90s flicks of Sik-ho and/or Lee. In fact, Yen and Lau aren't playing so much criminals as they are anti-heroes, so not only are there redeeming qualities about their characters in this movie, both will come in an epilogue set thirty years later to realise and regret the folly of their ways. Yet these politically (and commercially) savvy considerations aside, Wong Jing's latest is still a solid and solidly entertaining example of the genre that is bloody, violent and thrilling.

Indeed, there is much to enjoy in this period gangster epic, from the storytelling to the characters to the actors and as well to the richly detailed sets of Tsim Sha Tsui, Wan Chai and Kowloon Walled City. This dragon is one you won't mind chasing from start to finish, and we guarantee you it will leave you on a visceral high.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Hong Kong China

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin English Thai Teochew

Release Date:

28 September 2017 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Chasing the Dragon

Filming Locations:

Chaozhou, Guangdong, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$138,346, 1 October 2017

Gross USA:

$456,854

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$87,965,942

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mega-Vision Project Production, Super Bullet Pictures, Bona Film Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 (Dolby 5.1) (downmixed) DTS:X (downmixed) Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1