LakshmiBased on true events, the legendary duo Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau reunite in this Hong Kong action crime thriller—20 years after the infamous “Infernal Affairs” trilogy.
Set during the 1980s, the film depicts the fall of the property empire Carrian Group, a successful Hong Kong enterprise which rose rapidly and subsequently collapsed due to a public corruption scandal.
A still from the film. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures
Perhaps inspired by Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” or “The Goodfellas”, director Felix Chong chose to exhibit a chaotic accession to film-making, shoving everything at the screen, like disparate film modes in conjunction with the bull and bear stock market variations and hodgepodge musical scores, on the illusory hope that indefatigable energy would be mistaken for supremacy in dramatics. But all this is invalid if you like stock markets.
The film begins with Henry Ching (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), a bankrupt wannabe engineer, steps into Hong Kong, after a failed career in Singapore. Purely on luck, by successfully pretending to be a rich man, he manages to dupe a prospective investor to secure a deal in the real estate business, making a quick $1 million. To catapult this promising start, he slowly takes more risks and enters into more complex deals, eventually rising to the top and not having to pretend to be powerful anymore. However, the rapid escalation of the enterprise’s accomplishments was owing to the ingenious mind of Henry Ching, who craftily manipulated stock markets and deceitfully committed insider trading.
Despite the empire steadfastly achieving incredible feats in the real estate business, the enterprise ends up in the radar of Independent Commission Against Corruption investigator Lau Kai-yuen (Andy Lau). Ching constantly attempts to beguile prospective investors with bribes and women, while Lau races to connect the dots to form a solid case against Ching and imprison him. When it appears as though Lau has everything required to put away Ching for good, he is discouragingly thwarted due to Ching’s connections, resources and power. But as they say, nothing lasts forever.
Ching (Leung) viewing his next real estate deal from a car. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures
Sadly, this cat-and-mouse cop thriller falls short due to the lack of a good script and method of narration. There are several moments where the trades happen seemingly in real-time and stockbrokers are writing the shifting prices on whiteboards. Honestly, only people in finance would get absorbed by such a movie. It isn’t worth the wait.
But you can rest assured, the acting is top-notch, as is expected in a Leung/Lau collaboration, so for that, I would recommend watching this film.
| Release Date: 2023-12-29 (Canada) 2023-12-30 | Distributor(s): Emperor Motion Pictures | ||||
| Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Andy Lau, Charlene Choi, Simon Yam, Alex Fong, Catherine Chau, Philip Keung | Producers: Ronald Wong | ||||
| Director: Felix Chong | Screenplay: Felix Chong | ||||
| Runtime: 126 Minutes | Genres: Crime Thriller, Action |
Lakshmi
