Tag Archives: Francis Ng

Brad reviews THE LAST TYCOON (2012), starring Chow Yun-Fat!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

When fans of Hong Kong cinema think of high-quality film craftsmanship, the name Wong Jing doesn’t immediately come to mind. Sure, he directed one of my all-time favorite films, GOD OF GAMBLERS (1989), and he’s had his share of box office success over the years, but he’s also churned out a lot of crap. His name is not often the stamp of quality on a film production, but there’s something about working with Chow Yun-Fat that will sometimes bring out his best.

THE LAST TYCOON tells the story of Shanghai crime boss Cheng Daqi, portrayed here in two separate timelines by actor Huang Xiaoming in his younger years, and by the legendary Chow Yun-Fat in his older years. When we meet young Cheng, he seems like an awfully nice guy and then fate places him in a jail cell with the shady Mao Zai (Francis Ng). To escape and save his own life, and with a little help from Mao, Cheng commits his first murder. Forced to flee, Cheng aligns himself with a gang led by Hong Shouting (Sammo Hung). A natural leader, and as badass as it gets, Cheng rises rapidly in the ranks. The narrative isn’t as straight forward as this sounds so far, because it leaps frequently back and forth between younger Cheng and older Cheng. When the film finally settles in with Chow Yun-Fat for its latter half, we have seen how Cheng rose to become one of the most powerful men in Shanghai. We also understand how he has found himself in an extremely difficult wartime position with the Japanese that will test his loyalty to his country, as well as to the people he loves.

Right out of the gate, I want to give kudos to Wong Jing for putting together a highly entertaining film, set against an incredible 30-year backdrop of historical Shanghai! I don’t mention it in the summary above, but THE LAST TYCOON finds time to feature an abundance of romance between Cheng and the two loves of his life. We’re talking about grand melodrama done right, offset periodically with awesome action sequences, whether they be hand-to-blade street brawls, heroic bloodshed shoot-outs, or explosive wartime bombing raids. The emotions and the blood flow very strongly in this one!

The role of Cheng Daqi fits Chow Yun-Fat like a glove. He emotes early and often, and when he takes a break from that, it’s usually to pick up a pistol that he’s able to wield with maximum precision and efficiency. For a long-time fan like me, it’s high-quality fan service that fits seamlessly into the pulpiness of the story. As the younger version of Cheng, Huang Xiaoming does a fine job with the romance and the action. It seems perfectly natural that he’d eventually turn into the legend. Huang gets a lot of screentime, and without his solid portrayal, I don’t think the film would have worked nearly as well.

I did want to mention some of the notable supporting performances in THE LAST TYCOON. Veteran Francis Ng is as reliable as ever as we see his character go from a mystery lifesaver at the beginning to an evil villain by the end. The role may be underdeveloped, but Ng makes it work. I’m going to be looking for more from actor Gao Hu, who’s a total badass in his role as Cheng’s loyal soldier Lin Huai. Present over the entire 30-year timeline of the film, the man’s expert switchblade skills and gun-handling abilities are crucial to Cheng’s safety! Yolanda Yuan and Monica Mok are very good as the two women in Cheng’s life. They are very different, but it’s easy to see why he loves them both, and I think the movie ultimately gets the ending right where the romance is concerned. Finally, I did want to mention that I was somewhat disappointed in the character of Hong Shouting, played by the legendary Sammo Hung. Even though he was a powerful boss, I don’t think he comes across very strongly in the film. For someone of his stature, I see this as one of the few missteps from writer / director Wong Jing.

Small quibbles aside, I recommend THE LAST TYCOON without any reservations. Fans of Chow Yun-Fat and Hong Kong cinema can’t go wrong!

THE LAST TYCOON is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, PlutoTV, and Plex.

Brad reviews CRISIS NEGOTIATORS (2024), starring Lau Ching-Wan & Francis Ng!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My wife loves Hallmark movies and a handful of other movies that she tends to want to watch over and over again. That list of movies includes DIE HARD, VOLCANO, STRIKING DISTANCE and THE NEGOTIATOR. Every time we go to the family cabin for a weekend getaway, she insists that I pack our DVD of THE NEGOTIATOR to watch at some point over the weekend. It’s fair to say I’ve watched the film at least 10 times over the last 10 years or so, and I really do enjoy it. Did you know that filmmakers in Hong Kong remade THE NEGOTIATOR back in 2024 under the title of CRISIS NEGOTIATORS? It’s produced by superstar Andy Lau, who does a cameo. It’s directed by Herman Yau, who’s directed such successful and diverse films as THE UNTOLD STORY and the SHOCK WAVE franchise. It stars two of the best Hong Kong actors of the last 3 decades in Lau Ching-Wan & Francis Ng. Of course I had to see it!

If you’ve seen the original film, there aren’t a lot of surprises in CRISIS NEGOTIATORS. Lau Ching-Wan plays Man Wai, an expert police negotiator. After celebrating his latest birthday, he gets a message to meet a friend and co-worker whose investigation into thefts from the “Police Welfare Fund” seems to implicate fellow members of the police force. When he shows up at the meeting, his friend has been murdered and the cops are soon on the scene. Arrested and determined to prove his innocence, Man Wai escapes custody and makes his way to the Internal Investigations Unit. He takes his own set of hostages, one of which may be involved in taking money from the Police Welfare Funds. He has an interesting request… I’ll only talk to Tse Ka Chun (Francis Ng). Chun, a former police negotiator who left the force to become a social worker, is soon on the scene. As Man interrogates the hostages and talks to Chun, it becomes apparent that he’s been set up. But will he live long enough to expose the real killers?! 

As a huge fan of Hong Kong cinema, and after having seen THE NEGOTIATOR so many times, I thought it would be fun to compare the two films and look for things that stand out in the Hong Kong version. CRISIS NEGOTIATORS opens with a particularly interesting sequence where an unstable couple armed with knives takes the workers of a family services center hostage. It seems that their young son has been forcibly removed from their home and they want him back. Man Wai (Lau Ching-Wan) and Chun (Francis Ng) work together to try to resolve the situation. What makes this opening unique is that the actor playing the unstable man is Andy Lau, a true superstar of Hong Cinema and entertainment in general (he’s one of the 4 “Heavenly Kings of Cantopop). Lau is one of the producers of the film, so it makes sense he threw a little of his star power in front of the camera, even if the cameo is the exact opposite of many of his roles. In English language terms, it would be like Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio being in the opening scene of THE NEGOTIATOR. 

Another difference in the two films that I really appreciate is the character of Tse Ka Chun, played so well by veteran Hong Kong star Francis Ng. As good as Kevin Spacey is in THE NEGOTIATOR, I really appreciate the tweaks made for the Hong Kong version to Chun. In this version, Chun reluctantly comes back to help the police in this specific situation. He has dedicated his life to helping the poor and unfortunate souls who have found themselves on the lowest rungs of Hong Kong society. In other words, he’s just a really good guy. There are a couple of sequences where he interacts with this poor beggar of an old granny that makes my heart swell as he treats her with kindness and dignity while others do not. It also provides a hilarious payoff at the film’s conclusion. 

Lau Ching-Wan is great in the central role of Cheuk Man Wai. A 4-time winner (and 18 time nominee) of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, Lau is simply one of the best actors working in Chinese language cinema. While I don’t give him an edge over Samuel Jackson’s intense performance in the original film, Lau brings his talent to bear in the role and doesn’t miss a beat. Other performances that stand out to me are provided by veterans like Michael Miu as a corrupt superior officer and Kent Cheng as the older cop in charge of everything. Cheng’s character and performance isn’t anything special, but I just enjoy seeing him on screen. One character who can’t be replaced in the original movie is the smarmy Internal Affairs officer played by the late, great J.T. Walsh. Walsh was truly a one-of-a-kind talent, and I don’t think anyone else can do what he did so well. Veteran Hong Kong actor Michael Chow gives a solid turn as the corrupt II agent here, but it’s just too much of an uphill climb. Man Wai’s hostages are pretty good as well, but can’t really compete with the memorable work by Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Paul Giamatti in the original. 

CRISIS NEGOTIATORS would have no chance to work if it didn’t capture some of the intensity of the original film, and I think it was largely successful in that endeavor. Director Herman Yau does a fine job, and I did find myself really getting into the film as the pressure ratcheted up on the main characters. With that being said, outside of a couple of changes, the film sticks pretty close to the original so fans will definitely be in very familiar territory. 

The primary purpose for making CRISIS NEGOTIATORS was to take the excellent story of THE NEGOTIATOR into the lucrative Chinese language market. It had a respectable box office return in the summer of 2024, bringing in around $22 million in mainland China and around $11 million HK dollars in Hong Kong. With good, but not great numbers, the film mostly fulfills its purpose. At the end of the day, CRISIS NEGOTIATORS won’t replace THE NEGOTIATOR on my watch list, but I still enjoyed it very much. I appreciate the cinema and stars of other parts of the world, and this remake was time well spent!

CRISIS NEGOTIATORS is currently streaming on Tubi. 

The Hong Kong Film Corner – THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR (1993), starring Brigitte Lin and Leslie Cheung!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR (1993), a Hong Kong fantasy film directed by Ronny Yu (THE BRIDE OF CHUCKY, Jet Li’s FEARLESS), follows Zhuo Yihang (Leslie Cheung), a master swordsman and reluctant young leader of the Wudang Sect, who is tasked with protecting his clan’s interests during a time of political turmoil and clan rivalries. The Ming Dynasty is weakening, and various factions vie for power, including an evil cult led by sinister conjoined twins, Gei Mou-Seung (Francis Ng and Elaine Lui). During a mission, Zhuo encounters Ni-Chang (Brigitte Lin), a fierce female warrior raised by the cult but disillusioned with their cruelty. Despite their opposing allegiances, Zhuo and Ni-Chang fall in love, drawn together by their unique senses of honor and a shared desire for freedom. Their romance faces intense opposition from both the Wudang Sect and the cult. A series of misunderstandings, betrayals, and tragic events, culminating in Zhuo’s hesitation to fully trust Ni-Chang, leads to her heart breaking. Will she be able to forgive Zhuo for breaking his promise to “always trust her” or will the pain of a broken heart transform her into the “Bride with White Hair,” where everyone else on Earth needs to watch TF out?!!

With its blend of fantasy action, romance and tragedy, THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR is a visually spectacular and emotionally powerful masterpiece of Hong Kong cinema. In collaboration with cinematographer Peter Pau (Oscar winner for CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON), director Ronny Yu creates a dreamlike atmosphere with surreal imagery that helps elevate the film into the unique awesomeness of early 90’s Hong Kong. The inventive choreography of the somewhat gory fight scenes, combined with flowing costumes and foggy landscapes, creates an exciting world for this film. This is bold visual and emotional storytelling, and I loved it. Brigitte Lin is amazing as Ni-Chang, balancing powerful strength with a surprising amount of vulnerability, which makes her ultimate transformation into the white-haired Bride both devastating and badass, cementing her as one of Hong Kong cinema’s most memorable heroines. Leslie Cheung is good as Zhuo Yihang, portraying a man who longs to be free, especially after he falls in love with Ni-Chang, but circumstances have a way of keeping him bound to his clan. The chemistry between Lin and Cheung drives this film, which makes the ultimate outcome of their romance very moving. Francis Ng and Elaine Lui are appropriately insane as the deadly and dangerous conjoined twins and cult leaders. The fact that Francis’ character is evil and in love with Ni-Chang himself ensures that our lovers are not going to get an easy path for flying off into the sunset together.

Ultimately, I consider THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR to be a must-watch for fans of action-based fantasy films, or anyone drawn to stories of forbidden love and personal sacrifice. It’s one of the first “non-Chow Yun-Fat” Hong Kong movies I ever watched. The moving romance at the film’s center and the excellent performances from Lin and Cheung make it a standout of Hong Kong cinema. 

The Hong Kong Film Corner – THE MISSION (1999), directed by Johnnie To!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

(Bottom to Top) Francis Ng, Roy Cheung, Lam Suet, and Anthony Wong!

THE MISSION is the 1999 film that helped me fall back in love with Hong Kong cinema after many of its great actors and directors had left for Hollywood in the mid 90’s. With Chow Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and John Woo no longer working in Hong Kong, there was a huge void, and Director Johnnie To stepped in and helped fill it with some of the best Hong Kong crime films ever made. Through his Milkyway Image production company, To directed THE LONGEST NITE (1998), EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED (1998), A HERO NEVER DIES (1998), RUNNING OUT OF TIME (1999), ELECTION (2005), and MAD DETECTIVE (2007), to name a few, all of which are crime film masterpieces in my opinion, and feature some of the best actors still working in Hong Kong at that time. I put Johnnie To’s body of work up against the best directors working anywhere in the world in the last 40 years. The quality and volume of his movies are outstanding, and they’re prime to be discovered for the uninitiated!

THE MISSION has a relatively simple plot…five bodyguards are assembled to protect Hong Kong triad boss, Lung (Eddy Ko), after assassins try to take him out while he’s having dinner at the Super Bowl restaurant. Lung’s brother, Frank (Simon Yam), puts together quite the badass group: Curtis (Anthony Wong), a completely trusted former associate who’s now working as a hairdresser; James (Lam Suet), a firearms expert and nonstop eater of pistachios; Roy (Francis Ng), a super busy guy who seems to be rising in the ranks as a local criminal leader; Shin (Jackie Lui), Roy’s underling and the inexperienced, weak link of the team; and Mike (Roy Cheung), a guy who’s awesome with a gun and currently stuck in the pimp game. We follow this group as they protect their boss from repeated attempts on his life, and also try to help figure out who’s ordered the hits. Needless to say, their mission takes a few detours along the way, and the men will ultimately have to decide where their true loyalty lies! 

THE MISSION is a crime film masterpiece, and I give Johnnie To most of the credit. Clocking in at just 84 minutes, the film is so simple, and yet it creates such a distinctive vibe that you can’t take your eyes off of the screen. To seems most interested in building the relationships between his main characters during the boring downtimes of their mission. We see them go from not talking to each other, to begrudgingly acknowledging each other, to finally playing soccer with a paper ball as they wait for their boss to leave his office. Just as we’re really getting to know and like our characters, the film will spring an intense action sequence out of nowhere. The director’s signature restraint is on full display in these limited action scenes, which are built around our characters’ professional expertise and a rising spacial tension with the would-be assassins. The action is incredible without relying on the over the top action sequences expected of the genre. As a matter of fact, I rank the “mall shootout” from THE MISSION as one of the best action scenes that Hong Kong cinema has to offer.

The cool poster for THE MISSION (1999)

The writing is also top notch in THE MISSION, which is not a real surprise because Nai-Hoi Yau has written almost all of Johnnie To’s best films. Yau and To have quite the working relationship as the screenplay, like the movie, hints at way more than it says. The audience isn’t spoon fed everything that happens, but it’s easy to look back upon repeat viewings and see that the clues are there based on what we know of the characters. There are also some interesting surprises sprinkled throughout the film. For example, a character shown as a coward in the opening scene re-emerges later in the film and redeems himself in a completely unexpected way. These moments are fun and exciting even for a film that is often relatively still and quiet. One other technical credit I want to mention is the film’s musical score by Chi Wing Chung. I’m not the kind of reviewer to spend too much time on a score, but I haven’t been able to get THE MISSION’s theme out of my head from the first time I saw it. Like the rest of the film, it’s simple, but it is the perfect synthy, background music for men walking and looking cool. I absolutely love it. 

Last, but not least, I have to highlight the cast that Johnnie To assembled for THE MISSION. It’s full of Hong Kong film award winners, beginning with five time winner Anthony Wong, and then Francis Ng and Simon Yam, also single winners of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. Each of these guys are outstanding here, with Anthony Wong and Francis Ng as the standouts of the movie. Anthony Wong, known for so many over the top characterizations in the classic Hong Kong films of the 90’s, delivers a perfectly understated and subtle performance here, which makes him that much more powerful when he needs to be. Francis Ng has a lot more dialogue, but his underlying sense of frustration and boiling-over intensity is the perfect counterpoint to Wong’s patience and calm. Roy Cheung, Lam Suet, Eddy Ko, and Tian-Lin Wang (Wong Jing’s dad) are all perfectly cast and bring excellent characterizations to the table. My only complaint about the cast is the fact that Lau Ching-Wan isn’t in the film. He’s been the star of so many of To’s best films, that I wish there would have been a part for him here.

Overall, THE MISSION is an incredible crime drama with a simple plot that primarily focuses on loyalty and betrayal within the triad underworld, punctuated by intense and precise action sequences, and performed by many of the very best actors in the Hong Kong film industry. It gets my highest recommendation and is well worth searching out. 

I’ve included a trailer for THE MISSION below. I honestly don’t think it’s a great representation for the movie itself, but it appears to be the best we’ve got!

The Hong Kong Film Corner: THE BIG BULLET (1996), starring Lau Ching-Wan!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

The first time I ever remember seeing Hong Kong actor “Sean” Lau Ching-Wan on the screen was in the Jet Li film, BLACK MASK. I was watching the film because of Jet Li, who had recently hit it big in America as a bad guy in LETHAL WEAPON 4, but I remember thinking that Lau’s cop character was pretty darn cool too. I didn’t think of him again for awhile, but then I bought a book about Hong Kong movies called “Hollywood East: Hong Kong Movies and the People who Make Them,” from author Stefan Hammond. This book was Hammond’s follow up to “Sex and Zen and a Bullet in the Head,” one of the books that truly educated me on the cinema of Hong Kong. “Hollywood East” spent a whole bunch of pages discussing Lau Ching-Wan and his movies. I connected the dots between this very interesting actor I was reading about and that cool cop in BLACK MASK. So I did what I do. I bought one of his movies, and then another, and then another. Soon I was obsessed with watching all of his movies. One of those first movies I remember reading about in “Hollywood East” was THE BIG BULLET. 

In THE BIG BULLET, Lau Ching-Wan is the badass cop-with-an-attitude, Sergeant Bill Chu, who doesn’t take crap off of anyone, including his superiors on the force. After belting one of his so-called superiors following a botched raid, Chu finds himself transferred to the Hong Kong police force’s “Emergency Unit,” a clear demotion for a man of his experience and arrest record. Here, the loner must work as part of a team to answer the various calls that come their way on a daily basis. This isn’t always easy, as one of the fellow cops on the unit is the extremely by-the-book Inspector Jeff Chiu (Jordan Chan). They clash immediately. Other members include the spunky Apple (Theresa Lee), the nerdy gun nut (Cheung Tat-Ming), and the old guy (Spencer Lam). This somewhat ragtag group finds themselves in the unenviable position of trying to stop an extremely dangerous group of thieves, led by The Professor (Yu Ronguang) and Bird (Anthony Wong). We’ve seen their willingness to kill at the drop of the hat, and the Emergency Unit doesn’t seem to be a proper match for these criminals. Or are they?? 

If you’re looking for a strong action film, and you’ve never seen it before, I present THE BIG BULLET. Director Benny Chan was emerging as a top notch Hong Kong film director, and THE BIG BULLET seemed to announce that he was throwing his hat into the ring as an action specialist when some of Hong Kong’s best action directors were taking their talents out west. There’s a sequence about 25 minutes into the film where our heroes find themselves in a shootout with the main villains that will leave your heart racing in the same manner as some of John Woo’s or Ringo Lam’s best work. And the actors are the very best that Hong Kong has to offer. Lau Ching-Wan, while not a dashing star in the mold of Chow Yun-Fat, easily carries the film on his shoulders with his natural charisma and tremendous screen presence. Even now, almost 30 years later, Lau Ching-Wan continues to dominate the Hong Kong film industry from an acting standpoint. He is nominated in 2025 for the Hong Film Award for Best Actor for his role in the film PAPA (2024). The excellent Francis Ng has a small, but pivotal role as Chu’s friend and colleague on the police force who helps him save his job at the beginning of the film. I also like Jordan Chan as the by-the-books member of the team who comes to realize that there are times when you may have to bend the rules to stop dangerous criminals. In a role that starts out extremely unlikable, he wins us over as the film progresses. As far as the criminals go, it would be hard to get much better actors for the parts than Yu Rongguang (IRON MONKEY) and Anthony Wong (BEAST COPS, THE MISSION). These excellent actors are cool and evil and we definitely want to see them get their comeuppance before the credits roll. 

Overall, THE BIG BULLET may lose a little bit of steam in its second half, but it’s still a great example of how strong Hong Kong action films were in the late 90’s. It’s also an example of the excellent talent in Hong Kong films even as Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li, and John Woo had already moved on to Hollywood. THE BIG BULLET has a special place in my heart since it was one of those formative Lau Ching-Wan films in my life. But nostalgia aside, it’s still a damn good action film, and I recommend it without any reservations!