The Mission
In this most recent Milkyway film (12/99), director
Johnnie To once again creates a world full of tough guys, friendships,
honor and death. This is strictly a mans world in which women have no
part and can only cause trouble. The men here dont even seem to need them
or want them as the act of male bonding seems to be a much higher calling.
This is a world where death comes often and comes quickly though not always
easily. Sometimes death comes in the flash of the moment, other times it
is slow and drawn out, other times you can see it coming at you but you
can only smile or go on eating.
Johnnie To somehow manages to keep mining this
same territory and coming up with something fresh and interesting. Here
the outer package may seem used a plot that in itself is not all that
original but To scrambles it all up takes a different angle on everything
gives it a few twists and directs an absolutely wonderful film. Following
up stylistically to some extent on his recent efforts Where a Good Man
Goes and Running Out of Time, To again forsakes the experimentalism of
the earlier Milkyway films. Though it has a few unexpected turns, for the
most part the story is simple and straightforward and though the cinematography
and editing are brilliant in their precision and the way in which they
allow the scenes to slowly unfold there is nothing very splashy about
it.
This is a film that is extremely dependent on
the actors for its success. If you dont buy into their characters and
like them to some degree - the film will not work. Fortunately, To
has put together a superb ensemble cast in which no one actor gets to dominate
and everyone has enough room to create an interesting character and enough
room to display some charisma and attitude and this film has plenty of
both. Simply put, these guys are all very cool.
The plot as I mentioned is very basic. A top triad
head Eddie Ko has someone trying to kill him. He is able to escape
the first attempt and then has his right-hand man, Simon Yam, put together
a team of five bodyguards from the outside. Men that can be trusted and
are very good at what they do. They reminded me a bit of the Magnificent
Seven all very different from one another. From the old pro Anthony
Wong who has retired and is now a barber (and by the way Wong looks great
here as he has lost all the weight he put on when he was ill) to the
young kid (Lui Chung-yin) just starting out. The group is rounded out with
Francis Ng, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet. All of them are terrific and their
characters become very much flesh and blood as the film progresses.
There are various attempts on Kos life and they
are all handled so smoothly by To. What really stands out about the action
scenes is how incredibly patient To is in allowing them to unfold. He never
rushes the scenes but instead allows the tension and the reality to often
just hang there in tingling suspension before more action kicks in. Often
what feels like long stretches of time go by while the five of them wait
for the next move from the killers and the camera moves effortlessly
back and forth between them. A shoot up in a mall is one of the best-choreographed
scenes I have come across no wild John Woo set piece but slow meticulous
methodical - and beautifully paced.
And that is nearly it. The film really is about
these five guys coming together as first professionals and then friends
as they literally face death from moment to moment. This kind of job
forces them to follow a certain code loyalty, courage and absolute reliance
on one another. If you follow that code you will receive the utmost respect,
if not the utmost disdain. When one of the five leaves another behind
in a situation that is understandable, he still must redeem himself by
killing the enemy of this man.
But just when you think the film is coming to
a close, To puts a spin on things that sets it off in a completely new
direction full of perplexing issues that will really test the concepts
of friendship and loyalty among the five of them.
One last point to make and really the only thing
about this film that I didnt like. Tos recent films have really left
me wondering what his attitude towards women is. In Running Out of Time
they are basically non-existent. In A Hero Never Dies the two women
are tough but are basically extensions of their two men. In Where a Good
Man Goes, Ruby Wong has an inner strength but at the same time is willing
to take lots of abuse from Lau Ching-Wan. And now in this film, there is
only one female with more than a walk-on role and To makes her void of
personality almost a death carrying virus. One has to wonder whether
he has some personal things happening in his own life that he is carrying
into his films. It is hard to imagine that this is the same director of
Heroic Trio and producer of Beyond Hypothermia. It seems that unless a
woman is a superheroine or an assassin, To has no use for them. Nevertheless:
My rating for this film: 8.5
