Today, I’m staying home for everyone doing custodial work.
I rewatched this movie for the first time in years and was remined 1) how
stone-cold cool it is and 2) how amazing Tony Leung Chiu-wai is in it. Let’s
just say, it’s a classic for a reason.
Tequila is a maverick cop. I’d be tempted to say “standard-issue maverick
cop” – he has incredible skill with a gun, he’s not fond of taking orders from
his superintendent, and he lets his personal issues drive a lot of his actions
– but despite the familiarity of the character, it feels more distinct than
that. Anyway, Tequila recently lost a friend to the triad leader Johnny Wong
and is hellbent on taking Johnny down. Along the way, he crosses paths with
Alan, a brother for a rival gang who’s being courted by Johnny.
That feels like a crappy synopsis to me, but in a way, the plot isn’t
really the point. When it comes to the storyline, you’ve probably seen this
movie before, and you can probably guess some of the twists and turns it takes.
While there are inventive flourishes here and there that make Hard Boiled’s plot stand out a little,
that’s not where the magic is happening in this movie.
Nope, this movie is about two things:
action and acting. This is vintage John Woo, and the action is
absolutely killer, no pun intended. Tequila has the big, bombastic two-gun
blaze-‘em-all scenes where he is the man,
and Alan’s quiet efficiency is effortlessly cool. The entire second half of the
film is devoted to an epic showdown between the cops and the triads, with Tequila
and Alan both at the front of the pack, and it’s incredible to watch. The fight
choreography is expert and Woo’s direction is masterful, knowing just when to
go balls-to-the-wall action and when to pull back to rebuild the tension. As
for acting, Chow Yun-fat gives a terrific performance as Tequila, a cop who’s
simultaneously intense and earnest but also just a little bit of an asshole. In
Chow’s hands, Tequila is always more than archetype might suggest.
And then, we have Leung as Alan. My god. After seeing the film again, I
was poking around online and stumbled across an observation that the real
beauty of this performance is Leung playing a supporting role as though it’s a
lead, and I couldn’t agree with that more. While, at this time, Leung had already
been working for about a decade, he definitely had less dramatic experience and
he wasn’t the star that Chow was in the early ‘90s, but he goes toe-to-toe with
Chow for the entire movie, making Alan just crackle on the screen.
A Little TLC(w) has taught me just how many charming scoundrels Leung has
played throughout his career, but this role fits in better with more of my
early impressions of Leung as, above all, a soulful actor. Even though, like
Tequila, Alan is the type of role you’ve most likely seen plenty of times
before, Leung makes it personal. His face tells a story in every scene, and
even though we’re introduced to Alan through a scene of calm, unflappable
violence, we quickly see that there’s a lot going on under the surface of this
character, who can speak volumes without saying a word. I’m so glad I watched
this again, because it shows, relatively early in Leung’s career, just how much
talent he has.
Recommend?
In General – Yeah. Great action flick with great acting and awesome fight scenes –
you know it’s good when two guys can shoot guns for a solid hour and you never
stop to wonder why they’re not running out of bullets.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Absolutely. What an excellent performance; Leung
is incredible here.
Warnings
Copious violence (including some serious spurting blood,) language,
drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.
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