Watches
August 07, 2009
This is Jing Wong milking the heroic bloodshed genre dry while trying to cash in on John Woo's original films. When Wong is in this particular mode you can expect a quick cash grab, and that's pretty much what you're getting, though there are some decent moments hidden away here.
One of the perks of Return to a Better Tomorrow is a (relatively) early performance by Ching Wan Lau, one of Hong Kong's more interesting actors. Together with Ekin Cheng and Michael Wong he forms a trio of Triad members that ends up being ambushed by one of their companions. The guns come out and it doesn't take long before people start dying left and right.
The drama isn't great, neither is the cheesy soundtrack (though truth be told, these weren't Woo's strong points either). The bigger problem lies with the action, with is somewhat decent, but never quite as stylish, violent or over-the-top as it should've been. Not a terrible film, but there are many better heroic bloodshed films out there.