Revenge of the Green Dragons

Lau's second attempt to storm Holywood, this time with the help of Scorsese as producer (he called in a favor I assume). It was smart to stick to the genre he was most familiar with, but like most Hong Kong directors visiting the US, his film made little impact. Undeservedly so, because Revenge of the Green Dragons is pretty entertaining, though not without fault.

The start of the film is somewhat reminiscent of Lau's Young & Dangerous series, with two brothers joining a criminal gang and working themselves up in the ranks. A failed romance breaks up their brotherly bond and they find themselves on opposite sides of each other, with the police close on their tails. A pretty typical crime plot in other words.

The second half of the film is quite a bit darker and grimmer than I expected, which certainly helped with the overall appeal. Performances are somewhat decent (with the exception of Eugenia Yuan, who shines bright here), and the presentation is okay but a little by the numbers. There's not enough here to make the film stand out, and where it does go off the beaten path is probably where fans of Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema may struggle. Good film though.