SYNOPSIS:
The boss of Hong Kong Traid Organization "Tung Luen Shun", Andy was arrested and executed for smuggling counterfeit money into mainland China. With the boss removed, "Tung Luen Shun" was in a critical stage which a new leader had to be appointed fast. The great sum of Andy's estate also caused a major conflict among the Triad family members. Mysterious murders followed, causing deaths of many leading members of the gang. An evil plot was set to seize control and possession of "Tung Luen Shun". Fights after fights; killing would not stop until the last member of "Tung Luen Shun" was put away. Who is the ruthless murderer? Not until the end would you find out who could kill them all!
MOVIE REVIEW:
Here's a piece of advice for property developer turned filmmaker Dennis Law- just because you have the money doesn't mean you should make a movie. A good case in point is his latest gangland action snoozer, I mean thriller, "Bad Blood". The story is plain and simple- the leader (Eddie Cheung) of a certain triad, Tung Leung Shun, has been executed in China, and bequeathed all his family fortune to his sister Audrey (Bernice Liu) and brother Jason (Chris Lai), leaving nothing for his organisation or the rest of his men.
Cue bloody infighting amongst de facto leader Funky (Simon Yam), and other elders including Pinky Cheung, Xiong Xin Xin, Ken Lo and Michael Chan. Oh, by the way, there's also Calf (Andy On), the illegitimate son and half-brother of slain leader, who has a lethal weapon in the form of mute orphan Dumby (Jiang Lu Xia) whom he has trained to fight as well as he does. Let the bloodletting begin, you say- unfortunately that isn't quite the case.
Sure, the action is fast and brutal, thanks to the presence of martial arts veteran Xiong Xin Xin as well as up-and-rising stars Andy On and Jiang Lu Xia. Andy On, in particular, is incredibly agile and looks set to succeed Donnie Yen sometime soon (if he can find better projects than this or the Yuen Wo-Ping dud True Legend). And Jiang Lu Xia, fresh off her stunning debut in Xiong Xin Xin's otherwise duller-than-dull film "Coweb", is just as amazing in her physical prowess. Kudos to action director Li Chung-Chi for the well-choreographed action sequences that are just about the only life this dull movie has.
Indeed, when someone is not getting punched, kicked, or bludgeoned, the movie grinds to a painful halt. Writer/producer/director Dennis Law has an amazing ability to not let anything happen in the movie- and believe me, it is quite remarkable. Take Jason's car bomb assassination attempt for instance- sister Audrey comes dressed in a tight dress that Jason comments reveals her underwear, she goes up to change, hangs around in her room opening one drawer after another, and after some interminable time, Jason gets anxious, drives the car right out to the front of the driveway and then gets blown up. Filmed almost in real time, this 10-min sequence is utterly pointless and an absolute waste of celluloid.
Not to say that the rest of the story deserves any screen time as well- what double-crosses, or twists are displayed so blatantly that you can about see what's coming a mile away before it happens. And sadly therefore, the cast of Simon Yam, Lam Suet and Eddie Cheung are wasted in a film that requires little of their considerable talent and wastes what little they can muster for the subpar material. It leads one only to question whether Dennis Law has any iota of filmmaking blood in his body- and the answer after watching this, as well as other equally tedious movies like "Fatal Move", is a definite no. It's about time someone told Dennis Law straight up- stay far far away from the camera.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Audio is presented in Mandarin and Cantonese but the dialogue sounds as clichéd and forced either way. Picture could do with some sharpening; other than that, there are no discernible flaws.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 21 March 2010
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