Beast Cops

A cops-n-robbers movie, but not at all typical. An interesting departure from the stylized violence of classic HK movies, such as those directed by John Woo. Despite the chaos of those movies, there was always something "neat" and organized about the action, a choreography. Kind of like a fireworks display. As exuberant and fun as that style is, Beast Cops is an example of a new sort of HK cinema.

And it's a bit messy. Even the characters are somewhat sloppy; spitting on sidewalks, flinging beer cans in the backseat, etc. No one in this movie looks particularly dashing.

Even the violence is messy. For some reason, guns are seldom used, and most of the damage is caused by beating people with sticks or stabbing them with knives. And the knives aren't even cool-looking, they look like kitchen cleavers. So there's a more "hands-on" and labored feeling about the violence as opposed to the more effortless killing accomplished by guns.

But the slapdash feel and somewhat primitive action actually amounts to a very purposeful sophistication and insight about the characters. All the characters are realistically flawed, and the emotions feel genuine. The usual conflicts of loyalty/betrayal and the notion of brotherhood are all addressed, but the outcome is not formulaic or predictable.

Over all, this is a very well-made movie. The acting is first-rate, with Anthony Wong (as Tung) being especially good, as his character spans a confident wise-ass, a dejected lover, a ballsy hero, to a full-on psycho. Instead of a fireworks display, this movie is more like abstract art - a whole different kind of pleasure.

This movie is a pretentious excuse to exploit the two lead actors and their fans. The script makes little sense, which is a bad filmmakers device to make you watch till the end so that you figure out eventually what's going on while this is definitely not the kind of a film that needs it. Acting is really uninspired from everybody, mainly because most of the time there's little to play with. Action is non-existent, people spend more time loitering, clubbing, eating out and in bed, than racing, shooting, fighting and chopping each other. When the action comes it is shot in a "can't see a thing it shakes so much"-vision and presented very badly to you, often employing speed-ups and various stylish editing techniques...badly! The trailer probably looked worthy of all the awards this movie got. Does it mean that there were no better films that year?

This one is currently in the running for Best Movie Ever. Anthony Wong gives what is probably his best performance; Michael Wong isn't annoying at all for once, and the supporting cast is generally good. There basically isn't a boring scene in the whole movie. While it's not really an action movie, there are a fair number of chaotic violent scenes... Sometimes the camerawork is a little TOO chaotic. It might seem pretentious in other movies, but this one has a such a "what the hell" attitude I'm inclined to overlook some erratic storytelling and pointlessly strange cinematography. It's hard to explain just what's so great about this movie, but I've seen it three times and liked it more each time... That should say something.

Winner of loads of Hong Kong film awards in 98 (Best Actor, Film Director etc), this built up quite an expectation for me. The story pretty much doesn't make sense (cops and robbers are all best friends), and there is more talk of safe sex and "crabs" than gunplay. Add to that Micheal Wong's totally abysmal acting and you've got a very average film. Anthony Wong was OK and Sam Lee was fairly amusing at times but overall there is not much worth watching in this film at all (Gordan Chan was never that good a director anyway)Disappointing Stuff! If you want to watch a great post 97 HK film try Ringo Lam's "Victim"

It's been sometime since I last watched Gordan Chan and Dante Lam's highly-regarded action-drama, and probably not since Hong Kong Legends released it on DVD way back in the early 2000's. With the bizarre casting of the fantastic Anthony Wong and (the just passable and unrelated) Michael Wong in the leads, I can remember thinking I wasn't going to enjoy this film at all...

Thankfully though, I was wrong. Beautifully shot, with stylish action scenes and brilliantly choreographed stunt-work, Beast Cops isn't as threatening as its title would suggest offering plenty of Hong Kong humour among its drama and violent action scenes. Anthony Wong is just brilliant as the out-of-shape and out-of-luck streetwise cop, and even Michael Wong is enjoyable as his uptight boss who has just been assigned to his unit.

The brilliant Roy Cheung and Sam Lee help fill out the main cast along with Patrick Tam, Kathy Chow and a host of familiar faces, all who give pretty damn good performances (including Michael Wong for a change). One such face is Arthur Wong, director of In The Line Of Duty 3 and cinematographer of many classics including My Lucky Stars, Eastern Heroes, and The Warlords. For this film though, Tony Cheung Tung Leung handles the films gorgeous cinematography. His work includes Jackie Chan's Dragon Blade, Black Mask, and 14 Blades to name but a few!

The gritty and often violent action is handled by the wonderful Yuen Tak, offering some painful looking stunt-work alongside brutal fights with blades, and gritty hand-to-hand brawls that quickly turn bloody. Although it doesn't come every 5 minutes, there's still plenty to enjoy, including a brutally violent finale when Anthony Wong channels his inner psycho...

Although it carries plenty of humour, Beast Cops is a pretty dark movie on the flip side. Far from your typical cops-n-robbers story, the directors try to bring an intense realism to the film showing their heroes to be 'emotional and flawed' as a fine-line is drawn between the world of law-and-order, and the that of its triad gangsters. Winner of 4 awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film, Beast Cops does have its flaws, but is well worth the watch!

Overall: Wonderfully written, directed and acted, Beast Cops is a violent action-drama with plenty of laughs that highly entertains!