The Red Wolf

An action-packed DIE HARD rip-off that mixes in bits and pieces from UNDER SIEGE for good measure, RED WOLF is a thoroughly enjoyable action movie. I don't usually like Hong Kong films from the 1990s; all too often they're marred by over-done wirework and a general dated feel which works against them. Not so RED WOLF: it kicks ass from the outset and continues to do so throughout with a series of elaborately staged and completely engaging action sequences.

Okay, so it's not a perfect film: it's a little rough around the edges and cheesy in places, and some of the performances are purely laughable. The lame comic relief from the hero's female ally is unwanted, too. But the film has plenty of reasons to overlook these flaws, not least Kenny Ho's ass-kicking lead: this Jackie Chan protégé certainly holds his own in the action stakes, and comes across as a charismatic star, too.

And he needs all the skill he can muster, because up against him is uber-villain Collin Chou (FLASHPOINT), once again delivering a deep and inventive portrayal as lead villain. No superficial stuff here: Chou makes the role his own, even making you kind of like the guy on occasion, and course he's a greater fighter as well. Yuen Woo-ping's steady direction, a strong level of inventiveness throughout and those aforementioned great fight scenes combine to make RED WOLF a whole load of fun!

Some bandits hijack a boat to steal some $#!+. Red Wolf is a HK action movie that rips off Die Hard/Under Siege but what separates this film from those aforementioned films is the fact that Red Wolf is very very dark as rather than the hero trying to save everyone he can, he pretty much let's everyone die. Well, a majority of them die, I think. Well, whatever. Red Wolf is filled with human misery and suffering, and that's all that matters. Despite being a rip off, I was very pleased with the action which was bloody and well choreographed. The story works for what it is, the acting is silly and above all Christy's butt is nice.

Nope, this didn't cut it by a long shot. For some reason, we accept a lot of flaws in Hong Kong-movies that we otherwise wouldn't, but there's just so much in this movie that we actually laughed at it quite a few times. The story is boring, the jokes are lame and the action is sometimes clever but mostly just falls flat on illogical actions or bad props. The 5.1 surround sound was anything but surround - the only things I heard in the rear speakers were some weird sound effects (check the drumming sequence for example). So what was good? The video on the Hong Kong Legends UK DVD were fantastic, and the extras section just leave most DVDs way behind. But, deconstructing the cover slogan: "Tense" (ordinarily people shooting people can be intensive but when that's all they do, you tend to not react much after a short while) "and dynamic" (as in "all actors expand their one-dimensional characters by having their one facial expression throughout the movie") "with elements of black humour," (yes, slapstick is VERY dark) "Red Wolf is an unstoppable martial arts showcase" (except for the 80% of the movie where people talk or shoot guns) "in the best tradition of action-master, Yuen Woo-Ping." Well, I'll make sure to never watch one of his movies again.

Well, for a Hong Kong action movie of this type, "Red Wolf" was sort of a mixed viewing pleasure on my behalf. I enjoyed most of the movie, but the movie was severely crippled by a horrible dialogue and some really lame attempts to incorporate humor into the movie (talking about the scene with the pile of food on the plate and the scene where the two women were fighting and Lai was resorting to some comic book/childish fighting of sorts).

The story in "Red Wolf" takes place on a boat (yeah, with similarities in plot to a mix of "Speed 2" and "Under Siege"), where security guard Alan (played by Kenny Ho) is left to thwart the plans of some terrorists. However, he gets help from the waitress Lai (played by Christy Chung).

I will say that the plot wasn't all bad. Sure there were holes here and there, but in overall it was enjoyable enough. But the movie had really, really bad dialogue which was at times painful to witness. The fight scenes were actually well executed and choreographed. And there is also a good amount of gunfights in the movie, so there is a little bit of everything for everyone.

The movie was really carried by the performance of Collin Chou (playing the first officer).

Just don't expect too much from this movie, or you might just set yourself up for disappointment. "Red Wolf" doesn't bring anything new or innovating to the Hong Kong action genre. And at times you wonder if this movie is a tribute to certain Hollywood movies; a rip off of certain Hollywood movies, or if it is just a coincidence. I will leave that decision up to the individual viewers.

"Red Wolf" is not amongst the greatest of Hong Kong action movies, and I doubt it will be high on the 'to watch' list of most people, unless really a fan of any on the cast list or if a die-hard fan of Hong Kong cinema. I will say that there are far better action movies from the Hong Kong cinema vault available.

Don't expect too much - the action is good, but hongkie buffs have seen it all before. Also, the story is a UNDER SIEGE rip-off (rather than DIE HARD, as mentioned in another review above). If you want me to compare it with others of this kind - I personally prefer HIGH RISK (this! was the DIE HARD rip-off, fella). the webhamster sez 4/10.