Revenge of the Green Dragons

Sure it wasn't the greatest film of all time. But it sure as hell wasn't as bad as everybody says it is.

I enjoyed it, with its twists and turns. A lot of well shot scenes. And come on its a gangster movie how could you go wrong.

The ending was good and might have left you wanting a little more but overall I think it will make a good watch on a rainy night. Let me know what you think after watching it because I definitely recommend it. Especially since it is a Scorsese and has Ray Liota in it. The fact that it is based on a true story is a bonus.

You have to keep in mind that this as a movie that you need to watch to appreciate. Don't let the reviews fool you, perhaps people see Martin Scorsese's name and have different expectations.

A collaboration between Wai-Keung Lau (Infernal Affairs trilogy) and Martin Scorsese (The Departed) about Chinese gangs in New York at the end of the 1980s. One would expect fireworks, right? Not so much. This movie is entertaining but misses a bigger impact. It's not surprising the film didn't get a wider release in the US... The rather conventional story is embellished with different kind of colorful gangs from the (Asian) underworld, some pretty gruesome torture scenes and an attempt to make a huge plot twist at the end, but finally fails due to ordinariness. It needed more "cool" and a more interesting angle storywise. Fans of Asian-centered mob movies should give it a try though.

This is based on true events that happened in America. You may look at it, as either glorifying violence to a degree or making immigrants look bad, but that would be beside the point. I don't believe this to be a propaganda either way. I do believe that the story is interesting and while it probably is heighten for movie purposes it deserved to be told in a way like this.

Acting is OK, the setting is decent and the action scenes deliver mostly (though they are not too heightened/fancy). There still is blood, not many women involved (other than to look pretty) and everything else you'd expect (for better or worse) from a B-movie, even without it being based on true life.

Despite Martin Scorsese being the executive producer and Ray Liotta having a role, "Revenge of the Green Dragons" doesn't seem to have received much of a theatrical release (if any) in North America. It doesn't take long to figure out why - the movie simply isn't very good. I'm not saying there isn't any merit to be found. Some of the acting by the largely no-name cast is fine, and directors Wai-Keung Lau and Andrew Loo do manage to inject a little stylishness despite their low budget. But for the most part, the movie's low budget does show, particularly with the extremely tight direction - I almost suffered from a case of claustrophobia with everything so closely filmed. But the movie also suffers script problems. None of the characters are fleshed out enough to give us a good idea as to their backgrounds or what they are thinking or feeling. I simply didn't care one way or another about these guys. As a result, the movie becomes extremely tiresome very quickly, and you'll be impatiently waiting for it to come to its end.

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Andrew Lau's "Infernal Affairs" trilogy became the best-known import in the early 2000s from the storied Hong Kong film industry, supplying Martin Scorsese with material for his Academy Award- winning film "The Departed". But while Mr. Lau's latest, "Revenge of the Green Dragons," leaps forth with a flurry of montage, attitude, and action, it loses its way as a drama.

This film — a crime yarn directed jointly by Lau and Andrew Loo, and set in Queens during the Chinese immigration wave of the 1980s — begins by sketching out the hungry desperation of the era, and how Chinese gangs took hold of two schoolmates, Sonny and Steven, and never let go. Violence and cynicism abound, as the story ratchets forward to track the hotheaded Steven and the more prudent Sonny through gangland intrigue, shootings, and blowbacks. The violence is savage and the torture, graphic. The victims are true-to-life: women, children and the elderly. There are also a few mind games - coupled with a neat albeit unconvincing twist at the end - as there are straight-up acts of brutality. Sadly, the rest of the mayhem that's fueled by drugs, human trafficking, and an unconvincing, supposedly ill-fated romance seem hurriedly patched together, and contribute little towards making this gangster flick as engaging and fresh as it's ruthless and stylish.

Inspired by a 1992 article in The New Yorker, "Green Dragons" gets a certain vigor out of it's prideful battles for power, turf control, and respect in a world where only the murders of whites seem to matter. Yet the busy plotting shoves past the characters, and Justin Chon as Sonny, and Kevin Wu as Steven, can't keep up. A smuggler's speech about America's basis in hatred won't find many buyers, nor will a frozen-faced Ray Liotta referentially cast as a detective benefiting from the efforts of a Chinese-American colleague (Jin Auyeung).

"Revenge of the Green Dragons" starts with promise, but soon becomes predictable, filled with clichés that do little in terms of engagement or spinning a novel, fresh story from an interesting, untouched plot. What initially feels like brash energy peters out until what's left mainly evokes some pretty run-off-the-mill gangster lore.