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Screened at Golden Shadows on 17 February 2002: |
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| The director of High Risk, Wong Jing, is Hong Kong's most prolific and successful film-maker, during the past decade he was often described as being a "one man film industry." Wong Jing pioneered multiple genre films, i.e.. Sci-fi martial arts gangster period comedies, in titles like God of Gamblers, Kung Fu Cult Master, Future Cops, etc... On the exploitation front, he created Category 3 gems such as the Sex and Zen and Raped by an Angel series (why make one film when you could have six with the same title?). It was a scatter-gun approach to film production that many highbrow (and wannabe highbrow) critics were dismayed by. But the financial runs were on the board and Wong Jing soon became the most bankable film-maker in Hong Kong. In High Risk's opening moments, you can see Wong Jing's face on the cover of a Time magazine. |
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| With a cast of major stars and a large budget, High Risk turns out to be, in my opinion, Wong Jing's most enjoyable movie. The film begins on a very dramatic note as we see Lt. Kit Li's (Jet Li) young wife and son killed in a bomb attack, organised by Asia's number one terrorist, the "Doctor" (Kelvin Wong). |
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| From this tragedy we are then thrown into the world of HK movie make believe. Two years' later, Li is now called Bold and works as a stunt double for Hong Kong's most well known and loved actor, Frankie Lone: an internationally acclaimed Chinese kung fu star who tells every one he does all his own stunt work - sounds familiar? Whether Wong Jing had a falling out with Jackie Chan in the mid-90s - would be interesting to know - because at times High Risk is a savage piss-take on the cult of Jackie Chan. HK singer/actor Jackie Cheung (Bullet in the Head) has the role of Frankie Lone and gives a convincing performance of a drunken, over-the-hill, skirt chasing actor. | ||
| The story comes together when Frankie and co. are invited to rub shoulders with Hong Kong's elite in a luxury hotel, where on display is one of the world's finest jewellery collections. Unbeknown to the VIPs, the doctor and his gang plan to seize the building, take the guests hostage and steal the stones. What follows is a series of spectacular action sequences as Li, and a HK cop, attempt to rescue the VIPs and wipe out the gang. |
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| High Risk is obviously based on John McTiernan's Die Hard, but, more importantly, it's also a Jet Li film - and one of his best! No-one makes an onscreen entrance like Jet Li - as brilliantly shown when he rams a car through a glass encased hotel lobby - one hand on the wheel, the other blazing away with a machine gun. Director Yuen Kwai (Fong Sai-Yuk, Bodyguard from Beijing) is the action choreographer for High Risk, and much of his work here remains unrivalled for its vicarious thrills and sheer martial arts expertise. Whether using a dead body as a pop-up shield or a lighting rod in a pole fight, the total enjoyment of these sequences is one of the main reasons why HK films of the mid-90s are still so popular. As for large scale action, just watch what Wong Jing and Bruce Law (Full Contact, Extreme Crisis) dream up for the demise of a rescue helicopter and for the scores of guests caught in the path of the machine's rotor blades. | ||
| Kelvin Wong plays the "doctor", a strutting egotist and master criminal who disguises his criminal acts as terrorist attacks. Most of the film's emotional centre is wrapped up in the doctor and Bold being the perfect nemesis for each other. Li's all-consuming guilt over his family's murder can only be lifted by the death of the doctor. |
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| The star studded supporting cast reads like an "A" list of 1990s Cantonese actors. Valerie Chow (The Blade) hams it up all the way as the lethally loyal lieutenant to the doctor. Martial arts hard man Billy Chow (Fist of Legend) is fellow gang member Bond, who is made up to look seriously like Jean Claude Van Damme (?!), and is itching to send Frankie Lone to the land of the hereafter. Much of the mayhem is being caught-on-camera by Chingmy Yau (Naked Killer), as a TV journalist trying to uncover Lone's double deception. Charley Yeung is Joyce (Jayce!), a bad tempered hotel P/R girl ("at least be a bit sincere") who is having boyfriend trouble, and unfortunately adds to this by dangerously denting the fragile ego of the doctor. Yeung is a wonderful actress (The Lovers) and it's a real pity she hasn't made a film for nearly five years. Charlie Tso and veteran character actor Wu Ma appear, respectively, as Frankie's manager and father. Both looking remarkably similar to Willie Chan and Jackie Chan senior. | ||
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High Risk can be enjoyed on many levels, although it's mainly seen as a tremendous action vehicle for the talents of Jet Li. If you're a newcomer to Li Lian Jie, and have only watched the Hollywood Li - then this 1995 production is a must see! - JOHN SNADDEN
An irresistible action
film along the lines of Die Hard. The gunplay action is nothing short of
stunning.
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