HARD BOILED (1992)
'John Woo is...'
'...God.'
These outrageous words appear on a series of title cards shown in a trailer for what is an all time Hong Kong cinema classic. The press quotes they've chosen to splice into the footage almost manage to sum up the madness that is Hard Boiled, a crime thriller created by a master at the zenith of his powers. It's also described as 'gob smacking mayhem' and 'more exciting than a dozen Die Hards'. This hyperbole seems ridiculous but it is in fact appropriate; it's an exaggerated and excessive exercise in explosive action.
After A Better Tomorrow and The Killer, John Woo returned to a genre he helped create to give us his magnum opus. It would be the distillation of everything that had come before, showcasing his fascination with meticulously staged gun battles and brotherhood themed tales. Ideas of loyalty and corruption would be explored one more time, while giving the forces of law and order a chance to be the heroes.
After starring in those two previous movies, Chow Yun Fat was brought on board to team up with Tony Leung, having worked with Woo on his Vietnam war drama Bullet In The Head. In an ideal world they would have been in a real version of A Better Tomorrow III, instead of the version we got after Tsui Hark and Woo had a falling out, so it's nice to see the two stars crossing paths here. Of course in some ways this isn't as dark or as melodramatic as anything that he'd directed earlier with these actors. The end result is a comic book style action adventure, filled with cop movie tropes and Triad mole subplots. The influences of Le Samourai maybe present once again, with another lone outsider fighting his own nature, but the story has its own distinctly pulpy feel.
Which isn't to say that the tone isn't still bleak at times. However, while the action remains visceral, the central characters feel less realistic. There's a broader sense of humour and it feels more colourful. But this works with the material which includes both a police drama about secret weapons caches, and battles against eye-patch wearing henchmen. If John Woo's approach was to create a Dirty Harry style plot, after all the gangster stories, he goes well beyond this goal. The character names give you an idea of what to expect: they're all very simple and direct. Tony Leung's troubled undercover officer 'Leung' takes on Chow Yun Fat's detective 'Tequila' as they battle for the position of most charismatic lead. Meanwhile Anthony Wong's ruthless arms dealer... 'Wong' chews the scenery at every opportunity, planning a mob takeover involving a huge arsenal.
The characters may be less than realistic, this is a film known domestically as Hot Handed God of Cops after all, but they're always engaging. A standard tale of revenge, loyalty, and justice plays out, but the whole ensemble provide a memorable core of heroes and villains. The two leads in particular do a great job portraying conflicted personalities as they struggle through the same events from opposite angles. It may be a little trite with a loose cannon out for vengeance and a good man agonising over the morality of his actions, but it's still a movie full of personality. As a result they never get drowned out by all the pyrotechnics. The plot itself doesn't hold up to much scrutiny in some places but the overall tone carries it. Nobody seems to mind that Tequila took out a warehouse full of gangsters after being ordered off the case... maybe he just charmed them into forgetting the weapons he took from the police armoury.
The soundtrack by Michael Gibbs helps all of this come together. His jazz history provides a few sombre tunes to compliment the darker moments, while he uses the tick-tock rhythm of percussion to build towards all the inevitable shoot outs. There are a few moments that feel out of place because of the instruments used but generally it works. Particularly against images of sinister motorcycle gang formations and paper cranes hanging ominously. It connects the human elements at the Jazz Club with the more outlandish sequences. Entire factories are set alight and endless waves of goons are despatched. Several thousand squibs are used, a lot of slow motion is employed, and
plenty of smooth sax plays. As this all combines to form an unapologetically
gratuitous classic.
Of course those are the moments everyone is waiting for, and they certainly don't disappoint. During the first few minutes you'd be forgiven for thinking that the action had peaked early. The opening sequence involving a tea house stake-out gone wrong is incredible - but this is just a taste of things to come. Later set pieces involving exploding motor bikes, exploding cars, and exploding hospitals, all building on the previous sequences, each time increasing the excitement factor and the spectacle. The huge finale in particular pulls out all the stops as SWAT team breaches and hostage taking scenes are thrown in - the scale and complexity of the action is always impressive. This is certainly true during an uncut tracking shot in the third act, it's unusual to see in an action film but they stage it perfectly, upping the ante in terms of pure action and tension building.
It's a shame that in many ways this swansong overshadows Woo's previous efforts. Nothing is quite as potent and explosive after so much destruction. It's also a shame that he would later leave Hong Kong and try his hand at doing things the Hollywood way. But at least this is the perfect exit; a true end of an era scenario. It's an exercise in action magic - the best kind of sensory overload where things are done with precision and mastery. It's a true bullet ballet in which shotguns cause explosions and every piece of furniture is laced with pyrotechnics. The labels for some home releases list it under the 'extreme' category, so it may not be for everyone. It's something that could leave people shell-shocked and perhaps even disturbed. But for Hong Kong cinema fans that need a gun-play fix this is the gold standard and a crowing achievement in a series of already great directorial efforts.
5/5
