John Woo’s Hard
Boiled is a blueprint for how you should craft an action thriller. The movie
has so many layers that the explosive ending is a twist on its own. The
screenplay is to die for, and the effects are tremendous. This is a blow-'em-up
movie that takes no prisoners, and the acting is one you’ll appreciate. In my
young days in Lagos, Nigeria, this movie and The Killer
had a huge cult following in the 90s.
The action in
this movie is something to behold, especially the ending when everything is
happening at once, and you have to be so attentive to keep track of everyone.
This further adds to the already exciting plot the movie dishes out.
I’ve seen many
action movies try to outdo this one in terms of explosions, but none come
close. Here’s where you’ll admire John Woo: we have two main characters trying
to contain a situation, but then the movie creates time for us to see the
supporting cast also getting involved in saving lives—including babies.
The plot starts with an introduction to Tequila (Chow Yun-fat), who lost his partner during an operation where the police were watching the triads carry out an illegal trade. Tequila’s anger at the loss of his friend leads him to kill one of the gangsters, whom his superior wanted alive to stand as a witness. For what he did, Tequila is taken off the case, but being headstrong, he sticks with it.
On the bad guy’s
side, we meet Alan (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), who was sent to kill a man and is one
of the enforcers for the main man, Uncle Hoi. Hoi has a rival who recruits Alan
to help take down Hoi.
During this
plan, things don’t go as smoothly as they’d hoped, and Tequila comes into play
to make matters worse.
Then there’s a
showdown between Tequila and Alan, and from there, both start to get on each
other’s case.
I read somewhere
that, even though this movie is rated more highly than two other Woo films (A
Better Tomorrow and The Killer),
it wasn’t as financially successful as they were.
The movie
doesn’t play stingy with time. It’s over two hours long, but that doesn’t
affect the power and intensity the movie packs. The pacing is well arranged to
ensure seamless continuity.
Here’s a movie
every action fan should see—and you should too.
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