Mercenaries From Hong Kong (1982) March 29, 2008
Posted by Cal in : Action, War, 1980s films , trackbackDirector: Wong Jing Cast: Ti Lung; Chan Wai-Man; Chan Pak-Cheung; Lo Leih; Johnny Wang; Wong Yu Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Shaw Brothers
A businessman’s daughter contacts mercenary-for-hire Luo Li (Ti Lung) to avenge her father’s murder by an assassin who has fled to Cambodia. Luo assembles his crack team for the journey into war-torn Cambodia: a knife expert, a deadly sniper, a bare-fist fighting expert, a thief and a bomb specialist and heads into the danger zone. But once there, their plan alters when it becomes evident that things aren’t as straightforward as they seem…
Mercenaries From Hong Kong opens with a shot of Ti Lung pumping iron to an anonymous instrumental band’s rendition of Blue Oyster Cult’s Teen Archer, and you immediately know this isn’t going to be a run-of-the-mill Shaw Brothers Kung Fu flick. Indeed, if it wasn’t for the use of so many Shaw players, you may be forgiven for thinking you were watching a Golden Harvest film. For a company that never really moved with the times, Mercenaries From Hong Kong looks amazingly “contemporary” for a late-period Shaw flick, and unlike virtually all other productions from the era, hardly any of it is shot on a claustrophobic sound stage, and outdoor sets and locations are used extensively.
The story is hardly original, and pretty much rips off every war movie where an ensemble cast goes off behind enemy lines. Small band of commandoes against insurmountable odds? Check. Soldier hoping to pay for life-saving operation for sick daughter? Check. Two members of team hating each other’s guts until their backs are against the wall? Check. Backstabbing traitor masquerading as everyone’s friend? Big fat check. And when one of the team asks Luo to look after his child “in case anything happens to me”, you just know he isn’t going to make it. You might as well just shoot him in the face there and then, get it over with and recalculate everyone’s paycheck. Especially when he stupidly forgets his lucky necklace before engaging the enemy.
As well as the hackneyed plot devices and clichés, the direction isn’t terribly good. Wong Jing became infamous for his screwball comedies and exploitation movies, and both genres impose on Mercenaries From Hong Kong to a certain degree. We have a scene of Ti Lung being The Exterminator, while the inclusion of Nat Chan Pak-Cheung brings a little too much light relief for my taste. In fact, humour crops up a number of times and it just impedes the film’s progress and atmosphere.
However, one thing can’t be denied: Mercenaries From Hong Kong is extremely good fun despite (or maybe because of) its cornier elements. There’s a mass brawl in a shopping centre that is really exciting to watch, and features dozens of improvised weapon-wielding stuntmen and extras. The action scenes in general are another aspect that looks decidedly un-Shaw-like and again look more like they came from Golden Harvest’s fight choreographers. The cast includes some of Shaw’s top players as well as their perennial action-man Ti Lung, and it’s fantastic seeing Johnny Wang and Lo Leih given good-guy roles for a change. Immortal bad guys Lei Hoi-Sang and Yuen Wah also turn up to add some weight to the heavies on the other side.
It’s surprising (and a little disappointing) how little of this film is actually set in the jungles of Cambodia, as primarily the action takes place in and around Hong Kong, but Mercenaries From Hong Kong probably exceeded its remit by coming up with a film that still entertains some 26 years after it was made.
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