Michael Scott
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The Game Changer
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In the world of cinema, the roaring 20s and 30s are a time of much drinking, gambling and other such fun scenarios revolving around crime and the mobster world. However, most of that has been focused on the likes of Capone and his ilk in the U.S., and very little spent dealing with Asian crime lords and the rise of what would become the modern Triads. Back in 2007 Xixi Gao had remade the 1980s crime show The Bund into Shanghai Bund in which Xixi himself stepped in for Chow Yun Fat’s legendary character. There was a remake of the show in 1996, and now after many years, Xixi is back in the saddle and bringing the dramatic role to the big screen in feature film form. The story has changed quite a bit from the original show (as well as Xixi’s remake), but it has kept many of the same beats and basic plot points among the various changes the director has made to the original (and his own) work. As such, the film’s similarities to Chow Yun Fat’s original 1980s show is nothing more than superficial icing, as the game of “change what came before it” unfolds on screen.
Li Zihao (Peter Ho) is a prisoner of the Chinese government after being caught as a member of the underground “Blue Shirts”, which was a student run organization that protested the Japanese officials in Shanghai (and covertly assassinating them as well). When the Japanese strike back they use Shanghai mob boss Tang Hexuan (Wang Xueqi) to carry out the deed of executing the ringleaders and sending the rest off to prison. As Li is sent away for his life, he watches as his girlfriend Lan Ruoyun is taken away to be put to death. A year later the young man is able to escape prison when Tang Hexuan’s adoptive son (who is also in prison) Fang Jie (Huang Zitao) breaks out. It turns out that Fang is engaged to be married to Tangs biological daughter Qianqian (Gulzanar) and wants to introduce Li to his family. Luckily Li has changed enough to where Tang fails to recognize him as one of the Blue Shirts, and is able to infiltrate the mobsters organization.
To make matters even more interesting, his old girlfriend Lan is still alive, and Tang’s mistress. So with Qiangqian falling in love with him, Li has to navigate the waters of his childhood lover, a newfround adoptive brother in Fangi, AND the amorous glances of Tang’s daughter, all in the hopes of getting close enough to the aging mob boss to exact revenge for his participation in the Blue Shirt massacre over a year ago. And of course make it out in one piece if he possibly can.
The film describes itself on the cover as “a gangster film on steroids”, and that really is what the film represents. A Michael Bay version of a 1930s gangster film, complete with slow motion running action shots, bullets flying everywhere (I did love the vintage .45 caliber sub machine guns and the traditional G.I. 1911’s used throughout the movie), people leaping off of buildings and landing intact on the ground, and a ramboesque fight scene at the end that has Li hacking, slashing, shooting and tearing his way through paper mache bad guys like they’re tissue paper. It’s a gloriously fun adventure, but it does have some hang time in the middle with too many love triangles going on. But, when the final act kicks into high gear the action is plentiful, the gunfire bloody and brutal (though I thought the red blood mist for bullet impacts was a little bit overdone) and the ending satisfying.
Rating:
Not Rated by the MPAA
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The Game Changer isn’t a perfect gangster film ala Goodfellas or Scarface in that it will be considered a legendary classic, but it is a fun and stylish Asian inspired gangster flick that entertains the audience with a bloody good time. The action is fun, the stunts well done, and the story engaging enough to tie together the copious fight scenes. It’s the epitome of a fun popcorn gangster film without aspiring to be anything more than what it is. Fun entertainment. Audio and video are nothing short of stunning, but once again extras are about as sparse as hairs on Bruce Willis’s noggin. Worth a good watch.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Ja-Hyeon Chu, Peter Ho, Zitao Huang
Directed by: Xixi Gao
Written by: Xixi Gao
Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Mandarin DD 2.0
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 133 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 3rd, 2017
Recommendation: Fun Watch