Review: Hardboiled Is Action Without Equal
- May 12, 2018
- 2 min read
John Woo, the unequivocal master of action, steps into cinematic immortality with the balls to the wall, no holds barred, shoot ‘em up that is...Hardboiled.
Inspector Tequila (Chow Yun Fat) is your everyday, run of the mill,, jazz playing badass. When he’s not tearing up the club with his sax, his tearing up a gun smuggling ring, with a gun in each hand and not a care in the world. But when his friend is killed in the line of duty, Tequila targets Johnny Wong (Anthony Wong), the smugglers notorious leader, only to find himself stopped at every corner, by none other than his own department. They have there reasons, namely Alan (Tony Leung), a crack cop who’s infiltrated his way to the top, and is ready to expose the whole operation. But Tequila doesn’t take lightly to being told what to do, and it’ll take more than finger waving and a stern word to get him to stop his crusade against crime.
Give the guy a gun and he’s Superman, give him two and he’s God. Truer words have never been spoken. Chow Yun Fat’s Tequila is, just maybe, the greatest action star of all time. John Wick, John McClane, John Rambo and all the rest pale in comparison to this icon of heroic bloodshed. Indeed, if it’s action you’re after, accept no substitute. Be it the one against many warehouse shootout or the hospital siege that continues in excess of half an hour, along with a number of smaller sequences, there’s something for everyone. With a hefty dose of slow motion, a gun in each hand and enough explosions to excite Michael Bay, Hardboiled has it all.
And when I say has it all, I mean it. Some films forgo character development and interesting plots in favour of their action, but Hardboiled tries its best. While it’s not exactly Shakespeare, it contains enough twists and turns to keep you guessing the whole way through, as well as some surprisingly decent character moments.
If someone declares themselves to be an action fan, and they haven’t seen Hardboiled, they’re lying to you. It’s the definitive action movie, a film without equal and a hell of a good time.
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