Century of the Dragon (1999)
Reviewed by: ryan on 1999-11-21
Summary: Century of the Dragon (1999)
Andy LAU is very active in the film business this year. Last Christmas LAU was in 'The Conman.' This year he did 'Prince Charming' in April, 'The Conmen in Vegas' in June and 'Running Out of Time' in September. All of the movies grossed over $15m. Now he has another movie 'Century of the Dragon,' from Jing's Productions. This time out he's cast with a new generation of actors in triad roles, like Louis KOO Tin-lok and Patrick TAM Yiu-man. Will this be good for the movie?

'Century of the Dragon' is a story centered around LUNG Yat-fei, a.k.a., Fei-lone (Andy LAU Tak-wah), who was once the head of triad gang Hung Hing. He retired from the gang and started a business, which has been in operation for the last ten years. He had a good time with his wife, Daisy (Shooky KWAN Sau-mei), his mom (PAU Hey-ching) and his son, Henry. Police Constable WONG Chi-shing (Louis KOO Tin-lok) was given a special task, as a undercover cop, to catch Fei-lone by joining his society. He becomes Fei-lone's helping hand. Fei-lone's friend, TONG Pau (Anthony WONG Chau-sang), was disabled in an action. His son, TONG Man-chun (Patrick TAM Yiu-man), takes over Pau's place. Man-chun is ambitious as he joins up with MA (NG Chi-hung) to take over Fei-lone's place....

The story of 'Century of the Dragon' is quite complex with lots of sub-plots. Fei-lone is the core of the movie, while the story covers the people around him and the conflicts of each within Hung Hing. Despite the complexity, the movie is able to present the story clearly. You get an explanation for each charater and why they are there.

However, the problem of the movie is that the plot is not very remarkable. Maybe there are too many characters in the movie, with a story that is too complex for only 92 minutes. Some of the themes could be further developed. For example, the movie shows the bad relationship between Chi-shing and Man-chun. Their conflict could have been strengthened by having a sub-plot that outlined their competition for Chi-shing's girlfriend, Jo Jo (Joey MAN Sze-man).

In terms of Andy LAU's performance, he's gives what audience's expect. His role looks very close to what he did last year in 'Dragon of Mob.' It is a bit surprising to see Shooky KWAN Sau-mei take part in some of the action scenes. Her performance, along with Louis KOO Tin-lok's were okay, though it looks like what he did in 'Rules of the Game.'

Out of all the performers, Patrick TAM Yiu-man and LAU Shek-yin are impressive. Patrick TAM Yiu-man has been in TV dramas and movies as a baddy. This time he shows how a well-educated guy controls the whole revenge process. His facial expressions were also good enough to enhance his performance. LAU Shek-yin, who has been in a Chinastar TV series this year, plays his role well, as a traid member without principle. The movie would have been more complete if LAU was allowed a greater role.

On the whole, 'Century of the Dragon' is a story based on the happenings around a retired triad head. Though the story itself is complex, it could have been presented more clearly. It would have beeen better if there were more details to each of the character's interactions. The performances of Andy LAU, Shooky KWAN and Louis KOO were okay, while the those of Patrick TAM Yiu-man and LAU Shek-yin were remarkable.