City War (1988)
Reviewed by: dragyn on 2001-03-04
"City War" is an enjoyable film, but not a wholly good - or even artistically competent - one. The concept of the movie is fine, but is executed in a manner so flawed that it becomes lost.

The plot is about Dick Lee (Chow Yun-Fat) and Ti Lung (sorry, can't remember his on-screen name), two cops who begin to experience difficulties when a crook that Ti Lung imprisoned gets out of prison, bearing a serious grudge towards him. To make matters worse, Dick Lee starts dating said crook's girlfriend. Which, understandably, spells trouble.

The first two-thirds of this movie take the form of a joyful romantic comedy, domintated by the happy-go-lucky presence of Dick Lee. Then suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, the last-third hits, and we are plunged into an abyss of gritty drama, tragedy, and graphic violence and death. It sounds like it should work, but somehow it just doesn't. Instead of being shocking and emotionally involving, this metamorphosis succeeds only in making the movie feel more like two movies from two completely different genres, unseccessfully tacked on to each other.

I rate this movie 7/10
Reviewer Score: 7