Long Arm of the Law (1984)
Reviewed by: MilesC on 2000-10-27
Summary: Dated, but still important and gripping.
The Hong Kong of 1984 appears to have been an incredibly cheesy time and place to have lived in. Pink sweatsuits on men, hideous stock soundtracks, bullets removed from wounds undeformed and unspent, surveilance cameras producing grainy-looking copies of the actual movie, and security monitors being shot out instead of cameras or tape decks. Despite the heavily dated and cheesy aspects of Long Arm of the Law, it is an exciting and revealing look at Mainlanders who seek their fortunes illegally in Hong Kong. The characters and their motivations are developed well enough to make them involving, but Johnny Mak never lets us forget that they're dangerous, brutal, unrepentant criminals. The use of amateur actors adds to the realism, giving us average, not-necessarily-attractive characters instead of brooding, pretty-boy anti-heroes. Despite a middle section that could stand to be tightened up by a few minutes, the last half-hour really cements the movie's reputation; the finale is particularly good, making absolutely brilliant use of confined spaces to create a sense of terror and desperation. Some of the long takes of Lam Wai desperately running through tunnel-like alleyways looking for a way out are heart-stopping. For all its '80s kitsch, Long Arm of the Law is a film well-deserving or its reputation.