- Most Senior
- Top Rated
- Least Recent
- Most Recent
Protégé
 | Sound (2)3.6 Plot (2)3 Cast (2)4 Special Effects (2)1.8 Length & Pace (2)3.9 Cinematography (2)3 |
Cast: Andy Lau, Daniel Wu, Louis Koo, Anita Yuen, Zhang Jingchu, Liu Kai Chi
Runtime: Hong Kong 106mins
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese/Mandarin
Links: IMDb Profile
Categories: Drama
Runtime: Hong Kong 106mins
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese/Mandarin
Links: IMDb Profile
Categories: Drama
Main
Trailer
Sound:
Plot:
Cast:
Special Effects:
Length & Pace:
Cinematography:
Plot:
Cast:
Special Effects:
Length & Pace:
Cinematography:
4
2.6
4
2
3.9
3.8
2.6
4
2
3.9
3.8
Protégé (Hong Kong)
Andy Lau plays a Hong Kong top drug lord whom is seeking for retirement due to old age and sickness. He finds a successor in the form of Daniel Wu whom he trusts the most amongst all his staff. What Lau does not know is that Wu is an undercover cop who has been trying to crack his drug business for the past seven years. Meanwhile, Wu’s flat neighbor, Jang Zhingchu is a single mother whom is trying all she can to make ends meet and to feed her pre-school daughter. She also happens to be a drug addict. Wu witnesses the worse effects of the abuse, right from simple desperate acts until the death of its end. Anita Yuen and Louis Koo also appear as Lau’s wife and Jang’s husband respectively.
What Do I Think?
There is hope with Hong Kong cinema. The first good movie to come out from there and we had to wait until February in conjunction with the lunar new year. Protégé needed not help from ang-pows to make it big with the box office; the solidness of Derek Yee’s storytelling execution has enough strength to let it hold alone even if released during the economic downturn in 1997.
After playing a warrior in A Battle of Wits, Lau returns to the big screen without make-up. He trades his famous Andy Lau Strut™ for a typical Chinese boss kind of walk simply because he is a very successful drug lord. He plays aged naturally and his character possesses violent intentions like you and I possess the ability to inhale and exhale. His acting has definitely improved by multiple leaps since his Gameboy Kids days. Award-winning worthy stuff here, watch out for it.
Daniel Wu gives us his standard Daniel Wu acting methods and not forgetting the standard Shu Qi Cantonese speaking methods. Nevertheless, his performance was effective to convey mixed emotions of anger, hatred, ongoing-anxiety, anguish, despair and hopelessness. All these feelings are required for a Hong Kong actor to play an undercover gangster, like Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Nick Cheung did. Frankly, I have never seen Daniel Wu play a relaxed and cheerful character. Does he know how to do that?
Given more exposure, better film selection and offers and a little bit of kungfu, Jang Zhingchu (remember her? Seven Swords?) could very well be the next Zhang Ziyi (or Ziyi Zhang because she went international). Hmmm, not really. I think she could be better than Ziyi. Her portrayal as a drug addict is one of the best I have ever seen. Her realistic withdrawal symptoms in fits expression is so realistically scary, I realized that I could watch The Ring, Ju-On and One Missed Call to sleep. Drug abuse effects; they’re real.
With the exception of Drink Drank Drunk, movies in the hands of Derek Yee rarely disappoints. The whole concept of undercover cop and drugs-related story may be overused in HK cinema but Yee seems unfazed by all that. His story is told in solid bareness and honesty, stripped to an almost totality without needing to compromise by sugarcoating any segments. It also helped that he did his research on the heroin industry. I am not sure if all the information were accurate; the heroine plantation in Thailand, how runners distribute the stuff, how the “kitchen” produces the powder and how the distribution market determines the price. It was sure hell of interesting to know all that and also to wonder if Yee’s head would be chopped off after exposing all that on the big screen.
Watch out for the scene where Liu Kai Chi and his narcotics team try to bust the “kitchen”. There is a fresh intensity gained from there with bits of dark humor and violence slapped onto it. A scene to leave a weird taste in your mouth even days after.
Anita Yuen returns to the big screen after starring in many drama serials; without a bang. Her role is rather a minor one, with some weight gained because her character is pregnant. Louis Koo seemed to be billed as one of the lead actors but surprise, surprise - he shares the same fate with Yuen. Unlike her, he lost a bit of weight and he wears some ugly false teeth so that he can play a junkie husband. His appearance does not impact much; he mainly serves as a comic relief.
The ending of this film was done pretty well. I’m sure it caught many of us unaware. Superb stuff.
Rating: 8.5/10
There were some minor excusable loopholes in the storytelling.
Andy Lau plays a Hong Kong top drug lord whom is seeking for retirement due to old age and sickness. He finds a successor in the form of Daniel Wu whom he trusts the most amongst all his staff. What Lau does not know is that Wu is an undercover cop who has been trying to crack his drug business for the past seven years. Meanwhile, Wu’s flat neighbor, Jang Zhingchu is a single mother whom is trying all she can to make ends meet and to feed her pre-school daughter. She also happens to be a drug addict. Wu witnesses the worse effects of the abuse, right from simple desperate acts until the death of its end. Anita Yuen and Louis Koo also appear as Lau’s wife and Jang’s husband respectively.
What Do I Think?
There is hope with Hong Kong cinema. The first good movie to come out from there and we had to wait until February in conjunction with the lunar new year. Protégé needed not help from ang-pows to make it big with the box office; the solidness of Derek Yee’s storytelling execution has enough strength to let it hold alone even if released during the economic downturn in 1997.
After playing a warrior in A Battle of Wits, Lau returns to the big screen without make-up. He trades his famous Andy Lau Strut™ for a typical Chinese boss kind of walk simply because he is a very successful drug lord. He plays aged naturally and his character possesses violent intentions like you and I possess the ability to inhale and exhale. His acting has definitely improved by multiple leaps since his Gameboy Kids days. Award-winning worthy stuff here, watch out for it.
Daniel Wu gives us his standard Daniel Wu acting methods and not forgetting the standard Shu Qi Cantonese speaking methods. Nevertheless, his performance was effective to convey mixed emotions of anger, hatred, ongoing-anxiety, anguish, despair and hopelessness. All these feelings are required for a Hong Kong actor to play an undercover gangster, like Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Nick Cheung did. Frankly, I have never seen Daniel Wu play a relaxed and cheerful character. Does he know how to do that?
Given more exposure, better film selection and offers and a little bit of kungfu, Jang Zhingchu (remember her? Seven Swords?) could very well be the next Zhang Ziyi (or Ziyi Zhang because she went international). Hmmm, not really. I think she could be better than Ziyi. Her portrayal as a drug addict is one of the best I have ever seen. Her realistic withdrawal symptoms in fits expression is so realistically scary, I realized that I could watch The Ring, Ju-On and One Missed Call to sleep. Drug abuse effects; they’re real.
With the exception of Drink Drank Drunk, movies in the hands of Derek Yee rarely disappoints. The whole concept of undercover cop and drugs-related story may be overused in HK cinema but Yee seems unfazed by all that. His story is told in solid bareness and honesty, stripped to an almost totality without needing to compromise by sugarcoating any segments. It also helped that he did his research on the heroin industry. I am not sure if all the information were accurate; the heroine plantation in Thailand, how runners distribute the stuff, how the “kitchen” produces the powder and how the distribution market determines the price. It was sure hell of interesting to know all that and also to wonder if Yee’s head would be chopped off after exposing all that on the big screen.
Watch out for the scene where Liu Kai Chi and his narcotics team try to bust the “kitchen”. There is a fresh intensity gained from there with bits of dark humor and violence slapped onto it. A scene to leave a weird taste in your mouth even days after.
Anita Yuen returns to the big screen after starring in many drama serials; without a bang. Her role is rather a minor one, with some weight gained because her character is pregnant. Louis Koo seemed to be billed as one of the lead actors but surprise, surprise - he shares the same fate with Yuen. Unlike her, he lost a bit of weight and he wears some ugly false teeth so that he can play a junkie husband. His appearance does not impact much; he mainly serves as a comic relief.
The ending of this film was done pretty well. I’m sure it caught many of us unaware. Superb stuff.
Rating: 8.5/10
There were some minor excusable loopholes in the storytelling.
Last updated: 2009-08-11 21:31:02 by joekhor
» = New Post
Movies you may like
