In my quest to find some decent Heroic Bloodshed titles next to the masterpieces made by John Woo I stumbled upon The Big Heat. I had known about this title for years but somehow never felt the need to watch it earlier. Now I have and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised in how much I liked it. Despite it's many flaws.
For people like me waiting for something that could match up to A Better Tomorrow or Hard Boiled I will have to disappoint you. This film is nothing like that. The Big Heat is more like your typical cops and robbers flick that plays out pretty conventional and generic but is filled with short but crazy over the top action sequences. These scenes aren't cool or stylish. They are gritty and extremely violent. Don't be surprised when you see body parts flying around. However these scenes are incredible fun and does work well with how main character Wong (played by Waise Lee) remains to be serious throughout. Philip Kwok (who you might recognize from Hard Boiled in which he played Mad Dog) is very likable in this and it has made me curious about other titles he has featured in. Paul Chu Kong is excellent as the villain which I have seen him doing several times before. (Whatever happened to that guy? If anybody knows could you leave a comment and tell me? Thanks in advance!). Also watch out for Robin Shou (Mortal Kombat) and beautiful Joey Wang ( A Chinese Ghost Story). I don't think there is anything that you could take seriously in The Big Heat although I guess it was intended to be.
The Big Heat is one of those movies that has enough to offer on it's own terms but whatever you do never ever takes this film seriously.
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