CASINO RAIDERS (1989)
Director: Wong Jing,
Jimmy Heung Wah-Sing
Notable Cast: Alan
Tam, Andy Lau, Ida Chan, Rosamund Kwan, Lung Fong, Charles Heung Wah-Keung,
Hagiwara Kenzo, Kirk Wong Chi-Keung, Shum Wai
The interesting approach that Wong Jing and company take to Casino Raiders is that it combines two
popular genres of HK cinema into one film: the gambling thriller and the heroic
bloodshed action flick. The first two acts are almost solely dedicated to the
former though as Alan Tam and Andy Lau play two gambling pros who help casinos
catch cheaters and do a little cheating themselves to earn some extra cash.
Their Chang Cheh style brotherly bond forms the heart of the film and as it
goes it tends it add in a lot of material that seems irrelevant at first. A
strange romantic triangle is formed with a rich beautiful young woman, they get
into melodramatic fights, and eventually both of them end up on the short end
of the stick as the film progressively gets darker as it goes. The flow at this
point is a tad uneven as it adds in a lot of material about their relationship
with one another, backstories, and the romantic plot and truthfully I wasn’t
fully sold on the film even after the first two acts. It felt like Wong Jing
doing his thing with some strong casting, but without a lot of weight behind
it.
Then the third act happens and boy, oh, boy does it take
off. By the time the two characters have their falling out with broken hands and
drinking problems to boot, the film was starting to show its true darker tones.
When the third act finally gets moving it goes full heroic bloodshed and soars featuring
some fantastic action sequences and one of the most intense gambling finales
that I’ve witnessed as I explore Hong Kong’s gambling film niche. It throws in
a handful of fantastic twist and turns, taking all of the seemingly irrelevant
material from the first two acts and spinning it into something dynamic and at
times heartbreaking. Not to mention, the final minutes of the film are
ridiculously powerful if one is invested into what Casino Raiders is offering. By the time the credits roll, I was
hooked into this film being one of those massively overlooked cult classics
that not nearly enough time is spent praising. It’s dynamic and powerful when
it wants to be while never giving up on its entertaining elements. Casino Raiders is a gem of the era.
CASINO RAIDERS II (1991)
Director: Johnnie To
Notable Cast: Andy
Lau, Dave Wong, Ng Sin-Lin, Monica Chan, Kelvin Wong Siu, Anthony Wong, Chan
Cheuk-Yan, Lau Siu-Ming, Lee Siu-Kei, Peter Yang Kwan, Tien Feng
With no connection to the original Casino Raiders, but still supporting a phenomenal cast and the
directing talents of Johnnie To, my hopes for this name-only sequel were definitely
high. Like the first one, Casino Raiders
II features a patchy script made much more effective by the talents on
screen and its director. The story this time around centers around a fabled
piece of Jade handed down by the God of Gamblers and whomever wields it can be
champion of gambling. It’s silly, but the film does the right thing and does
not take it into fantasy territory like the actual God of Gamblers series, but uses it as a kind of tool of deception
for its characters which is a very smart maneuver. From there, it builds up its
down and out team of gamblers and their long-standing rivalry with a powerful
gangster like gambler who has destroyed their lives. This approach breeds a lot
of melodramatic power, for better or worse, and unlike the original tends to be
purely embedded as an action thriller with gambling plot devices. The film
throws a lot at the audience, including a ton of secondary plot lines that
never fully feel developed (particularly with Andy Lau’s Chicken Feet – yes,
that’s the character’s name – and his romantic and often weirdly abusive
relationship with his girlfriend) and it dives into some cheesy territory which
can hinder the overall experience. It does have some fantastic plot twists in the
second half that keep things very interesting for fans.
The true reason why this film works though is the talents of
Johnnie To. Don’t get me wrong, the performances are great with nods to the two
leads Andy Lau and Dave Wong (along with a memorable crazy performance from Anthony
Wong as the villain’s henchman), but there is a dynamic to the visuals that
really makes this film pop. He uses light and great use of music to really pull
the more silly dramatic pieces out of being cheesy and into actually being
emotional. A very silly scene where Andy Lau gives CPR to his girlfriend on a
dock is set to a series of random explosions in the background, but it weirdly
works without being unintentionally hilarious and that’s the talents of Johnnie
To at work. So in the end, Casino Raiders
II is still a mixed bag like the original, but it retains a strange and
effective balance of genre spins and effective execution that raises it above
its apparent flaws. It’s another film that’s more for fans of Hong Kong action
thrillers more than the gambling films of the era, but it’s one that gets a
hefty recommendation nonetheless.
Written By Matt Reifschneider
You don't even consider these films good enough to warrant separate reviews?
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