While scouring my Asian movie rental queue, I noticed a new Hong Kong action flick with Shawn Yue, who I think is a moderately talented actor who appears in very entertaining films ("Diary", "Infernal Affairs 2", "Dragon Tiger Gate", etc.). However, after noticing that the title was "Playboy Cops", I immediately expected a no-brain commercial fluff piece with lame humor and dopey characters. Needless to say, I was apprehensive when I noticed that it snuck to the top of my queue and was mailed to my home. After watching the film I can honestly say that it proved to be a nice surprise.
Review In One Breath: Shawn Yue is a rich police officer who helps his new acquaintance find a murderer. The whole set-up is very familiar, but the use of money is a bit unexpected and actually helps to build character. The fights are grounded and scrappy (focusing on realism over all else), the infrequent doses of humor are effective, and the conclusion is gripping. The acting is also surprisingly excellent, even by the token love interest, and Yue gives the most impressive performance of his career. A very good, serious movie that's much better than one might initially expect.
It seems that many review sites dedicated to Hong Kong movies keep complaining about the "death of Hong Kong cinema" for some unknown reason. (I know it sucks that production has dropped, but we're talking quality here, not quantity). I've had a healthy dose of such films from the apparent "Golden Age" to present day, but it always seems like the older movies almost always get lots of slack from the mainstream press (who like to ignore the most glaring flaws), even if the movie itself is awful. On the other hand, every Hong Kong film made during the 21st Century seems to get trashed immediately out of the gate, with every little flaw magnified as to convey in every possible way that the film sucks. I tell ya, these people (especially that Kozo guy from LoveHKFilm, who "Highly Recommends" some of the worst movies released during the "Golden Age") are very selective in wearing their rose-colored glasses. And it's not a random process, if you know what I mean.
Take "Playboy Cops" as an example. This movie is on the same level as many of the better flicks released during the 1980s and 1990s in terms of overall quality and entertainment value (and actually exceeds a good chunk of those films too). Acting, directing, and even scriptwriting are all fine and dandy here. Yet somehow it gets demeaned as being "just okay, considering what we get from Hong Kong lately." Nonsense. This is a solid flick period! Where are those rose-colored glasses? Or do you guys only break them out when watching something released before 1995?
I would strongly recommend "Playboy Cops" to anyone who likes quality Hong Kong film-making. Sure, it's no "Hard Boiled" or "Infernal Affairs", but it's well worth watching and infinitely more entertaining and well-made than "Golden Age" trash like "Ashes of Time." The current rating of 4.4 on IMDb is a travesty.
