THE ADVENTURERS (Da Mao Xian Jia)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound format: Mono
A Cambodian fighter pilot (Andy Lau) is recruited by American security forces to penetrate the inner circle of a billionaire arms dealer (Paul Chun) who murdered Lau's parents two decades earlier. But Lau's quest for vengeance is complicated when he falls in love with Chun's beautiful daughter (Jacklyn Wu)...
Though responsible for some of the most popular HK action-dramas of recent times, including such well-received entries as PRISON ON FIRE (1987) and FULL CONTACT (1992), director Ringo Lam courted criticism with this ultra-commercial potboiler, dismissed in some quarters as little more than a vehicle for Asian superstar Lau, as if the actor-singer was somehow unworthy of Lam's 'respectable' oeuvre. However, for all its faults - real and imagined - THE ADVENTURERS is an entertaining mixture of high emotion, brutal violence and thrilling stuntwork, headlined by some of the industry's brightest talents.
Episodic in structure, the movie follows a group of disparate characters from Cambodia to Thailand to San Francisco and back again to Cambodia, where Lau seeks redemption for a traumatic childhood incident in which his family was slaughtered by Chun and his wicked cohorts. Lam makes a virtue of the melodramatic plot and excessive action scenes, culminating in Lau's disastrous assassination attempt on Chun during a swanky reception in a Thai hotel, one of the most dynamic set-pieces of Lam's career to date. Wu - paired with Lau for the third time since their successful teaming in Benny Chan's A MOMENT OF ROMANCE (1990) - is Chun's estranged daughter, a firebrand who falls into the hands of rival gangsters and is rescued by Lau, who detains her in an effort to draw her father's attention and insinuate himself into Chun's criminal organization (there's real chemistry between these two gorgeous young actors, exemplified by a wonderful sequence in which Lau foils Wu's comical attempts to escape from their country hideout), whilst Rosamund Kwan - another long-standing Asian celebrity - plays Chun's unhappy moll, a dignified creature whose desperate longing to escape the villain's clutches has appalling consequences for everyone around her, especially Wu.
Lam's eventful screenplay - co-written with Yip Gong-yam and Sandy Shaw - generates tension by emphasizing Lau's divided loyalties and highlighting the moral uncertainty of his plot to destroy Chun, and while the role is hardly a stretch for Lau (he's built an entire movie career on such flawed but heroic characters, ever since his debut in Ann Hui's 1982 feature BOAT PEOPLE), he plays it with just the right amount of compassion and nobility. Co-stars include Shaw Brothers favorite David Chiang, Ben Ng (the scene-stealing villain from Billy Tang's horrific RED TO KILL), and Asian-American actors Victor Wong (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) and George Kee. Technical credits are superb: Wong Wing-ming's rapid-fire editing maintains a quickfire pace without sacrificing characters or narrative coherence, and Lam's high-powered direction is well-served by celebrated cinematographers Arthur Wong and Ardy Lam, who flatter Lau's beauty with their careful lighting schemes and underline the drama with tilted angles and fluid, mobile camera-work. Die-hard fans may have been divided by the film, but casual viewers will almost certainly get their money's worth.
(Cantonese dialogue)
