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Released by: Well Go USA
Released on: January 7th, 2014.
Director: Wong Tsz Ming
Cast: Jet Li, Wen Zhang, Collin Chou, Cecilia Liu, Michelle Chen
Year: 2013
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The Movie:
Directed by Wong Tsz Ming may, on the surface, look like a bad ass cop thriller, the kind that guys like John Woo and Ringo Lam churned out in the glory days of Hong Kong cinema but the truth is, it's closer to Hot Fuzz than to Hardboiled. With a whole lot of bizarre sound effects, keystone cops style sped up photography and utterly stupid camerawork and completely unnecessary CGI effects.
The story begins by explaining and showing to us how a few unlucky dudes have died sudden deaths under bizarre circumstances - the key piece linking these deaths is that they all went with a big, goofy smile on their faces. Got it? Good. No we head to a fancy party at the shore where for some reason there's a male dance troupe decked out in fine Scottish regalia. It turns out that one of the guys in this troupe is Wang Bu'er (Wen Zhang), a cop who is working undercover with the two other members on his team - an older tough guy named Huang Feihong (Jet Li) who is disguised as a cook and a cute female officer named Angela (Michelle Chen) who is doing surveillance in a van. Of course, it all hits the fan and they blow the gig but after being chewed out by their boss for doing over a million dollars in damage to the bar, they're congratulated by a man in black for capturing a notorious internet movie pirate. Feihong doesn't think this is a big deal until he's told that the fiend was pirating copies of Fearless, at which point he wants the book thrown at him (there are all sorts of little jokes thrown in here for Hong Kong action movie aficionados).
From here our team winds up investigating those deaths that opened the movie. It turns out that each victim was at one point dating an actress named Dai Yi Yi (Yan Liu). They bring her in for questioning but she insists that she's innocent. Enter Dai's sister, the beautiful Liu Jinshui (Liu Shishi), her older sister. She claims that Dai is cursed but there's got to be more to this right? Our trio of bumbling cops enter the fray and put their investigative skills to the test as they wind up fighting their way through Hong Kong to uncover the truth, and along the way they run into insane insurance agents, engage in a high speed bicycle chase, run afoul of some mobsters and… yeah, this just gets really nutty.
Filled with the kind of groan inducing slapstick comedy that doesn't seem to really make it into martial arts movies anymore, Badges Of Fury pays tribute to plenty of past Hong Kong classics with not only literal references but also loads of cameos and sight gags. It's laid on a little thick but as silly and frequently down right stupid as this movie is, it's hard not to laugh at it. Nobody involved in any of this appears to have taken it seriously for a second so know going in that you're going to be beaten over the head with wholly inappropriate sound effects and completely off the wall stunts that don't make any logical sense. You should also expect the plot to go into about six different directions at once before kinda-sorta wrapping everything up in the end with a finale so contrived that you can't help but snicker (which is probably the point).
The cast here are game. Wen Zhang apes Bruce Lee in a few scenes and handles himself well in a few fights but also hams it up by playing the 'ladies' man' type and consistently mugging for the camera. Jet Li shows pretty solid comedic timing, though his delivery here is far more dry than most of his co-stars, his character really just wants the work day to end so he can get home (and we do learn why, but we won't spoil that here - needless to say, he's completely justified). Michelle Chen is a little too whiny for her own good in a few spots but her character grows on you, while Yan Liu more or less plays things completely straight and actually manages to evoke some sympathy in a few spots. Throw in Liu Shishi as the vampish boyfriend stealing sexpot and things shape up quite well here in terms of who does what in front of the camera.
Make no mistake, Badges Of Fury is borderline brain dead, it pays no heed to logic or plotting, but if you've got a soft spot for the utterly silly Hong Kong action comedies of the eighties, you'll probably have a pretty good time with this one.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shot on high grade professional digital video cameras, the transfer on this AVC encoded 1080p high definition release frames the movie at 2.35.1 widescreen and it looks excellent. As you'd expect, there's no dirt or debris here (one of the benefits of a digital to digital transfer) and detail is generally outstanding. Colors are nicely reproduced and look quite natural most of the time even if they are a little on the bleak side in terms of style. Black levels are strong throughout and contrast is solid. Some of the CGI used in the certain scenes look kind of silly and are obviously computer generated but outside of that (and let's be honest, that's a source issue not a disc issue), no complaints here. This is an excellent looking transfer from Well Go USA.
The Chinese language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix is also very strong. Though you'd think that this might be one of those tracks that beats you over the head with shoots outs and action sequences, and there are moments where this is the case, but at times the sound mix is more subtle than that - the scenes that take place inside the police station for example, you can clearly hear office work being done in the background. There are moments of intense surround activity throughout though that add to the goofiness of it all and that, in turn, add to the fun. The disc also includes an English language DTS-HD 5.1 track and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks in both English and Chinese. Optional English subtitles are available.
The main extra on the disc is a Making Of Featurette that clocks in at just over twenty-six minutes. It's made up of cast and crew interviews as well as behind the scenes footage and it's broken up into four sections: The Guys / The Girls / Wen Zhang Action Scene / Funny Stuff. Additionally we also get a fourteen minute Behind The Scenes that showcases some fly on the wall style on set footage and some talking head EPK style interview clips. A trailer for the feature is also included as are trailers for a few other Well Go USA properties. Menus and chapter stops are also found on the disc and the Blu-ray case fits inside a slipcase featuring identical cover art.
The Final Word:
Badges Of Fury won't be for all tastes, it is a very silly and at times almost juvenile film, but as it piles on one ridiculous set piece after the next, you can't help but be entertained by it all. Those looking for a dark cop thriller in the grand tradition of the Hong Kong new wave should quickly run away and scream but if you can get into completely inane plotting and utterly ludicrous action set pieces, you'll more than likely get a big kick out of this. Well Go USA's Blu-ray is a good one, offering up the movie in excellent shape with rock solid audio and a few decent extras too. A really fun release overall.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
