The Big Score
1990
Director: Wong Jing
Action director: Wong Kwan
Writer: Wong Jing
Stars: Joey Wong, Danny Lee, Wong Jing, Anthony Wong, Lung Fong, Agnes Aurelio
Take a bit of gambling movies, some cop drama, and a dollop of James Bond, throw it into Wong Jing's frazzled brain and the results come out as this enjoyable -- if schizophrenic -- film. The plot revolves around Danny Lee who plays his usual hot-headed cop who is on the trail of a drug dealer named Panther (Lung Fong). Things seem to be going well for the case after undercover cop Anthony Wong gets the goods, but Panther bribes his way out of the charges. He then takes his revenge on Anthony in typical Wong Jing fashion by raping his pregnant wife, killing his child, throwing acid down his throat, shooting him in the kneecaps, and then blinding him by punching his eyeballs with spiked brass knuckles. And you thought you had a bad day at work. Anyhow, Danny is understandably pissed, so he goes and beats up his superior. After being thrown off the force, Danny hooks up with Anthony's old partner (Wong Jing). They hatch a scheme for revenge that involves taking Panther's girlfriend (Joey Wong) and then bankrupting him in a gambling match.
Like many Wong Jing films, the results here are uneven in parts, but overall The Big Score manages to gel together in a fun romp. It was nice seeing Danny Lee playing off his usual hardass image. Wong also manages to reign in his usual penchant for toilet humor, and the result is some actual "smart" comedy, including dead-on parodies of The Killer and Terminator 2. Even Wong's performance is reigned in a bit from his other on-screen work. He plays a wolf, but he's not so much of a dirty old man here. Action-wise, The Big Score doesn't disappoint. As per Wong Jing's usual operation, the action is well-shot, over-the-top and quite violent. And, as you might expect, the climatic gambling scene is done well. Even though I still don't really know the rules of these games (even though I have watched a good number of gambling-oriented movies) they are still exciting to watch, due to good performances and excellent editing.
If there is fault to be found with The Big Score, it goes to the pacing. The movie really grinds down in certain parts as Wong tries a bit to hard to inject "real" dramatics into the film. Thankfully, Wong seems to know his strengths, and drops the more serious aspects, and quickly switches back to the more mindless fun which he is better known for.
RATING: 7