Unfortunately, King of Chess isn't a thrilling and dramatic story detailing the rise of that pinnacle of 1980's fashion and the linchpin of suburbanite cool, Chess King. Rather, here we are "treated" to a boring and mundane morality tale that fails to get its' point across, even while delivering it with all the subtlety of a Triple H sledgehammer strike to the nether regions.

The titular character, Wong, is played by Tony Leung Ka-Fai, who also co-wrote the script. Wong is caught up in the social upheaval of the Cultural Revolution, where his passion for the game of chess is considered dangerous to the masses, since it encourages bourgeois values. His story is shown through the eyes of Ching (John Shum), who, as a child, spent time alongside Wong in a labor camp and is now a TV producer grooming a new young chess king (Wong Sing-Fong) for stardom, whether he wants it or not.

King of Chess has a very obvious point to make to potential viewers: communism isn't good. In fact, it's pretty awful. But unchecked consumerism sweeping through China and its' related territories isn't all rosy, either. But even though the thrust of the movie is painfully clear, producer Tsui Hark didn't think the picture was working in showing its' intent, and so he stepped in to film more scenes set in the modern world. The end result becomes a mess, as the movie struggles to find a focus for its' storytelling voice. Neither the present-day or flashback footage is all that compelling because of all the jumping back and forth, resulting in an effort that comes off like it was trying far too hard to be arty to be truly effective.

While someone like myself, who has watched hundreds upon hundreds of releases from Hong Kong over the years, can appreciate film-makers from the region stepping outside the easy money audience-friendly realms of Triad shenanigans, martial arts, or comedy and trying to present something of substance to viewers, King of Chess is so boring and disjointed, it is more of a chore than anything else to sit through, which is, of course, not a good thing at all when it comes to motion pictures. Even if you're a major Tsui Hark fan, you'll probably want to skip King of Chess. This is one of the lesser-known entries in his filmography for good reason.

RATING: 3