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The Secret Society - BossAKA: The Secret Society Boss Year of release: 2003 Genre: crime Director: Lam Wai Yin Stars: Ng Chi Hung, Jason Chu, Jenny Yam, Lee Siu Kay, Cho Wing Lam, Michael Tse Rated IIB for violence and language Version reviewed: Modern DVD |
In yet another cheap shot-on-video production from Nam Yin and Takkie Yeung (though this one actually had a small theatrical run), Ng Chi Hung plays a Triad boss who takes advantage of a drugged girl in his club. The girl turns out to be the daughter of his biggest rival (Cho Wing Lam), who hatches a scheme to get back at Ng by hiring a gigolo (Jason Chu) to romance and then cruelly dump his daughter (Jenny Yam). After the deception is discovered, the stage is set for a bloody gang war.
Besides having a somewhat silly title, The Secret Society - Boss is just your usual Triad movie. There's some beatdowns with large choppers, there's some cheesy Canto-rock on the soundtrack and there's some pretty lame attempts at drama and romance. Even a lot of the actors are the same ones that usually appear in this type of film, and none of them do a particularly good job. Some fault has to be given to the script, which uses a lot of cliches, but still struggles to get to an eighty-minute running time. There's not even really any resolution given to the story -- maybe the producers just ran out of money.
At any rate, The Secret Society - Boss isn't a horrible movie, but most viewers have seen this kind of stuff done many times before, and done better. I understand that things are down in the Hong Kong movie industry and budgets are getting smaller, but shooting out shot-on-video quickies like this isn't any way to try and capture the market. Even on a rainy day, your average viewer could find something better to occupy their time with.
RATING: 4.5
