Raymond Wong Movies

SPL power duo Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen re-team for this raucous action film about a loose-cannon cop on the trail of three drug-dealing brothers. Jun (Yen) is the kind of cop who always gets his man, but may set a whole city block ablaze in the process. Though his superiors are constantly on his case, Jun knows how to get the job done and never hesitates to innovate in times of crisis. Archer (Lui Leung Wai), Tony (Collin Chou), and Tiger (Xing Yu) are three dope slingers who supply the product for much of the local drug trade, and Jun is determined to take them down at all costs. Assisting Jun in his task is undercover cop Wilson (Louis Koo), a seasoned veteran capable of infiltrating the gang and gaining their trust. Though Wilson is at first successful in his mission, his cover is soon blown and a fierce battle leaves him unable to walk on his own. Fortunately for the good guys, Archer is captured in the violent fracas. While at first this seems like a major coup for law enforcement, the small victory takes a grim turn when vengeful brother Tiger vows to eliminate sole witness Wilson before the case ever goes to trial. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Tsui Hark (The Blade) adapted his massive martial arts epic Seven Swords (AKA Qi Jian) from Liang yu-Sheng's ravenously popular novel Seven Swordsmen from Mount Tian. The story opens in the 1660s, following the implementation of China's (Manchu) Qing dynasty. To quell possible nationalist uprisings, the emperor issues a decree forbidding the use of martial arts, and guarantees decapitation for anyone who violates that order. A class of bounty hunters quickly formed to enforce the law and collect 600 pieces of silver for each violator; the most massive and domineering of the warriors is the bald, muscular Fire-Wind (Sun Honglei), a bellicose and volatile creature who lives in an elephantine tentlike dwelling on a hill. This walking terror selects Martial Village, a hamlet in northwestern China, as his next assignment. Meanwhile, in Martial, two young adults, Wu Yuanyin (Charlie Young) and her ex-beau, Han Zhibang) rescue an old executioner, Fu Qingzhu (Lau Kar-leung) who foresees the coming wrath and acknowledges the necessity of pulling in the mythical 'Warriors of Mt. Tian' to fight Fire-Wind and his cronies. The four warriors summoned by Fu include Chu Zhaonan (Donnie Yen), and Yang Yunchong (Leon Lai), who dramatically increase the tension and bloodshed when the former develops a crush on one of Fire-wind's hostages, Green Pearl (Kim So-yeon) and decides to kidnap her - sending Fire-wind through the roof. The critically-worshipped Hark reportedly cut two versions of this film (including a 2 1/2 hour cut and a 3-hour cut) and demonstrated incredible confidence in Qi Jian by planning it as the initial installment in a massive series of multimedia sequels, including a 74-part television series, an online video game, comics, and five additional films. The picture itself testifies to this, with the setup for a sophomore installment in its conclusion. Qi Jian, however, did lackluster box office when it opened in the Far East in July 2005, making the follow-ups less than certain. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A spoiled rich boy and his two unruly friends are enrolled in Police Cadet training school to hilarious results in this Hong Kong comedy starring popular actor/singer Ronald Cheng. Lung (Cheng) is a rowdy brat with no sense of respect or responsibility, and his father has grown increasingly concerned about the rabble-rousing youngster's future. In a desperate bid to teach his son, and the boy's equally obnoxious friends, a lesson in adulthood, Lung's father enrolls all three in the cadet training program that's sure to whip them into shape. Despite his best intentions, Lung's father finds that his efforts are in vain as the three slackers vow to get into as much mischief as needed to get expelled from the prison-like school. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Wilson Yip's romantic comedy Gon Chai Lit Fo (Dry Wood Fierce Fire) stars popular Hong Kong comedienne Miriam Yeung. Alice Tsui (Yeung) writes a health column for a magazine that is purchased by a publication aimed at men. She is attracted to her beautiful but unctuous new editor, Ryan Li (Louis Koo). When he expresses an interest in a different girl, Alice agrees to give him lessons in how to win her heart. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A low-key supernatural chiller from Bio-Cops director Steve Cheng, Sleeping With the Dead finds depressed hospital surgeon David (Jordan Chan) drifting into contact with a malevolant ghost following the death of his mother and the discovery that his wife has been unfaithful. Having gained the ability to see ghosts following an incident in which he momentarily flatlined as a child, David's unique ability results in a withdrawn man pushed even further towards the edge following his wife's affair. Soon embarking on an affair of his own, David is subsequently troubled to learn that several members of his childhood group of friends have fallen victim to an otherworldly killer, each killed on their birthdays and having had their left eyeballs removed. Teaming with surviving friend, and cop, Iron Cheung (Simon Lui) to uncover the mystery of the killing before Cheung's rapidly approaching birthday, it seems that time may be running out for the hapless duo. When mysterious scars begin to form on Cheung's body - most disturbingly near his left eye, David must use his abilities to uncover the killer before its too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Three dedicated health-care workers try to save a hospital from itself in this satiric comedy. Sir Ho Kau Kei Hospital is an absurdly mismanaged medical facility in Hong Kong where most of the doctors have given up caring about their patients, and the few that still do are frustrated with the endless red tape of the hospital's management team. Three exceptions are doctors Joe (Ekin Cheng) and Jim (Jordan Chang) and nurse Yan (Cecilia Cheung) -- or at least two of them are exceptions, since Joe has quit to become a mechanic with a team of race car drivers. Jim, however, tries to convince Joe to return to the hospital, where he knows he's doing something worthwhile. Yan, meanwhile, was inspired to enter the medical profession when her life was saved by an emergency appendectomy performed at Sir Ho Kau Kei Hospital; Yan has decided she'll marry whoever it was who performed the surgery, but no one is sure if the doctor on call was Jim or Joe. Lat Sau Wui Cheun was created by the same production team responsible for the box-office triumph Gu Nam Gwa Nui, and was screened in competition at the 2001 {~Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Master Hong Kong director Ringo Lam spins this wild genre-bending flick that is equal parts psychodrama, action thriller, caper movie, and ghost story. The film opens with computer designer Ma (Lau Ching-wan) getting kidnapped in a parking structure. His girlfriend Amy Fu (Amy Kwok) informs the police that though he had been jobless for a while and had a lot of debt, he was basically a good egg. Police detective Pit (Tony Leung Kar-wai) soon discovers Ma beaten, bloodied, and dangling upside down from the ceiling of an old abandoned hotel -- one that has been notoriously haunted since the murder-suicide of the owner and his feckless wife. Ma subsequently starts terrifying Amy by behaving like the famous ghost of the hotel. The police, however, suspect that Ma's possession might be a ruse to shield some larger and more nefarious crime. Due to a creative dispute that Lam had with producer Joe Ma, there are two different endings to this film. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

The godfather of the Hong Kong action spectacular, Tsui Hark adapts Chang Cheh's 1967 martial arts masterpiece The One-Armed Swordsman into a two-fisted yarn about violence and revenge. On (Zhao Wenzhou) is a nebbish orphan working at sword manufacturers. When he learns of first the vicious murder of a local holy man and later of the equally vicious slaying of his own father at the hands of barbarous band of bandits, he vows revenge. His early attempts at justice go horribly -- he loses his right arm in an ambush. Though On recovers after being nursed back to health by a recluse, he remains an outcast in the world of warriors. After dogged training, he invents a new fighting technique that proves to be quick and powerful enough to thwart the baddies -- especially the psychopathic bandit leader Lung (Xiong Xinxin). This film -- along with Wong Kar-wai's brilliant Ashes of Time -- is considered to be the high-water mark of the swordplay genre that gained popularity in the mid-'90s. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

The third filmization of the Chinese version of Phantom of the Opera, this Hong Kong operatic melodrama is set in the fatastical burned-out husk of a once glorious opera house located near 1937 Beijing. The tale begins as a homeless theater troupe arrives there and listens to the caretaker describe the theater's demise. It happened a decade ago when the enemies of former famous actor Song Danping, who built the place, torched it for revenge after his affair with the already betrothed Yunyan was discovered. Unfortunately, Song was in the theater at the time and his body was never found. The troupe makes the theater their new home and as they rehearse, actress Wei Quing makes the acquaintance of a ghostly figure who turns out to be Song. He shares with her his plan for vengeance. Those plans involve a brilliant restaging of Romeo and Juliet designed to help him bring back his beloved Yunyan and restore the sanity she lost after he was murdered. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Action director Tony Leung Siu-hung helms this Lethal Weapon inspired action yarn starring Jade Leung Ching as Jade Leung, a tough-as-nails Hong Kong cop with strong suicidal tendencies. Sent to Singapore as a part of a joint police effort with the FBI to bust a weapons ring, Jade is paired up with fellow cop Ellen (Anita Lee Yuen-wah). Together they manage to recruit the head gangster's lawyer as an informant. Later after dodging a hail of bullets and battling some truly fearsome Indonesian thugs -- including one with a bionic hand -- Jade first finds herself lost in the jungle and then hanging from a helicopter. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Hong Kong filmmaker Johnny To directed this all-star holiday comedy, another in a string of popular Lunar New Year entertainments for actor/producer Raymond Wong, who engineered the similar All's Well, Ends Well series. As usual, the plot line is just an excuse for a series of amusing cameos and comic routines, but provides a number of laughs as it tells the story of three brothers, the mincingly effeminate Fang Chien-lang (Chow Yun-fat), cartoonist Chien-sang (Jacky Cheung), and their middle-aged older sibling, Chien-hui (Wong). Chien-lang romances both a stewardess (Carol Cheng) and a hedonistic department store saleswoman (Cherie Chung) who has a boyfriend (Lawrence Cheng); Chien-sang falls for a jogger named Ying-ying (Fennie Yuen); and Chien-hui romances a Chinese opera singer (Petrina Fung) whom he isn't aware is the same person who has been crank-calling him. As a result of some telephone problems, all three brothers experience some wild ups and downs in their respective relationships before finally attaining romantic bliss following a climactic opera performance involving all the main characters. As with Wong's other holiday films, genre aficionados will have a field day spotting familiar faces, including Karl Maka and Teddy Robin Kwan in the audience, and City on Fire director Ringo Lam as Fung's husband. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

The businessman in this film has been in a committed relationship with a woman for over seven years, and in all that time he hasn't dallied with anyone else. He is not married to her, but he may as well be, except for the fact that he is deeply moved by the sight of beautiful women. One day, while on a business trip to Singapore, a sexy thief hides her booty in his luggage in order to evade capture by the police. In order to ensure that he will hook up with her again, she comes on to him, leading him to think that she is available. Later, in his hotel room, she sneaks in and retrieves her jewels but leaves behind a warm note. In this comedy, the hapless businessman mistakes these attentions for intimations of true love -- or at least the possibility of true lust, and he frantically tries to make them come true. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide