Kirk Wong Movies

Kirk Wong directed this comedy actioner about mild-mannered, beleaguered hitman Melvin Smiley (Mark Wahlberg), who very much wants to be liked. However, the naive Mel is being taken advantage of by both his girlfriends and associates (who cheat him out of his bonuses). Mel and his "Odd Squad" -- Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips), Crunch (Bokeem Woodbine), Vince (Antonio Sabato Jr.), and Gump (Robin Dunne) -- work for Paris (Avery Brooks), head of an international crime cartel and a contractor for hit jobs. Mel's mistress Chantel (Lela Rochon), who views him as a meal ticket, lives rent-free in his house, misspends his money, and is continually thinking of ways to get more from him. Her latest scheme is concocting tales about overdue mortgage and car payments, but she really wants the money to run away with her lover Sergio. Mel and his team head into a big shootout to waste some rival mobsters. One person kills the electricity; the others don night-vision goggles. Melvin handles most of the action, including shooting while bungee-bouncing near a staircase, finally making a spectacular bungee-exit from the top floors of the building just as it explodes in flames. A quick and easy weekend job backfires when their kidnap victim, a rich industrialist's teenage daughter Keiko Nishi (China Chow), turns out to be the godchild of their boss, crime czar Paris. When Cisco, mastermind of the plan, is summoned by Paris, he manages to shift blame to Mel. Meanwhile, Chantel absconds with Mel's earnings just as the disapproving parents (Elliott Gould, Lainie Kazan) of Mel's fiancee Pam (Christina Applegate) are due for a visit. Since Pam gave her parents $50,000 from Mel's bank account, they're on their way to thank him and hopefully benefit from another financial windfall. As his professional and domestic woes collide, Mel finds himself dodging bullets while trying to impress his potential in-laws. Throw in an overzealous video-store clerk demanding the return of an overdue tape (King Kong Returns), and it's not long before Mel's life starts to unravel. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This is the third in a Hong Kong action trilogy loosely based on actual facts told to filmmaker Kirk Wong by a former policeman. The second is Organized Crime & Triad Bureau. Hung is a renegade plainclothes policeman who chases a crazed killer and his gang into neighboring Shenzhen. He and a tough mainland cop Wang follow the killer's moll to their lair. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Internationally famed action star Jackie Chan tones down his usual martial arts pyrotechnics for a more traditionally dramatic role in this police drama. Crime Story finds Chan portraying a Hong Kong police detective, an honest cop guilt-ridden over his participation in a recent shoot-out. He is absolved of wrong-doing by the force, however, and assigned to protect a major real estate developer. Despite Chan's best efforts, though, the man under his care is soon kidnapped. The criminals demand millions in payment from the developer's wife, and Chan takes it upon himself to try and foil their plot and rescue the developer. His job is made more difficult by the fact that his new partner on the case, an esteemed detective, is secretly in cahoots with the criminals. Though there are a number of martial arts sequences near the film's climax, much of the action is more typical of Hollywood than Hong Kong, consisting of shoot-outs, explosions, and extended car chases. The ample amount of blood and the overall gritty tone combines with Chan's restrained performance to create a darker experience than most other Chan films familiar to American audiences. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In this stylish Hong Kong thriller, Tony Leung stars as a cop in Shanghai during the 1930s. His department is overrun with corruption, while gangsters rule the city via the opium trade. The young cop recruits the aid of some rickshaw drivers who turn out to be men he served with during the war, and in the tradition of The Untouchables of U.S. television and film, the group leads a crusade against the mob. This is an early work by Kirk Wong, who later directed the 1998 film The Big Hit starring Mark Wahlberg. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide

Che-Kirk Wong's science fiction/martial arts film Health Warning (also known as Flash Future Kung Fu) takes place in the 21st century. Machines with artificial intelligence have taken over the world. And the only weapon at the disposal of the remaining humans is martial arts. The film stars Johnny Wang, Eddy Ko Hung, and Ray Lui Leung-Wai. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide