(Sorry, a few spoilers here!)
The Enforcer is a surprisingly great movie, esp. by Hong Kong standards. It deals with Jet Li being a deep undercover police-man from Beijing, who despite a sick wife and a son that needs him keeps being sent on long undercover missions. Here, he's sent to Hong Kong to infiltrate a crime syndicate. While helping them, he is caught on a photo by the Hong Kong police who doesn't know him, and Anita Mui, a highly placed Hong Kong police lieutenant, goes to Beijing to find out who he is. She finds his wife and son, and realizes that the crook she came to find may not in fact be a crook. Soon, the wife gets sicker, and eventually dies. The lieutenant then takes care of the son, and they go to Hong Kong to find the undercover cop. That's just half the movie. The other half involves the kid being in danger and even being beaten by his dad because the father has to act coldblooded in front of the mafia guys. Then there's some very good chemistry between Jet Li and Anita Mui's characters, and the final battle with the bad guys is good and rewarding.
All in all, this movie is told incredibly well, and everything in it rings true and is very, very moving. Great story, very good acting, lots of cool kung fu (also from surprisingly supple Anita Mui!), *and* lots of great action scenes in general. Never a dull moment.
The only thing wrong with the movie is that we're never really told who Jet Li's character really is. We know he's a good guy, and that he works for a police chief, but this chief denies knowing him as anything other than a crook, even when the Hong Kong police lieutenant shows up to inquire about him. But this is a minor thing that I am more than willing to ignore. This is a very satisfying movie in all ways.
9 out of 10.
The Enforcer is a surprisingly great movie, esp. by Hong Kong standards. It deals with Jet Li being a deep undercover police-man from Beijing, who despite a sick wife and a son that needs him keeps being sent on long undercover missions. Here, he's sent to Hong Kong to infiltrate a crime syndicate. While helping them, he is caught on a photo by the Hong Kong police who doesn't know him, and Anita Mui, a highly placed Hong Kong police lieutenant, goes to Beijing to find out who he is. She finds his wife and son, and realizes that the crook she came to find may not in fact be a crook. Soon, the wife gets sicker, and eventually dies. The lieutenant then takes care of the son, and they go to Hong Kong to find the undercover cop. That's just half the movie. The other half involves the kid being in danger and even being beaten by his dad because the father has to act coldblooded in front of the mafia guys. Then there's some very good chemistry between Jet Li and Anita Mui's characters, and the final battle with the bad guys is good and rewarding.
All in all, this movie is told incredibly well, and everything in it rings true and is very, very moving. Great story, very good acting, lots of cool kung fu (also from surprisingly supple Anita Mui!), *and* lots of great action scenes in general. Never a dull moment.
The only thing wrong with the movie is that we're never really told who Jet Li's character really is. We know he's a good guy, and that he works for a police chief, but this chief denies knowing him as anything other than a crook, even when the Hong Kong police lieutenant shows up to inquire about him. But this is a minor thing that I am more than willing to ignore. This is a very satisfying movie in all ways.
9 out of 10.