With a spate of murders happening across the city, cops Zhang and Li set out to find who is behind them. Their only link is that all the victims were dating the same unfortunate girl. This gives Zhang the idea (and chance) to date her in a bid to lure out the killer...
Badges Of Fury sounds a lot more serious than it really is. The opening five minutes of the flick lets you know exactly what kind of film you are in for. From ridiculous deaths to its nutty opening credits and dodgy CGI, the film yanks at its audience's legs, as if Wong Jing had directed Naked Gun. From the cute and hilarious Wen Zhang dressed in a kilt for a stake-out, to the wonderful Jet Li poking fun at himself and his movies - with his character here named Huang Fei Hong; any fans and critics who have crushed this movie because of its misleading artwork, need to go back and have another go!
The 10 minute mark gives us our first bout of action, with the kilted Zhang taking on the awesome Collin Chou in some Crouching Tiger styled fighting at a roof-top party. The fight soon moves into a stairwell where Jet Li takes over, leaping from floor to floor with some great moves and stunts keeping things exciting. Minutes later, as Li flies towards Chou, leg extended for a finishing move only to be stopped by Zhang, who bursts through the door offering a cheeky (but welcoming) up-skirt shot as he whips out his gun. Of course, his entry leaves poor Jet hanging in the door frame, and lets Chou escape...
While I can certainly see the flaws of director Wong Tsz Ming's first feature, its certainly not as bad as most people are making out. I've seen worse from seasoned directors, and while it may seem insanely stupid, messy and over-the-top at times, no-one would have made the same remarks had this been a product of Hong Kong cinema's golden era. It would have been just another crazy Hong Kong movie. The film is packed with so much outrageous and overly ambitious comic situations, scenes and camera angles, it can only be best described as a live-action cartoon. And at the same time, maybe that's its problem?!?
Written by Charcoal Cheung Tan (honestly), the same man who penned classics such as Once Upon A Time In China 2 & 3, Iron Monkey, The Assassin, and Wonder Seven also wrote The Sorcerer And The White Snake which starred Jet Li and Wen Zhang, in 2011. You would think with movies like this behind him, Badges Of Fury may have been something a little bit better, but at the same time, Charcoal has clearly written this script in a relaxed state and something he didn't really have to take too seriously, often taking inspiration from his past ideas regarding this films action scenes.
The legendary Corey Yuen Kwai handles the fight direction, and while its all practically wire-based with some hand-to-hand among the insane moves, it definitely works and offers a lot of fun. There's a great fight between Jet Li and Wu Jing in an apartment, with Zhang trying to help, only to get hit at every move; the aforementioned stairwell fight; a great battle between Zhang and the wonderful Leung Kar Yan and his friends in what is one of the highlights for me (Leung Kar Yan should definitely be doing more like this); to the epic end fight between Jet Li and awesome Bruce Liang who returns to form harking back to his character in the epic Kung Fu Hustle, and more!
I say kudos to the director for a pretty entertaining film. While not perfect, nor is it anything like the artwork and promo materials may be selling, Badges Of Fury is a murder mystery all wrapped up in some plain-crazy-fun, with a host of great fight action and a fantastic cast list (most of which are cameos). I'll not give away the ending, but I do recommend a watch for anyone who is a fan of Chow Sing Chi or Wong Jing comedies, or simply just to see some great modern day wire-fu action...
The post-credit bloopers let you see just how much the cast and team seemed to be having making it.
Overall: Not to be taken seriously by any means, Badges Of Fury does have its flaws, but proves to be entertaining at the same time!
Badges Of Fury sounds a lot more serious than it really is. The opening five minutes of the flick lets you know exactly what kind of film you are in for. From ridiculous deaths to its nutty opening credits and dodgy CGI, the film yanks at its audience's legs, as if Wong Jing had directed Naked Gun. From the cute and hilarious Wen Zhang dressed in a kilt for a stake-out, to the wonderful Jet Li poking fun at himself and his movies - with his character here named Huang Fei Hong; any fans and critics who have crushed this movie because of its misleading artwork, need to go back and have another go!
The 10 minute mark gives us our first bout of action, with the kilted Zhang taking on the awesome Collin Chou in some Crouching Tiger styled fighting at a roof-top party. The fight soon moves into a stairwell where Jet Li takes over, leaping from floor to floor with some great moves and stunts keeping things exciting. Minutes later, as Li flies towards Chou, leg extended for a finishing move only to be stopped by Zhang, who bursts through the door offering a cheeky (but welcoming) up-skirt shot as he whips out his gun. Of course, his entry leaves poor Jet hanging in the door frame, and lets Chou escape...
While I can certainly see the flaws of director Wong Tsz Ming's first feature, its certainly not as bad as most people are making out. I've seen worse from seasoned directors, and while it may seem insanely stupid, messy and over-the-top at times, no-one would have made the same remarks had this been a product of Hong Kong cinema's golden era. It would have been just another crazy Hong Kong movie. The film is packed with so much outrageous and overly ambitious comic situations, scenes and camera angles, it can only be best described as a live-action cartoon. And at the same time, maybe that's its problem?!?
Written by Charcoal Cheung Tan (honestly), the same man who penned classics such as Once Upon A Time In China 2 & 3, Iron Monkey, The Assassin, and Wonder Seven also wrote The Sorcerer And The White Snake which starred Jet Li and Wen Zhang, in 2011. You would think with movies like this behind him, Badges Of Fury may have been something a little bit better, but at the same time, Charcoal has clearly written this script in a relaxed state and something he didn't really have to take too seriously, often taking inspiration from his past ideas regarding this films action scenes.
The legendary Corey Yuen Kwai handles the fight direction, and while its all practically wire-based with some hand-to-hand among the insane moves, it definitely works and offers a lot of fun. There's a great fight between Jet Li and Wu Jing in an apartment, with Zhang trying to help, only to get hit at every move; the aforementioned stairwell fight; a great battle between Zhang and the wonderful Leung Kar Yan and his friends in what is one of the highlights for me (Leung Kar Yan should definitely be doing more like this); to the epic end fight between Jet Li and awesome Bruce Liang who returns to form harking back to his character in the epic Kung Fu Hustle, and more!
I say kudos to the director for a pretty entertaining film. While not perfect, nor is it anything like the artwork and promo materials may be selling, Badges Of Fury is a murder mystery all wrapped up in some plain-crazy-fun, with a host of great fight action and a fantastic cast list (most of which are cameos). I'll not give away the ending, but I do recommend a watch for anyone who is a fan of Chow Sing Chi or Wong Jing comedies, or simply just to see some great modern day wire-fu action...
The post-credit bloopers let you see just how much the cast and team seemed to be having making it.
Overall: Not to be taken seriously by any means, Badges Of Fury does have its flaws, but proves to be entertaining at the same time!