The Last Tycoon

[GeneChing]

Sammo & Chow. Cool. Oh wait...Wong Jing?

Chow Yun Fat And Sammo Hung Anchor ONCE UPON A TIME IN SHANGHAI (http://twitchfilm.com/news/2012/03/chow-yun-fat-and-sammo-hung-anchor-once-upon-a-time-in-shanghai.php)
by Todd Brown, March 2, 2012 11:48 AM

A pair of Hong Kong action icons will be pairing up for upcoming true crime film Once Upon A Time In Shanghai with word that Chow Yun Fat and Sammo Hung will be anchoring the cast.

Wong Jing will direct with Andrew Lau producing the film, the story based on the true life crime boss Du Yuesheng who built his crime empire through the 1920s and 30s in Shanghai and had close ties to Chiang Kai-shek.

Interestingly this is not Chow's first time tackling Du's life. The 1980's television series The Bund - the series that helped catapult him to stardom - also revolved around the crime lord, making this a homecoming of sorts for Chow.

Once Upon A Time In Shanghai will be exhibited in IMAX, so expect some big time spectacle.

[GeneChing]

Changing the title from Once Upon a Time in Shanghai to The Last Tycoon. Should be dropping right about now.

Chow Yun-fat shoots it out in 'The Last Tycoon' (http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2012-10/23/content_26878238.htm)
CRI, October 23, 2012

http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20121023/001372a9ae2711f050ad18.jpg
Actor Chow Yun-fat in the film "The Last Tycoon" [Photo: yule.sohu.com]

In the new film "The Last Tycoon", Chow Yun-fat will once again be wielding a gun.

Actor Chow Yun-fat has portrayed a number of classic gun-slinging characters on the big screen. In the new film "The Last Tycoon", he will once again be wielding a gun.

A newly released trailer provides glimpses of Chow with gun in hand, declaring that he will not betray his cause.

"The Last Tycoon" tells the story of a local hero whose gang empire ruled Shanghai in the 1930s.

In the film, lead actor Chow returns to his acclaimed "gun-fu" style, by which he first made his name in a number of films involving gunfights and kung fu.

"The Last Tycoon" also stars Huang Xiaoming, Sammo Hung, Francis Ng and Yuan Quan. It is directed by Wong Jing, and Andrew Lau is the executive producer.

The film's release date is set for December.

The Last Tycoon - Full 1st Trailer - Chow Yun-Fat - Sammo Hung (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uPAFgZQxqg)

[GeneChing]

I'm not sure I buy into the comparison of Wong Jing to Roger Corman and Russ Meyer, but makes for an amusing intro. WJ = caricature action; RC = caricature blood; RM = caricature boobs. I suppose the underlying theme is that caricature style.


The Last Tycoon: Film Review (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/last-tycoon-film-review-407423)
8:52 AM PST 1/2/2013 by Elizabeth Kerr

The Bottom Line
A surprisingly enjoyable and retro period actioner that will be carried along by its star power.

Opens
Thursday, Jan. 3 in Hong Kong

Cast
Chow Yun-fat, Gao Hu, Francis Ng, Huang Xiaoming, Sammo Hung, Yolanda Yuan

Multihyphenate Wong Jing, China's answer to Roger Corman and Russ Meyer, releases his latest film about a man from humble beginnings who rises to become a powerful gangster.

The latest surefire moneymaker from the prolific and profitable Wong Jing, Hong Kong’s answer to Roger Corman and Russ Meyer in one glorious, exploitive package, is a bit of a surprise entry for the multi-hyphenate in that the iron grip it maintains on the hoariest of H.K. cinema traditions works to its favor. The Last Tycoon is the kind of demi-epic the industry cranked out by the dozen in the 1980s and early ’90s and it would appear Wong has found a way to marry the bombastic, sometimes underhanded heroism of that era with the 21st century Mainland-ready version of it. It also appears that Wong actually made an effort for producer Andrew Lau (The Guillotines, Infernal Affairs), and so Tycoon is probably his most polished and entertaining directorial outing in years.

Writer-producer-director-actor Wong’s occasionally inflammatory career dates back to the mid-1970s, and for every goofily titillating romp (the original, less misogynistic Sex and Zen), allegedly triad-glorifying action series (Young and Dangerous) or out-and-out gorefest (Ebola Syndrome) he’s managed a God of Gamblers, Lee Rock and Naked Killer. The Last Tycoon belongs in the latter group, and stocked as it is with major talent — chiefly superstar Chow Yun-fat — that still gets attention regionally, the film should have a decent run in Asia-Pacific. Hardcore Hong Kong/Asia movie buffs will be drawn by both the old-school storytelling and talent, which could help the film gain traction in niche markets and on the genre festival circuit. A healthy DVD life is also not out of the question.

Chow plays Cheng Daqi, a man of humble beginnings that rises in the ranks of pre-WWII era underworld Shanghai to become a powerful gangster — or a more Mainland-friendly “tycoon.” Take your pick. Just as his power peaks, the war breaks out and Cheng feels compelled to use his influence to beat back the Japanese. The story starts during Daqi’s youthful days in Jiangsu (where he’s played by Huang Xiaoming) with his budding opera singer beloved Ye Zhiqiu (Joyce Feng), moves on to his involvement with Shanghai mob boss Hong Shouting (Sammo Hung) and ongoing t***** relationship with a dodgy army officer Mao Zai (always welcome Francis Ng). Years later Daqi meets up with Zhiqiu (now played by Yolanda Yuan) again, kick-starting a love triangle that proves to be the film’s weakest link.

Nonetheless, and against all logic and better judgment, the film functions perfectly as an entertainment. Wong and co-writers Philip Lui and Manfred Wong take something of a kitchen sink stance toward the script: it’s one part historical gangster actioner, one part love story and one part spy thriller (Zhiqiu’s husband is part of the resistance). No single element is fleshed out enough to really make a point but somehow Wong keeps the over packed narrative on track just enough to make it work as a whole. A great deal of credit needs to go to the holy trinity of Chow, Hung and Ng. Chow is thrust into countless deliberate mythmaking and/or myth-affirming action sequences, the least of which is a shootout in a church (including doves) and some honorable thief posturing that recalls an early Chow television series. Hung makes an entrance that could have been ripped from any of his best martial epics. Ng is Ng, holding onto his crown as Hong Kong’s most blissfully menacing actor.

Technically The Last Tycoon is one of Wong’s more accomplished offerings, even with the film’s dire need for a new sound mix to combat the ear-splitting explosions (of which there are scores). The film looks impeccable: the production design, set decoration and costumes are pitch perfect and the Shanghai of the 1930s is convincing. As expected of a period epic there is no shortage of vivid set pieces — a rain-drenched assassination attempt, a brilliantly choreographed theater assassination and the aforementioned church gun fight. Wong manages to recall The Killer, The Godfather, Casablanca and Bonnie and Clyde so shamelessly that what comes out on the other side is a bizarrely comforting bit of nostalgia filmmaking. Box office success in China relies on Daqi’s anti-hero being more “hero” than “anti-” (Daqi becomes a banker a one point, somehow considered less shady than organized crime lord), but regardless The Last Tycoon ends up a diverting romp that makes no apologies for its entertainment for entertainment’s sake attitude.

Production companies: Mega Vision Pictures, Bona Film Group
Sales: Distribution Workshop
Producer: Andrew Lau
Director: Wong Jing
Cast: Chow Yun-fat, Gao Hu, Francis Ng, Huang Xiaoming, Sammo Hung, Yolanda Yuan, Monica Mok, Xie Baoqing
Screenwriter: Philip Lui, Manfred Wong, Wong Jing
Executive producer: Yu Dong, Jeffrey Cheng
Director of photography: Jason Kwan, Andrew Lau
Production designer: Chung Man-yee
Music: Kwong Wing-chan
Costume designer: Ivy Chan, Jessie Dai
Editor: Wai Chiu Chung
No rating, 115 minutes

[GeneChing]

So this thread derailed for a bit because it initially had the same title of another production. I've moved all of that sidetrack on to this thread: Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?67027-Once-Upon-a-Time-in-Shanghai). Meanwhile, I've kept my original post here too, so it now appears in two places.

Now for my review:
Chow Yun Fat returns to the role he was born to play - a pistol-toting gangster in a white suit. Set when the Japanese invade Shanghai, this is directed by Wong Jing, who makes irreverent flicks that can either hit or miss, but never fully either way. He gives some nods to Chow's John Woo gangsters, especially in a candle-light church gun fight, but it's not enough. Sammo has a decent role. He's Chow's master, then martial brother, in the gang. The gang is righteous, in fact it's not quite clear what illegal trade they are into that is making them so rich aside from the occasional assassination, and it's usually Japanese traitors. It's a pretty film, using that same old corner club set we see in almost every Shanghai flick of that period now, punctuated by some decent ultravi. Inexplicably, Chow's character is played by Huang Xiaoming as a youth and Chow in middle age, while all of the other characters travel in time alongside him using the same actors, even Sammo, who now in his 60's, has a hard time looking young. I'm tepid on Huang. Wasn't into him in Guillotines (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62282-The-Guillotines) or Badges of Fury (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?65185-Badges-of-Fury) and he's got White Haired Witch (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?66748-The-White-Haired-Witch-Of-Lunar-Kingdom-白发魔女传之明月天国) coming out very soon. He might pass as a young Andy Lau, but a young Chow? No way.

The ultravi,when it happens, is good. Lots of big explosions, way too big given the amount of explosives, but a big explosion is a big explosion so why quibble? The merge CGI will real explosions to decent effect. Frankly, give Chow a pistol and a white suit, turn him loose, and I'm entertained. Unfortunately, there isn't enough of that. Too much sappy sentimentality. Too much Huang. Not enough Chow. No sword fight. Some spear and butterfly knife action (Philipino butt knife actually). It was good seeing Chow shoot up stuff with his usual panache, and I enjoyed the film for that, but the story was unduly complex for what it delivered.

SPOILERS: There's a lot of nekkid Sammo in a bathtub - BE WARNED. Also there's a lot of Chow crying as he watches a lot of his friends' well-timed demise (one even says "I waited for you" the gives a dying line and promptly kicks the bucket). END SPOILERS