Must See Movie...

hyped garbage

Beautiful, moving film.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

At the end of "Dragon Heat," all I could think of was why I bothered sitting through the whole thing.The film's premise is interesting and that - as well as Maggie Q - is what attracted me to the film in the first place. But was I ever disappointed. Writer-director Daniel Lee can't hold a candle to the likes of John Woo, Ringo Lam and Corey Yuen.This has to be one of the most annoyingly-directed films I have ever seen. Lee is so wrapped up in his visual style - and I use that phrase incredibly loosely - that he fills the film with completely needless black-and-white stills, freeze frames, slow-motion, fast-motion and other visual nonsense. I suppose he did all that to make up for the lack of a good story or dialogue.The action scenes are nothing special and play out like some hopped-up music video more than anything else. There is little to care about any of the characters - including two supposedly professional snipers who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside! - who are then laden with some of the cheesiest dialogue I have seen in one of these Hong Kong actioners.The plot is devoid of any twists and turns - from the initial set-up, everything unfolds in predictable fashion - and Lee feels the need to keep reminding us of the characters' back stories in case we didn't get it the first several times. This is awfully amateurish writing and film-making and wastes the talents of Sammo Hung, Michael Biehn and Maggie Q. Though, to be frank, I am hard-pressed to remember Biehn being in any good film that was not directed by James Cameron.If you really are in the mood for a great Hong Kong actioner, you are much better off sticking to some of the staples - John Woo's "The Killer" (1989) and "Hard-Boiled" (1992), Ringo Lam's "City on Fire" (1987) - which Quentin Tarantino stole for "Reservoir Dogs" (1992) - or his "Point Blank" (1967) remake, "Full Contact" (1992). Or, even check out Yuen's "So Close" (2002), a supremely entertaining, yet preposterous, popcorn flick. And there's always the terrific French police actioner, "The Nest" (2002).True, most, if not all, are a bit over-the-top, but they were films that remain exciting, thrilling and even suspenseful. They have characters we care about and mind-blowing action sequences."Dragon Heat," on the other hand, is just terribly mediocre. The trouble is that Lee has not made a bad action film, he has made a dull one.

The cast in the movie do their best to give this movie an edge!. That they fail is not their fault. Because at least they try to make something of it! When i heard that Micheal Biehn would star in this movie I honestly didn't know what to expect! To my surprise he ( together with Jun-ho Heo and Sammo Hung)provides some good acting to make the story believable! As for the direction I am a bit disappointed! The first half of the movie is too chaotic for my taste. In the second half the action scenes do pick up! Nice shootouts and one big martial arts scene between Sammo and Jun-ho Heo! This is what the fans want! It is too bad the director didn't use the actors to their fullest potential! I've seen "What price Survival" from director Daniel Lee where it also was more style than substance! It is a shame to see he hasn't learned much from those mistakes! Thanks to the cast this movie is fun to watch! Don't expect anything special,it's average!

Objectively speaking, this was your typical formulaic Hong Kong cop thriller. Sammo Hung plays the once brilliant cop, Kong Long, with issues as he heads to retirement. One of his issues surrounds an old case in which his team gets wiped out by a gang. Meanwhile five superstars (Shawn Yue, Vaness Wu, Eva Huang, Xia Yu, Lawrence Chou) in the Asian entertainment scene play five international cops who are there to testify against a mobster. However, on the way to court he is "rescued" by the gwei-lo, a former SAS man, Petros (Michael Biehn) and his team (which contains the delectable Maggie Q). Not surprisingly, once the mobster escapes, the young cops are after them and a chase ensues, following a path of history that Kong Long is all too familiar with.Unlike most HK cop thrillers, there is more of an element of psychology involved and there are mind games that you, the viewer, do get caught up in. It is intelligent in parts, triggering some suspense. However, the downside is that this wasn't consistent throughout the film and much of the rest of the plot is rather weak and predictable. There are some action scenes that add a bit of excitement, but overall the script is the usual formulaic stuff that is much a throw-back to that seen in the last three decades of HK film.But for most, like many Hollywood efforts of this type of film, the film appeals to the mass market. Some very big names in the world of entertainment in the Far East appear in this movie, including boy band F4-member, Vanness Wu, veteran kung fu supremo, Sammo Hung, and former model Maggie Q. It isn't a sublime work of art. It is meant to be seen at face value. And in that, it might have some success.Overall, this film breaks no boundaries, in fact it stays well within the outfield. But, it's a fairly solid film that the masses will probably enjoy. One for a bit of action.

Daniel Lee must have watched too many Michael Bay films, such is the speed of the editing in Dragon Squad. On top of that, the director throws in a myriad of cinematic tricks and gimmicks in an obvious attempt to try and capture a hip audience for his picture. Slow-motion, fast-motion, filters, crazy camera angles, bloody violence, a group of young actors that could pass for designer clothes store mannequins; your average thirteen year-old would probably think this is one of the best films ever made. Maybe that's the point. To a more (ahem) mature viewer, however, the movie plays like an extended pop video, where a long fringe or moody look is supposed to give our anguished heroes some depth. It doesn't. In fact as you watch the film, it begins to resemble an ultra-violent version of the A-Team. For surely only in that classic of 80s t.v. could almost a dozen protagonists firing automatic weapons in a narrow alley not hit each other with a single shot for five minutes. Aren't these people supposed to be highly trained cops and ex-special forces nutters? Duh? But then it happens. One of our paper-thin leads takes a bullet to the brain and suddenly Lee's film hits the ground running, becoming a darker and more twisted bastard of a film. So what's to recommend to the curious viewer about this movie? Well, the last half-hour is certainly more satisfyingly gritty, if just as silly, as all that has preceded it. On top of that, with our fledgling super-cops a charisma-free zone, it's up to old hands to give Dragon Squad some bite. Fortunately, (though given little to work with) Maggie Q, Michael Biehn, Sammo Hung and Jun-ho Heo managed to interject some weight into proceedings through sheer force of personality. Sammo and Heo's characters personal battle within the narrative is the film's highlight, culminating in a decent punch-up that is well choreographed by Hung protégé Chin Kar Lok. The numerous gun battles are also finely staged, certainly more brutal and bloody than the balletic shootouts of John Woo's justifiably lauded Hong Kong output. The film also has an excellent original soundtrack and there are some fun cameos, including Simon Yam (somewhat wasted), Kung-fu legend Gordon Lui (funny) and Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan (wooden). So if you're looking for a popcorn action flick with an Asian flavour, I guess you could do worse than Dragon Squad. You could also do a lot better.