Lack of good storyline.

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A cool-as-can-be Yun-Fat Chow ("The Killer") stars as the character with the title personality. Hong Kong police inspector "Tequila" Yuen is out to righteously destroy the gun running mobsters who caused the death of his partner. To do so, he will disregard the words of his superior (Philip Chan, "Double Impact") and team up with Alan (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, "Infernal Affairs"), a cop working *deep* undercover as a Triad hitman. Their primary nemesis will be a brash, psychotic young mobster named Johnny Wong (Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, "The Painted Veil"), who's keeping his not-so-secret stash of weaponry in an unlikely location.This viewer has seen the films made by HK action specialist John Woo in America, but had still needed to experience the original genre films with which he established himself. Suffice it to say, this one lives up to its reputation. We've seen many expertly executed action sequences in the genre over the years, but here Woo takes this element to a whole other level. There's a degree of intensity here that is a true revelation. Squeamish audience members will be dismayed by the sheer volume of beautiful bloodletting on display, but people not bothered by gore will be amazed. This is an *operatically* violent film in which even heroes don't emerge unscathed. Lots of characters will be required to take their lumps before this is over.And yet, the story is an engaging and very involved one, giving its participants some key moments. One of Tequilas' defining characteristics is his affinity for jazz music, the path he would have chosen had he not decided to become a cop instead.Chow and Leung are vibrant performers, and get some great chemistry going. The supporting cast is first-rate, with the distinctively featured Wong making a memorable impression as the bad guy. The only female in a featured role is the gorgeous Teresa Mo as Tequilas' co-worker and girlfriend, but she gets to do some heroic things herself during the extended finale in a hospital.And this finale is not just one set piece, but a whole series of them. It's so dazzling and explosive that you're hardly able to catch your breath.The sight of guys leaping sideways with guns in both hands certainly has become quite the iconic image for fans of the genre. Woo deserves all the accolades that he receives for his home-grown efforts.Nine out of 10.

Much has been said about John Woo's 1992 crime-action extravaganza "Hard Boiled", and for good reason. It is about Tequila, an impulsive, tough-as-nails cop that doesn't always play by the book, and it is also about Lung, a self loathing undercover cop that is morally confused. Both Tequila and Lung are on a hunt for an illegal weapons cache, but they are both on opposite ends of the operation, and neither is aware of the other for much of the screen time. One thing this film gets right from the very start is a sense of vulnerability for the characters. Yes, they are skilled and crafty policemen who can take on many at once in a gunfight, but there is always the feeling that they, and, by extension, all of the other characters in the film, could be killed at any moment. This feeling is largely due to the unexpected death of a character at the beginning of the film, which sets us on edge for whats to come. It definitely helps that every scene is incredibly well choreographed, well shot, and well edited, and everything is easy to follow because of that, even during intricate action scenes in which bullets are flying in many directions and many characters are trying to avoid them while trying to hit the others with their bullets. Although he relies on it heavily, Woo's use of slow motion is always effective in increasing the tension of the moment. All of the effects used in the action scenes are practical, with real explosions, incredible stunt work, and of course ridiculously large quantities of blood. All of the technical aspects of these scenes are undeniably fantastic, but that doesn't mean anything if the story and characters aren't involving, but luckily this has a crime story that is complex and characters that aren't perfect, but have genuine moments of empathy.A lot of the action in the film also has another reason than to simply look cool: it's to build character. Many people talk about the incredible 3 and a half minute long one take action scene near the end of the film, but what most don't realize is that without context, that scene doesn't evoke nearly the same emotion. Without the build up to that scene and an understanding of the characters, it is admirable, but not nearly as visceral and intense. One of the reasons it works so well is not just because of the amazing choreography, but because this is a turning point for Lung as a character. Up until this point, he has been haunted by his mistakes and the bad things he has been forced to do. However, during the moment in the elevator after he shoots the cop, Tequila helps him realize that, while mistakes that impactful are definitely difficult to handle, he doesn't have to dwell on them, and the sooner he moves past his fear of doing an irreversible wrong, the sooner he can do justice to others and move on. After they come out of the elevator, the music begins back up again, signifying a tonal shift, and a shift away from Lung's fear and guilt. Also, the character of Lung has been having an identity and morality crisis throughout the film, and as the viewer we never quite know who's side he's on, until around this point, when he confesses that he has never killed a cop.Speaking of the ending, I feel the rest of that 30 minute finale is vastly underrated compared to that one incredible shot. That whole sequence is fantastic. The stakes are incredibly high, with hundreds of babies, children, and injured people trying to be saved from the hospital, and many situations when I genuinely couldn't imagine how they would make it out, yet every-time they made it out, it totally made sense. It also cuts between many different characters and many different action scenes at once, yet it doesn't get knotted and confusing.This is a intense and fast paced crime story that builds from one action scene to the next, conveying character through its action with style that doesn't replace substance.

The problem with Hard Boiled isn't that it's a bad film in any way possible. The problem is that I've already seen The Killer and A Better Tomorrow, both of them earlier hit films from the director John Woo. Both of them are absolutely fantastic, and so is Hard Boiled in many ways. Except that nothing in it feels original. Woo is famous for popularizing the Hong Kong style of action in the West, but even his distinctive style can become repetitive.In Hard Boiled a loose cannon cop nicknamed Tequila, played by Chow Yun-fat because every John Woo main character is played by Chow Yun- fat, loses his partner in a gang shoot-out. He decides to take the matter of revenge into his own hands, which doesn't exactly please his superiors. And then the affair gets even more complicated when one of the most lethal assassins the gangs have turns out to have shifting loyalties. The plot is actually pretty good. The loyalties and morals always switching sides, you're never quite sure how the characters are going to react and it's all-around solid entertainment.Plus, the action works. The ending fight scene in the hospital drags a lot, but I cannot say that I didn't enjoy it. And the earlier fight scenes are all pure gold, exactly what you'd expect from John Woo.But, the story and the style do lack that edge. It feels more paint- by-numbers than it feels proper film-making. If this is the first John Woo film you'll see, you're probably going to enjoy it a lot. But he has done much better films, there's no denying that.

Hell-bent on revenge after his partner is killed by firearm smugglers, a maverick detective forms an uneasy alliance with an undercover cop to take down the smugglers in this popular Hong Kong action movie. The film has received much praise over the years for its creatively choreographed action sequences and the large degree of imagination placed into the action does not disappoint, but the film is never quite the cohesive whole that it could have been. The plot comes second to the action every step of the way. 'In the Mood for Love''s Tony Leung is solid as the internally divided undercover cop who dreams of going to Antarctica where it is "always light" to escape the darkness of never quite knowing for sure which side of the law he is on. Chow Yun-Fat is less impressive though as the loose cannon cop and the whole revenge motivation is very formulaic. The two leads also learn to get along very quickly given all the initial tension between them. John Woo's directing style is, however, more detrimental than any arguable gaps in the screenplay. The energy that Woo exhibits behind the camera is undeniable with slow motion shots, dreamy dissolves and 'wipe' scene transitions in the mix, but through relying on so many unsubtle techniques, Woo's directing style constantly calls attention to itself, which at times makes it hard to become immersed in the action. If one takes a greater interest in action sequences than narrative elements, this is not likely to be a problem, but those who prefer traditional filmic storytelling may be best advised to proceed here with caution.