One Nite In Mongkok (15)

Desperately mugging your attention, One Nite In Mongkok slaps the Hong Kong crime genre awake as assassin Lai Fu (Daniel Wu) arrives from mainland China all set to whack a local Triad boss in a revenge hit. Successfully eliminating his target, however, means all-out turf war in the densely populated Mongkok region – unless a harried police squad can apprehend Fu first. Writer/director Tung-Shing Yee admirably flushes One Nite with an unexpected realism which few HK productions even aim for. Delivering a well-rounded backstory, the director cleverly allows the audience to understand Fu’s motivation and also his tender relationship with bling-loving prostitute Dan (Cecilia Cheung). Although lacking John Woo-style theatrical gunplay, Mongkok takes the arsenal of Infernal Affairs to a higher calibre than ever before, with a conclusion that’s point-blank brutal.

Verdict:

NO VERDICT

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