City on Fire (1987)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

City on Fire (1987) – R. Lam

Chow Yun-Fat’s charisma is on display again here in this ‘80s Hong Kong action flick (yes, the one Tarantino used as an inspiration for Reservoir Dogs, 1992). He plays an undercover cop (Ko Chow) who can’t help bonding with the gangsters he is charged with arresting. After a previous case went sour, he wants to come in from the field but his old boss needs him to stay to do one last job – participate in a robbery of a jewellery store but tip the cops off so the baddies are caught red-handed. At the same time, Chow’s girlfriend is pressuring him to marry her and he is ready to do so, but keeps missing dates because either the cops or the crooks need him to do something.  As with other HK films of the era (e.g., those by John Woo), there’s a real emotional undercurrent here (scored by some wailing sax and Chinese blues): bromance between Chow and a central gangster (Danny Lee, who also duetted with Chow in The Killer), the father-son vibe with his old boss, and the tears associated with his girlfriend leaving him for a businessman. Director Ringo Lam expertly counterbalances this emotion with the adrenaline rush produced by some heavy-duty violence as the gang fights the cops with Chow caught in the middle. The result is pretty intense but Chow Yun-Fat never lets us down.