I really enjoyed this film, and said so in my review, but when I saw it, there was still a chance that some changes could be made.... Well, it doesn't look like they happened (thank god) so here we go...
Just saw "The Corruptor" on Saturday and thought you'd like to hear about it.
The Corruptor is about as close to one of Chow Yun Fat's HK films as the Americans can get. I mean, this is a movie which has two heroes, both cops, and actually very minor comedy. Even the action, while there's plenty of it, is not very cool in a replacement killers sort of way.
What drives this heavy duty drama is its story. I mean there hasn't been a heavy-duty police drama in years (if I can remember correctly, it was Heat back in 1995.) It starts off typically with Chow Yun Fat as a hot shot cop in NYC's chinatown, and Mark Wahlberg is the rookie assigned to Chow's division. We discover that Chow is actually corrupt, but still not a real bad guy. He's just extremely loyal to a gangleader, Uncle Benny. Uncle Benny's henchmen want Wahlberg to be on their side. Chow at first doesn't want this but then he starts showing Wahlberg all the ropes. They become really good friends. But then suddenly we discovered a major plot change. I won't go into it here, but it really is not evident until it hits. After it hits, we can rest assured that for a movie like this (I repeat, it's not a comedy!!), it can only end one way.
For a movie like this to work, it needs good acting from both the leads and we sure do get it. The majority of the movie depends on Chow Yun Fat's acting abilities and he's able to pull it off with ease. We can actually feel for what he's going through and we never for a moment think negatively about the fact that he's bordering on that fine line between good and evil.
The action in this movie is quite violent for an american film. It sort of reminds us of Chow's much better HK films. There is a car chase in the middle of the movie which will definately offend and shock many of the viewers just like a certain scene in Hard Boiled. There is also a very amazing sequence in the beginning of the film that has to be seen to believe it. Only an awesome actor like Chow Yun Fat can pull it off with ease.
All in all, fans who are looking forward to a lethal weapon-type comedy will be disappointed but those expecting a good HK-type action movie with an actual story and a major plot change will love it.
- Darius 25
