MOVIE REVIEW . Dragon Squad

by Chris   ⋅   April 3, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

A mix of frenetic, ultra-violent shootouts and Wong Kar-Wei style musings, Daniel Lee (Black Mask, The Star Runner)’s Dragon Squad is a well intentioned, moderately entertaining throwback to early 90’s Hong Kong actioners. Story is secondary in this tale of Interpol agents versus international terrorists/mercenaries, and what narrative exists is fairly uninteresting. The good guys are pop stars with cool haircuts and cooler facial expressions, save for the cross-eyed Eva Wong and proudly obese Sammo Hung, the latter proudly sporting a skunk-striped bull-dyke hairdo. The bad guys are comprised primarily of people who look interestingly unusual, but don’t speak Chinese (ie: Maggie Q, Michael Biehn, etc). As can be expected, the performances delivered by these parties are profoundly mediocre. I mean, when Michael Biehn delivers the most compelling performance in the production, it doesn’t reflect well on the rest of the cast (kinda like the William Hurt, History of Violence Oscar nomination).

Further complicating matters is the division of screentime between the parties. We spend far more time with the leader of the terrorists (Biehn) than we do with any of the Interpol “heroes”. As such, audience sympathy is near entrenched on the side of the lawless assassins, and any events, good or bad, occurring for their opponents carry no emotional weight, whatsoever.

The film’s higher than average budget is evident in the cinematography and editing. The film employs heavy use of filters, and it appears the cinematographer actually took time to position the camera and frame the shots — something that cannot be said for most manufactured HK fare. Thus, all manner of kinetic action, whether slow falling debris or exploding blood packets, is captured in a prettier-than-pretty fashion. The film also uses an odd narrative sequence-naming convention, displaying titles for scenes in the bottom left hand corner of the frame, a technique clearly influenced by videogame mission intros. Flashbacks however, are less contemporary, using transparent overlays and mood music, reminiscent of the “The More You Know” television segments from the 1980’s.

But, when all is said and done, I must admit Dragon Squad contains some of the most well choreographed, harrowing action set-pieces I’ve seen in quite some time. From sniper fight to machete fight, these blood-soaked battles satisfy every juvenile gun and dismemberment fetish known to man. Well, maybe not all of them, but it’s a good start nonetheless. The cemetery battle, complete with a spiked gate through a thigh, is deliriously painful, and the final quick-draw is the best I’ve seen since A Better Tomorrow II. Dragon Squad may be a simplistic and derivative film, but man, the action is killer.

About the Author:

Chris Nelson has been an avid film fan since age six. His favorite HK contemporary action films include A Better Tomorrow II, Police Story 3, Time and Tide, and Naked Weapon.

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