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Young and Dangerous 51998
Starring: |
 
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Chan
Ho Nam ( Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin) continues his rise up the triad ranks and is now
singled out as a protege by Mr Chiang(Alex Man). No longer does Ho Nam fight
it out on the streets, now he is a business man trying to make money owning
bars, restaurants and getting involved in casinos and real estate.
Ho
Nam is down to Pau Pei (Jerry Lam) and Tupei ( Jason Chu) and has to defend
his territory against the latest Tung Sing threat, who much to Ho Nams irritation
is also named Ho Nam (Mark Cheng).
Ho
Nam also runs into Big Head (Chin Kar Lok) his buddy from the old days with
Boss Bee. Big Head took the fall for a murder and ended up spending time in
jail. Now that he is out he wants to stay away from the triads, but as Ho Nam
reminds him there is no such thing as a U turn and pretty soon Ho Nam has another
follower.
Also in the mix is the new police officer of the Anti-Triad Bureau at Wanchai (Danny Lee). He tells Ho Nam that if anything happens in his territory he will hold Ho Nam responsible.
All
the branch leaders go with Mr Chiang to Malaysia, there Ho Nam gets involved
with the Datuk Chan (Paul Chun) and also meets the beautiful Mei Ling (Shu Qi).
Mei Ling has been set up by Datuk Chan to get close to Ho Nam so that he can
swindle him.
While
Ho Nam is running the Datuk's floating Casino, Mei Ling proves that she is not
the sweet innocent young girl she appears to be, getting caught for cheating
at the gaming tables and finally arrested for using counterfeit American dollars.
Nevertheless, Ho Nam is there to bail her out and a relationship starts to develop
between them.
The
Datuk also sets up a boxing match and persuades Hung Hing to go head to head
with Tung Sing in the boxing ring. Big Head being the best Thai boxer other
than Prince, who does not seem to be around, accepts the challenge.
After
being arrested on fraud charges, relating to the Datuk's business, Ho Nam decides
the time has come to get even with both Datuk Chan and Szeto Ho Nam.
Calling
on the help of his Hung Hing friends and also Mei Ling who is in love with Ho
Nam, and has also finally realized the despicible nature of Datuk Chan. Ho Nam
sets his revenge in motion.
The
culminating boxing match between Big Head and Yo Hung (Karel Wong) mirrors the
side fight between the two Ho Nams, the loser of which agrees to leave Causeway
Bay for ever. Needless to say Chan Ho Nam and Big Head are the victors proving
that Hung Hing is the most powerful Triad group and Causeway Bay belongs to
Chan Ho Nam.
Chan
Ho Nam also gets the girl in the form of beautiful Mei Ling, and they leave
to cement their relationship, while the others congratulate Big Head and celebrate
their winnings.
The
move away from the streets by Ho Nam into the world of shady business deals almost
proves disastrous. Fortunately Mr Chiang believes in him, and ultimately helps
him understand how to survive in this world. Now instead of a heated discussion
culminating in choppers and fists, the Triad bosses spend a lot of time looking
menacingly at each other. Working on that fierce struggle between two evenly matched
opponents of the title. It is the boys lower down the ranks that now have to do
the fighting. 
That
said, Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin looks incredibly good in this movie. His hair is longer,
he has always looked good in a suit, and his intense stare is perfect for the
role. That he falls in love with Mei Ling played by Shu Qi is hardly surprising,
Ho Nam would have to be blind and stupid not to fall for her, and because of her
we all now know that MARLBORO stands for "Men Always Remember Love, Because
Of Romance Only". Go figure, and you thought it was just a cigarette advertisment.
Shu
Qi is a great actress and she is only mildly annoying in this role as she tries
to get through to Ho Nam with constant and obnoxious effort. She still manages
to bring the beauty to the movie.
Mark
Cheng is a wonderful addition as the Tung Sing villian Szeto Ho Nam, however looking
at his physique, he probably should have wiped the floor with Chan Ho Nam in the
final fight, however, the "good guys" (are there any good triads?) have
to win. Ho Nam's sidekicks Pao pei and Tupei give successful if uninspired performances,
and when Tupei meets his demise, no one really seems that surprised.
Danny
Lee as the Anti-Triad Bureau Chief seems unsure of how to break up the gangs
in his jurisdiction, relying on harrassing Ho Nam and occasionally checking
ID cards. At the end he plans an extensive crackdown at the boxing match, but
of course makes sure his timing is such that Chan Ho Nam can avoid being caught
up in the aftermath.
The
movie is available on both vcd and dvd distributed by Universal. It has both
a Mandarin and Cantonese track and subtitles in English and Chinese.
Copyright © cyklin 2002
- All Rights Reserved
