drqshadow

6/10

On the verge of pulling a major heist, a small crew of Hong Kong gangsters discover an undercover cop in their midst. After a bloody public execution, they think they’ve squashed the issue for good, but then welcome a new member to the crew... who’s also a double agent. This recruit proves more convincing, likely because he’s so continuously harried by a squad of misinformed detectives from a competing department, and he wriggles his way into the crew’s confidence as they prep to grab another, bolder score. When he’s not in hot water with one side or another, Ko Chow (Chow Yun-fat, the story’s linchpin) is a goofy twenty-something who tries to paper over his fear of long-term romantic commitment with silly antics and empty assurances. We spend an unusual amount of time reinforcing this point, eavesdropping on casual nights at his girlfriend’s apartment, which makes for an awkward paradox. How could such a serious, hard-boiled guy just flip the switch like that? This duality eventually serves as additional complication when the girl offers him a take-or-leave proposition at the same time his case is nearing its crescendo, but it’s still a weird mix. While it’s visionary and influential in some respects (more on that in a moment), an awful lot of _City on Fire_’s vibe is stuck deep in the cheesiest conventions of the 1980s. That’s especially true of its visual and aural identity: a heavy blend of midnight neon, gigantic trench coats and wailing saxophone riffs. Lord, there’s a lot of saxophone. One especially violent confrontation even goes out of its way to depict a blind sax player busking in the background, his groove only momentarily interrupted by the speeding cop car that eats lead, flips and explodes a few feet away. This type of era-specific cultural drenching is both amusing and distracting. Good for a few knowing smirks with your fellow viewers, but I think it actively harms the story. Perhaps most noteworthy in the eastern hemisphere as an early win for Yun-fat’s career, its greatest legacy to the west is as the “inspiration” behind Quentin Tarantino’s _Reservoir Dogs_. I place that word in quotations because it’s a bit of an under-sell. Large chunks of the plot are directly copy+pasted, including the scenario (and several crucial lines of dialogue) that fuels its powerful climax. _Reservoir Dogs_ is a much better movie - more focused, with sharper performances - but without _City on Fire_, there would be no _Reservoir Dogs_. How do you rate that kind of influence? I’ll try to do so without passing too much credit for its better-known ancestor. _City on Fire_ is great when it’s great, but too often it’s not. I’m glad Tarantino chose to tighten it up.