Review of Hard Boiled (1992) by Mega D — 30 Dec 2009

Of course it's easy to look back these days and choke on our own vicious laughter at the ridiculousness of John Woo's prize hog of a creation, but back in its day it really was...IS very astonishing in its choreography and balls-out brazenness.

You can slice through the now-cliched chaff which comprises much of this 2-hour bullet ballet like a man swinging a machete through a greenbelt and it somehow manages to stay lush. Perhaps it's that moment when everything slows down in the opening tea house sequence, just as a kettle of boiling water becomes a gray blur as it smashes into the face of a gun-running thug and Inspector Tequila dislocates a birdcage with his foot to reveal two Tokarev pistols.

It's scenes like that which help to not only elevate one's senses to berserker-like madness but also to epitomize and validate Woo's decisions to craft not something so much realistic but enthralling.

In my opinion, pacing is what's to blame in a good deal of today's action flicks. They just can't seem to get it right and the ridiculousness is more an offshoot of bad timing rather than an attempt to thrill us with (in this case) a haughty mixture of vigilante heroics.

In that department, Woo succeeds, as always. The snappiness of the dialogue and action weave together leaving even the most skeptical viewers with very few moments to breathe. Plus, the 45-minute hospital finale sucks the air out of the room like an explosion.

If you're into this kind of adrenaline rush, then I definitely recommend you make a few exceptions in logic for this jazzy crime thriller.