Review of Year of the Dragon (1985) by Kevin R — 03 Apr 2010

Are you thinking with your ass or brain?

Captain Stanley White has been reassigned to Chinatown in New York City. There have been some incidents spawned by the local teenagers. The police force believes it's just a bunch of kids misbehaving; however, Captain White discovers the case is a lot more complicated and involves Chinese organized crime. Can Captain White convince his superiors that this is more than a couple bad kids acting out?

"We're not playing from the same sheet of music anymore.".

Michael Cimino, director of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Deer Hunter, Desperate Hours, The Sicilian, and The Sun Chaser, delivers Year of the Dragon. The storyline for this picture had wonderful potential but dragged on more than necessary. The settings were appropriate and the cast delivered believable performances. The cast includes Mickey Rourke, John Lone, Ariane, Raymond Barry, and Caroline Kava.

"I've got scar tissue on my soul.".

I have been watching as many Mickey Rourke films as possible over the past 6-7 years (since I first saw Angel Heart). Rourke often delivers eccentric and abstract characters. This film was interesting and his character was delivered well (by both Rourke and Cimino). The action scenes are brilliant but too sparse. It felt that the story between Captain White and his wife took too much screen time and deterred from the interactions between White and the crime lords. Overall, this is worth seeing but does not deliver as you may hope.

"A stupid man is dangerous.".

Grade: C+.