I have never been a huge Ringo Lam fan. His films always seem to focus on style over substance, action over plot. One of the reasons why John Woo’s films work so well is that even outside of the action you have very complicated characters and stories. Look at the scope of HARD BOILED, A BETTER TOMORROW I & II, and THE KILLER. Lam just never seemed to reach that level.
CITY ON FIRE is one of the few exceptions in his catalog of films. This film is methodical and takes it’s time to build the momentum of the plot before framing some very well done action scenes that ultimately contribute to the point of the film. This is very smart and extremely well done.
See you on forty deuce,
G
Editor-In-Chief at Daily Grindhouse
Jon Abrams is a New York-based writer, cartoonist, and committed cinemaniac whose complete work and credits can be found at his site, Demon’s Resume. You can contact him on Twitter as @JonZilla___.
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