New
Line Home Video | Review by Dan Taylor
I
must be getting a little slow in my old
age. There's a plot twist in James Foley's
THE CORRUPTOR that I should've seen waltzing
down the middle of the flick's Chinatown
setting. Unfortunately, it was a Friday,
my brain was a little tired, and I even
remarked, "Wow, I didn't see that coming"
when the twist came a callin'.
Despite the telegraphed "twist"
– which my viewing companion assured
me was really no twist at all – this
a superior outing for star Chow Yun-Fat
in his second American actioner. (See THE
REPLACEMENT KILLERS for his first effort.
Better yet, see our
review and save yourself the trouble.)
Then again, he's in the company of better
talent, namely director Foley and co-star
Mark Wahlberg who has officially lived down
his "Marky Mark" persona thanks
to performances in BOOGIE NIGHTS, THREE
KINGS, and the underrated FEAR, also helmed
by Foley.
Foley, of course, is the guy
who gave us such diverse fare as the creepy
AT CLOSE RANGE (starring Christopher Walken
and the Penn brothers), the effectively
film-noirish AFTER DARK, MY SWEET (with
Jason Patric flexing some serious acting
chops), and WHO'S THAT GIRL?, Madonna's
ill-advised follow-up to DESPERATELY SEEKING
SUSAN. That's one hell of a resume if you
ask me.
Okay, let's put the filmographies
aside. While it ain't exactly Hong Kong
quality, THE CORRUPTOR could be a lot worse.
Chow stars as Nick Chen, a decorated but
dirty cop in NYC's Asian Gang Unit. When
a seemingly-green detective (Wahlberg) gets
assigned to be his partner, Chen works hard
to keep him alive and keep him out of the
clutches of the swishy Henry Lee, second-in-command
of the "Tongs," an always-reliable
villain in these types of flicks. Seems
that through the years Chen has become a
pawn of the Tongs, taking tips on dirty
dealings to boost his image while doing
some of their dirty work on the side. Now
he's being used to help squash their up
and coming enemies, led by young Asian fellas
with multi-colored hair. Ain't it always
the way?
Soon, he sees Wahlberg's Daniel
Wallis as next in line to be Lee's errand
boy, and does whatever he can to keep that
from happening. Unfortunately, with a boozed-out,
ex-cop dad (Bryan Cox) who owes about twelve
grand to some Italian bookmakers, Wallis
is an easy target for the shifty Asian gangsters,
as well as the Feds that want to bring Chen
down a notch or two.
From there THE CORRUPTOR is
a blend of dirty business, double-crosses,
half-naked Asian chicks, and over-the-top
chases and gun battles. And while the flick's
set-piece car chase through the streets
of New York is a wonderfully staged few
minutes, none of the "price of admission"
moments breathes quite enough life into
the picture. After about 3/4 of the flick
it sorta lurches towards its inevitable
conclusion.
Still, Fat and Wahlberg make
an easy-to-watch on-screen duo and THE CORRUPTOR
will certainly keep you interested and entertained.
