Retreat of the Godfather (1991)

Retreat of the Godfather (1991)
Chinese Title: 大哥讓位
Translation: Big Brother (Godfather) Steps Back

Starring: Lam Wai, Wong Mau-Chow, Ko Chun-Hsiung, Wan Lai-Jing, Dick Wei, Tsai Chia-Hung, Long Shao-Hua, Kam Kong, Wu Ma
Director: Chen Chi-Hwa
Action Director: Wang Yao

A lesser-known Hong Kong triad action film from the Golden Age of Hong Kong Action. It had an entry in Thomas Weisser's Asian Cult Cinema, but he gave it a lukewarm rating that suggested it was a low-grade heroic bloodshed film. Yeah....no. As usual, it's clear that Weisser did not watch it (he said that the main villain was played by Wu Ma) and to dismiss it that way is unfair. Directed by longtime Jackie Chan friend and collaborator Chen Chi-Hwa, the film excels in the action department, even if it suffers from a lack of clear direction with regards to the plot.

Ko Chun-Hsiung (Miracles and Island of Fire) plays Kwan, a crime boss who is trying to move smuggle some antiques out of Hong Kong and into the hands of wealthy clients. One day, a shipment of priceless vases is stolen from two of his enforcers: Andy (Lam Wai, of Project A II and Long Arm of the Law) and Phil (Wong Mau-Chow, of Shaolin Temple Against Lama and Ninja vs. the Shaolin Guards). They find out that the thief is Uncle Siu (Kam Kong, of The Crane Fighters and Against the Drunken Cat's Paws), Kwan's main rival.

Andy and Phil go to see Uncle Siu and he says that he stole the vases as a way to arrange a visit with them so he can try to persuade them to join his side. They refuse, but he gives them the vases back as a sign of good faith. Psych! He gives them forgeries, which puts them on the wrong side of their boss. Anyway, Phil gets shot and they go into hiding. Meanwhile, their mutual friend Chen (Dick Wei, of Millionaire's Express and Paper Marriage) gets out of jail. He initially joins up with his friends, but eventually goes to work as a bouncer for Uncle Siu. He also blows off his girlfriend, Emma (Tsai Chia-Hung, of Dragon Kid and King Swindler), who has become a bar girl-cum-prostitute.

Long story short, Kwan kidnaps Andy's girlfriend, Tina (Wan Lai-Jing), as a way to squeeze him a little into getting the vases back. This reveals that Kwan's lawyer, Tony (Long Shao-Hua), may or may not being planning a coup d'état against Kwan. A lot of people are killed (or commit suicide) and Andy and Phil are forced to go against Siu on their own when Chen is killed and Tina is kidnapped...a second time.

The film is rare enough that I feel justified in a more detailed plot synopsis than usual. The main problem is that the main characters spend much of the middle act hanging around one of their safehouses until the bad guys show up...and then move to a second safehouse (a warehouse). The stolen vases are nothing more than McGuffins and disappear from the narrative for large swaths of the film.

Thankfully, the action comes at frequent and regular intervals. The fight scenes were staged by Wang Yao, one of the first members of the Sing Ga Ban (although he seemed to leave once Jackie set up shop at Golden Harvest). The fighting is standard 1980s-era Hong Kong kickboxing, plus lots of painful falls. The fisticuffs are generally "solid" whenever it's Lam Wai or Wong Mau-Chow performing them, although they jump to "quite good" whenever Dick Wei is onscreen (unsurprisingly). There are about 7 or 8 small fights before the climax.

The finale is where the film really shines. It is a crazy mix of more kickboxing, chopper action, Bullet Ballet, and stuntwork that will make you wince. The characters are in a warehouse full of cardboard boxes and water drums and a huge melee breaks out between Kwan's and Tony's subordinates, with Andy and Phil caught in the middle. Prepare for lots of painful falls, people being thrown from glass, people flying back 10 feet whenever they get shot, and all sorts of mayhem. It's just good action cinema right there. And just to further the Jackie Chan connection, the film ends with the outtakes.