Some film critics put forward the view of the so-called "New Port Film", and this "New Port" refers to the new market in Mainland China. If Hong Kong Cinema still stand on the basic point of the past, this "New Port" is different from the previous Taiwan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and other markets are not very different, except that the Mainland has different film censorship standard and distribution system, and many Hong Kong filmmakers still look at this new market with the mentality of making "Port Films". To a certain extent, "Heroic Duo" (2003) can be regarded as a well-made "Port Film", given the market tastes of Mainland and Hong Kong, Benny Chan Muk-Sing is taking a serious step. In fact, "New Port Film" started in an earlier period, but we have not paid much attention to it.
In the past, Mainland China was only a market for very few producers. This is related to the strict film censorship system and relatively closed distribution system. Basically, many producers struggled due to creative restrictions and incomprehensible forbidden areas. The distribution system it is more controlled by the official authorities. Hong Kong films can enter the Mainland market to a very limited extent. Even the films of famous Mainland directors are subject to official control. It was not until the Mainland government began to deepen the trend of marketization in recent years that the authorities gradually opened up, coupled with the formation of private enterprise issuance, this huge market finally showed a glimmer of light. The so-called "New Port Films" came into being under these conditions, and the Mainland film censorship system has not changed its attitude in response to the opening of the market, and many sensitive subjects are still prohibited areas, which is a restriction for Hong Kong filmmakers, and they also respond to these issues. Responding to restrictions, but these adaptations are often made reluctantly. Hong Kong filmmakers who are used to creative freedom, are always a little unwilling to face the restrictions of the Mainland. This is understandable, but most of them are because of this restriction has made them insincere and inattentive, which directly affects the quality of the films, especially those that specialize in the Mainland market, making them more scattered.
"Heroic Duo" (2003) is taken seriously in this regard. Action films have always been a popular genre of "Port Film". Benny Chan didn't have much new ideas in terms of character design and story this time. He only achieved a high level of production quality, which can be made under a limited budget. Such a level shows Benny Chan's restraint. Although the explosion at the end wasn't necessary at all, the explosion has always been a scene that Benny Chan likes very much. Do you still remember "Gen-X Cops" (1999)? However, there are too many excellent films ahead of the plot of the two heroes fighting wits. The tacit understanding between Lai Soeng-Zing played by Leon Lai Ming and Lee Man-Kin played by Ekin Cheng Yee-Kin has developed to jointly fight against the enemy Au-Yeung Hoi (played by Francis Ng Chun-Yu) before the establishment, and the entanglement between the traitor Au-Yeung Hoi and Lai Soeng-Zing is basically difficult to establish. In addition to the hypnotism of the film's deification of Lai Soeng-Zing, the film loses its due force. Apart from watching the action scenes, the story is weak and the thinness of the character makes the film lose its charm.
However, the performance of the two male protagonists, Ekin Cheng's performance is considered to be an excellent performance in this period. In term of mastering the character, he seems to be neat and confident, no longer losing his direction and being overwhelmed, or continuing to work from "Young and Dangerous" (1995) established the so-called superficial acting skills. After several years of training, including "My Wife Is 18" (2002) and "The Twins Effect" (2003), etc., this time he finally made significant progress. On the other hand, Leon Lai's performance is still disappointing. It seems that he can only perform better in the hands of Peter Chan Ho-Sun; but the most disappointing is Francis Ng, which may also be related to his disapproval of this role. His performance can be said that the character is inseparable from the appearance.
By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)
The concept of "Port Film", which started as early as the Shaw Brothers Films in the 1960s and 1970s, refers to the production of low-budget films for the Southeast Asian and Western markets, including action films and erotic films. Later Golden Harvest and others continued in this type of production, and independent producers, such as Ng See-Yuen even cooperated with Corey Yuen Kwai to go to the United States to shoot action films overseas, and recruited Jean-Claude Van Damme to star in the films. Later, Jean-Claude Van Damme became a Hollywood star, and Corey Yuen also directed Hollywood and European films have become a legend of "Port Film".
By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)
This article was written between 2003 and 2004, and was published in the book "2003 Hong Kong Film Review", published by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society.
