‘Chasing the Dragon‘ unites top names – including Donnie Yen and Andy Lau – and details the famous ( or rather,infamous) era of Hong Kong’s history…
The shooting has started in Hong Kong on one of the most highly anticipated Hong Kong movies of the year, Chasing the Dragon a 70s set crime thriller directed by Über-producer & director Wong Jing and cinematographer Jason Kwan. The film stars Donnie Yen as Ng Sik-ho, better known as Limpy Ho, a notorious gangster who carved a criminal empire for himself in Hong Kong in the 60s and early 70s, while Andy Lau reprises a character he played 25 years ago, corrupt Hong Kong Police detective Lui Lok/Lee Rock, known as the ‘500 Million $ Detective’.
The film also stars Michele Hu (Once Upon a Time in Shanghai), Kent Cheng (Run & Kill), Philip Ng (Once Upon a Time in Shanghai), Xu Dong-dong, Philip Keung (Helios) and Wilfred Lau. British actor Bryan Larkin (Vengeance, London has Fallen) who is also joining the project. It tells of Hong Kong at one of its darkest times: when corruption and crime nearly tore the city apart. The movie, which has also been known as City of Darkness and King of Drug Dealers, is not – as many websites reported – a remake of Johnny Mak’s To Be Number One (which saw Yen’s Flashpoint co-star Ray Lui Leung-wai giving the performance of a lifetime as Limpy Ho) but IS set during the same time period and featuring many of the characters including Ho and Lee Rock from that time as they rose to power.
While the film will feature plenty of hack-and-slash gangster-styled action courtesy of Yen and his team (which are handling the action and stunt choreography for the movie_ it is not a martial arts movie per se – it’s very much a crime drama with action elements. Yen appeared at the film’s press conference complete with cane and speaking in a Chouzhou dialect. The film marks the first time Yen and Lau have worked together. A lot of the film’s budget is being spent on an authentic 1970s feel for the Hong Kong scenes with some very impressive period sets replicating old Hong Kong including the infamous Kowloon Walled City and Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park being built for the movie.
