Plot: Hong Kong right before the transfer of power from Britain to China. Reginald Cameron (Robert Patrick), an assassin affiliated with a large corporation with interests in the colony, guns down key members of the Chinese envoy which will take charge of Hong Kong the next day. Suddenly, he becomes a target for every two-bit mercenary in the city. With the help of his company mentor (Brion James), a clueless friend (Tim Thomerson), and his ex-girlfriend (Ming-Na Wen), Cameron must unravel the motives behind his sudden target status and escape Hong Kong alive.
I feel like Hong Kong ’97 is largely forgotten among Albert Pyun’s movies with people talking more about Cyborg/Slinger, Nemesis or Captain America for the most part. I’ll be controversial here and say that I think this is one of his best films. It has a great cast including Robert Patrick, Ming-Na Wen, Brion James, Andrew Divoff and Tim Thomerson.
The story is interesting set around the changeover for Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule; it gives things a chaotic atmosphere as the residents of Hong Kong don’t know what to expect.
Patrick is perfectly cast as cold blooded assassin, Reginald Cameron; he’s good at his job because he feels nothing for his victims. It’s only when the tables are turned and people come after him making him reunite with old flame Katie Chun (Wen) that he begins to thaw and feel emotions again. It’s nice to see Brion James actually play a true good guy as I was waiting for the inevitable betrayal which never came.
Early in the movie there’s a hilariously graphic sex scene between Reginald and Li (Selena Chau-yuet You) which leaves nothing to the imagination as it’s practically pornographic. Disgraceful, I’ll keep watching just so I can shake my head in disgust. There is so much nudity in this film that it deserves 5 stars for that alone; they don’t make ‘em like this anymore…
At just under 90 minutes Hong Kong 97 is packed with John Woo style action including slo-mo double gunplay, explosions and a final fight scene in an elevator. Robert Patrick is also wearing a trench coat for the entire runtime… except during the sex scene.
You may recognize Grandfather Chun (played by Michael Ming-Yang Lee) because he is the old man in the village who smiles at JCVD in Kickboxer after he beats up some thugs. He has a sizeable role here playing a totally loveable figure who thinks Reginald is a good man despite his profession.
I wish Andrew Divoff had a larger role as he felt a little underused and must have only been on set for a few days.
For some reason this movie never got a DVD release and there hasn’t been any word on it coming any time soon, so if you want to watch it you can find it on YouTube.
Overall, Hong Kong 97 is genuinely entertaining with wall to wall action, some nods to John Woo and Robert Patrick as a badass lead. It’s well paced with shoot-outs every few minutes, regular nudity and things exploding – what else do you need?