Prison on Fire

Yiu (Tony Leung Ka Fai, not to be confused with Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is a young man entering prison on a manslaughter charge… for accidentally pushing an attacker into the path of a bus (a wholly satisfying splat).  Inside the prison walls, his naiveté and righteousness are a liability.  Fortunately the more seasoned Ching (Chow Yun Fat) takes him under his wing to help work the system and protect him from villainous triads.  Ching’s goofball, carefree attitude hides a streetwise savvy… and a sad secret of his own.

One review on IMDb says “Makes Midnight Express look like a pleasent (sic) experience.”  Say what?  Besides the part at the end that Ringo Lam blatantly ripped off from Midnight Express, nothing here is as bleak or soul-crushing as the experience related in Parker’s film.  In fact, it really doesn’t indict the Hong Kong penal system at all, most of the problems arise from conflicts within the prison population.  There’s a mildly assholish guard captain nicknamed “Scarface” (Roy Cheung, with no scars on his face) and maybe a couple of guards are vaguely indifferent, but for the most part the inmates are treated fairly… at least, relative to most prison movies.  The superintendent even solicits requests and complaints directly from the inmates.  The real troubles for Yiu and Ching come from the triads, especially one nasty little fucker named Micky (Ka-Kui Ho), a weasel willing to squeal as long as Scarface makes it look like someone else did it.

Much of the film covers familiar prison scenarios, but Chow’s charismatic performance — just a couple of years before he broke really huge on the international scene with The Killer — makes it worth watching.  There’s no highly choreographed martial arts on display… all the action is contained in sudden bursts of flailing violence, culminating in a savage climax where Chow bites off more than he can chew.  There are no heavy themes explored, few truly inspired moments.  But despite being pretty routine and a little bit cheesy (oof, that music) it’s perfectly watchable.  Chow may be hammy, but — along with the brutal fight scenes — he’s the most interesting thing happening here.  Rating: Fair

IMDb