From 'Naked Killer' director Clarence Fok, comes this adaptation of the famous/infamous 'Crying Freeman' Manga. Although, this isn't a 100% accurate adaptation, unlike Christopher Gans 'Crying Freeman' movie, which I thought was pretty spot on.
The basic premise is here man gets kidnapped by assassins, gets brainwashed and turned into a precise and deadly assassin who sheds a tear for his victims (well, here he only does it once but whatever) But Fok has added his own touches to his take on the story, like the "Master Of The Dead" character (who I don't think was in the Anime/Manga all I remember was some crusty old woman), the change of the girlfriend instead of a stranger being the catalyst for Freeman's rebellion, and bouts of comedy.
Ah, the comedy aspects, do they work or not? In moderation, yes, but for me, there was too much comedy here. This kind of story really commands a serious tone, but when you've got Sam Hui being dragged around by his feet every ten minutes and the Master Of The Dead looking like the Wicked Witch Of The West...and sounding like her too, it kind of ruins it a bit for me anyway.
But, this is really a small complaint because what is the main attraction here is the action, which is top notch indeed. Choreographed by Yuen Tak (who plays the Master Of The Dead and Hui's assistant) the fights are fast, furious and damn fun to watch. It's not all kung fu, there are some car chases and the odd shoot out to behold too.
The cast all perform very well, from Hui as Yao Lung, the eponymous "Dragon From Russia", to the ever great Maggie Chueng as his long suffering girlfriend. Fan favourite Dean "have some more water now ya bastid" Shek turns up at the start of the film to set up the kidnapping of Lung. It's always nice to see Sir Shek.
Also Yuen Wah makes a brief but satisfying appearance as the masked variant of the 'Master Of The Dead' during the scenes in Russia why the character is played by two people I don't know, I'll have to check the audio commentary, but it's always nice to see Yuen Wah kick some arse.
Fans of 'Crying Freeman' (if they haven't already seen this) will be happy to see a number of scenes wonderfully recreated, for example...Freeman's first job outside of the hotel, the assassination of the Japanese boss after the conference, and said Boss's wife getting it on with the cop although, it's not as rampant as it was in the anime, and there's no 'erection/comedic gulp' moment which was a shame.
I did enjoy this quite a bit, although I did find the plot a bit messy and hard to follow at times, as things happen quite fast it's hard to keep track. It's not a masterpiece, but it's damn fun. Worth getting ahold of just for the fight scenes alone...
(Taken from my forum - http://sjcultmovies1.proboards23.com)
The basic premise is here man gets kidnapped by assassins, gets brainwashed and turned into a precise and deadly assassin who sheds a tear for his victims (well, here he only does it once but whatever) But Fok has added his own touches to his take on the story, like the "Master Of The Dead" character (who I don't think was in the Anime/Manga all I remember was some crusty old woman), the change of the girlfriend instead of a stranger being the catalyst for Freeman's rebellion, and bouts of comedy.
Ah, the comedy aspects, do they work or not? In moderation, yes, but for me, there was too much comedy here. This kind of story really commands a serious tone, but when you've got Sam Hui being dragged around by his feet every ten minutes and the Master Of The Dead looking like the Wicked Witch Of The West...and sounding like her too, it kind of ruins it a bit for me anyway.
But, this is really a small complaint because what is the main attraction here is the action, which is top notch indeed. Choreographed by Yuen Tak (who plays the Master Of The Dead and Hui's assistant) the fights are fast, furious and damn fun to watch. It's not all kung fu, there are some car chases and the odd shoot out to behold too.
The cast all perform very well, from Hui as Yao Lung, the eponymous "Dragon From Russia", to the ever great Maggie Chueng as his long suffering girlfriend. Fan favourite Dean "have some more water now ya bastid" Shek turns up at the start of the film to set up the kidnapping of Lung. It's always nice to see Sir Shek.
Also Yuen Wah makes a brief but satisfying appearance as the masked variant of the 'Master Of The Dead' during the scenes in Russia why the character is played by two people I don't know, I'll have to check the audio commentary, but it's always nice to see Yuen Wah kick some arse.
Fans of 'Crying Freeman' (if they haven't already seen this) will be happy to see a number of scenes wonderfully recreated, for example...Freeman's first job outside of the hotel, the assassination of the Japanese boss after the conference, and said Boss's wife getting it on with the cop although, it's not as rampant as it was in the anime, and there's no 'erection/comedic gulp' moment which was a shame.
I did enjoy this quite a bit, although I did find the plot a bit messy and hard to follow at times, as things happen quite fast it's hard to keep track. It's not a masterpiece, but it's damn fun. Worth getting ahold of just for the fight scenes alone...
(Taken from my forum - http://sjcultmovies1.proboards23.com)