Game Changer, The (2017) Review

"The Game Changer" Chinese Theatrical Poster

“The Game Changer” Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Gao Xixi
Cast: Peter Ho, Huang Zitao, Guli Nazha, Wang Xueqi, Choo Ja-hyun, Jack Kao, Long Meizi
Running Time: 133 min.

By Paul Bramhall

The 1980 TVB gangster series The Bund has had a long lasting influence on Hong Kong cinema. As well as giving Chow Yun Fat one of his earliest memorable screen roles, it’s been remade both on TV and for the big screen in the years since, perhaps most notably in the Andy Lau and Leslie Cheung starring Shanghai Grand from 1996. That’s not to mention the countless productions that also decided to make the glitzy streets of 1930’s Shanghai their setting, which is still evident today with the likes of Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, Once Upon a Time in Shanghai, and The Last Tycoon. In 2017 director Gao Xixi decided to throw his hat into the ring with his own retelling of The Bund, in the form of The Game Changer, which casts Peter Ho and Edison Huang as the respective leads.

For Ho it’s his second time headlining a remake in as many years, after playing Swordsman Yen in Sword Master, Derek Yee’s 2016 remake of the Shaw Brothers movie Death Duel. He was the highlight of that movie, and he also remains the highlight here, his muscular presence and steely gaze bringing a welcome level of machismo, that matches the productions testosterone fuelled tone. Alongside him, former K-pop boyband member Huang cuts a slight figure, however still throws himself into the action scenes with aplomb, and has a decent set of acting chops. The Game Changer marks only his fourth time in an acting role, and first as a lead, after supporting turns in the likes of Railroad Tigers alongside Jackie Chan.

However much more than any of the previous incarnations of The Bund, here it quickly becomes apparent that the setting will only be used as a framework to tell the story. The look and feel of The Game Changer resembles something much closer to a 2017 version of the many gangster B-movies that populated HK cinema during the early 90’s. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and for those (you know who you are) that complain Chinese cinema has become too glossy and lost the rawness of its heyday, the hyper-reality that Xixi decides to utilise makes for some gloriously over the top macho moments. The first half an hour consists almost entirely of a series of action scenes, with little to no explanation of what exactly is going on, or indeed how any of them connect to each other, but they’re entertaining enough for us not to care.

An assassin jumps out of a top floor window of a building, blasting away with a handgun in each hand, before landing safely on top of a car as if gravity doesn’t exist. In another scene a grenade just happens to be randomly discovered under the seat of a car, which is quickly utilised to see off another vehicle hot in pursuit. My favorite scene though involves a horse and cart mount an elevated level of some bamboo scaffolding, while a car drives underneath them, smashing through each of the bamboo poles supporting the whole structure. As if a horse and cart flying through the air wasn’t ludicrous enough, another character chasing on a push bike ends up sliding it sideways across the middle of the road, while he stands on it like a surfboard and blasts away – as expected – with a handgun in each hand.

Such scenes cry out to be ridiculed as a misguided attempt at recreating John Woo’s bullet ballet golden era, and indeed the scenes in question are completely and utterly ridiculous, however to see them being pulled off with such a straight face somehow prevents me from doing so. The very fact that not only did someone come up with these completely improbable and over the top action sequences, but that also a producer then read them and gave them the green light, is nothing short of a miracle. Sure, there is some dodgy green screen work here and there, and the editing is frequently as illogical as the events unfolding onscreen, but somehow it works. Maybe it’s because the CGI is kept to a minimum, maybe it’s the way the performers look so invested in the ridiculousness they’re taking part in, exactly why I can’t put my finger on, but it works.

Eventually proceedings slow down enough to allow a plot to form, which with a 130 minutes runtime, comes as a welcome relief if the audience’s attention is expected to be held. Huang plays the adopted son of a Shanghai crime boss played by Wang Xue-Qi, most recently seen in Helios and Monk Comes Down the Mountain, who’s been helping the Japanese wipe out any revolutionaries. At the beginning of the movie we meet Huang in prison, where during an escape attempt he’s assisted by Ho, ultimately leading to the pair of them escaping together, and Xue-Qi making Ho another of his adopted sons thanks to him helping Huang get out. So far, so The Raid 2. Unbeknownst to both Xue-Qi and Huang though, is that Ho is one such revolutionary, who now inadvertently finds himself in the inner circle of a crime boss his band of revolutionaries wish to assassinate.

For added drama, Ho’s girlfriend who he believed died at the hands of Xue-Qi during a riot, played by Korean actress Choo Ja-hyun, is discovered to still be alive and in a relationship with Xue-Qi. Huang also has a girlfriend in the form of Xue-Qi’s daughter, played by Coulee Nazha (recognizable from Police Story 2013), however when Ho saves her from the crossfire of a rival gangs assassination attempt on Huang, she finds herself falling for the undercover revolutionary. Yes, not only does The Game Changer serve up a healthy dose of over the top action, it also delivers not one but two love triangles. While romance is largely looked at as an unwelcome distraction in the action genre, here it actually helps to reign things in after the action filled opening 30 minutes, which almost feel as if they were designed to cater to someone with attention deficit disorder.

Perhaps the reason why it works so well, is that the melodramatic circumstances surrounding the love triangles are on par with the excessiveness of the action. This is a movie were everything is turned up to 11, and while the execution sometimes leaves a lot to be desired, the sheer bombastic nature of it all, combined with a lack of pretention, result in a pace which rarely dips. Despite this though, there can be no doubt that some minor trimming could have benefitted The Game Changer, as audiences rarely clock into such genre efforts expecting to still be around after 2 hours. Xixi does well to fill the majority of the runtime, with a seemingly endless amount of slow motion rainfall, black leather trench coats with oversized collars, and fedora hats, however a little longer in the editing room could have resulted in a much tighter narrative overall.

Stories like this usually only have one outcome, and sure enough The Game Changer doesn’t stray from the expected conclusion, but it does get there in style. By the time Ho decks himself out in a chest bearing leather vest, armed to the nines with guns and a machete, his final one-man assault on Xue-Qi’s mansion comes across like a combination of the finale’s from A Better Tomorrow 2 and Commando.  Bodies and bullets fly in every direction, in a way which recalls the glory days of the HK action B-movie, when enemies would apparently regenerate at will for the sole purpose of running into a stream of gunfire, and cheap and cheerful pyrotechnics were the order of the day.

Let’s be clear, The Game Changer isn’t going to win any awards – not for the acting performances, not for the direction, and most likely not even for the action design.  However it’s a movie that carries itself with a sense of self confidence despite its flaws and frequent bursts of ridiculousness, that makes black leather trench coats look effortlessly cool even though they shouldn’t, and makes surviving a hail of bullets seem perfectly feasible. It’s far from high art, but when the credits rolled, I realised I hadn’t had that much fun with a Chinese gangster flick for a long time.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10



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13 Responses to Game Changer, The (2017) Review

  1. Z Ravas says:

    Woo, Paul, you’ve got me excited for this one. This seems like one of the rare cases where a trailer did not mislead or lie – and in fact the movie delivers the gonzo action and ridiculous style that the previews promise.

    • Paul Bramhall says:

      Hey Zack…I think you’ll enjoy this, it’s a trashy kind of action, but it seems to know it so just cranks everything up to 11. Physics be damned. Let us know once you’ve had a chance to check it out yourself.

  2. Kung Fu Bob says:

    Thanks Paul. Like Z Ravas, I was impressed by the trailer, but your review has me sold. I’ll be picking this up upon release this Tuesday.

  3. Andrew Hernandez says:

    I hope I’ll enjoy his. I like the idea of a 1930’s gangster film with Power Ranger physics and dynamics. I imagine people wish John Woo made this instead of Manhunt.

  4. Andrew Hernandez says:

    Woah! Thanks a bunch!

  5. Andrew Hernandez says:

    I rented The Game Changer on VUDU, and I thought it was decent. I pretty much agree with everything in the review. I could have done without the forced tragic scenes and abrupt ending though.

    As much as the movie embraced its zany action scenes, I felt like there were times where the film got too serious in the dramatic aspects and felt over-written.

    Mixing zany and seriousness can work in films like in Peking Opera Blues, but Game Changer certainly wasn’t like that.

    I also thought a lot about Gangster Squad which I felt embraced it’s “B-movie gangster flick” aspects while giving the audience nice over the top action scenes. I wish Game Changer was more like that.

  6. Kung Fu Bob says:

    After reading Paul’s review I bought the Blu-ray on release day (October 3rd) and watched it on the 17th. It’s a cool, over-the-top action drama with plenty of flying bullets and bodies, chases, chopping blades, and fisticuffs. The lead, Peter Ho, looks like he was born to be an action star. Especially when he inexplicably shows up for the climactic showdown in a leather vest sans shirt. I laughed, but you can’t blame the guy as he obviously worked hard to have a killer physique. So why cover it all up, right? 😉

    I had a few problems with the film, and aside from some over-edited bits, all of them had to do with it going too far into “WTF?” territory. A perfect example: early on an assassin purposely goes out a high-rise window, shooting his targets on the way down as he ridiculously re-positions his body mid-fall. Instead of this having a “wow factor”, for me it just looked stupid. But before I even had a chance to roll my eyes it was followed by some exciting action. Later, when a character is shot multiple times in the chest and survives, I expected there to be some kind of cliche “Thankfully I had my lucky lighter in my pocket” or “I secretly slipped this steel shield under my shirt” reveal, but no. It turns out that there is no explanation other than: F**k those bullets! This guy is super damn tough! Um, okay. :tongue: There are more cartoonish moments like these sprinkled throughout the film, but fortunately most of them are not so silly. Still outlandish, but managing to maintain their cool factor.

    On the upside, the story, characters, and romantic triangles all work well, and you never have to wait too long before the next bit of wildly violent action kicks in.

    I have to say I liked it just a tiny bit less than Paul, and would give it a 6.5/10.

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