“Back to the Past” Poster
Director: Ng Yuen-Fa
Co-director: Jack Lai
Cast: Louis Koo, Raymond Lam, Michael Miu, Wu Yue, Fay Bay Baihe, Jessica Hsuan, Chris Collins, Timmy Hung, Sonija Kwok, Joyce Tang, Louis Cheung, Michelle Saram, Kevin Chu, Jimmy Au, Wong Man-piu, Liu Kai-chi
Running Time: 107 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Back to the Past offers up an intriguing proposition – a movie sequel to A Step into the Past, a 40-episode TVB series from 2001, that picks up in real time 25 years after the series concluded. The most obvious question is how to bring audiences who haven’t seen the series (such as myself) up to speed, and the answer is – with great difficulty. An opening recap does its best, however cramming 40 episodes worth of story into a couple of minutes is an even more challenging task than Tai Seng’s habit of trimming the equivalent number of episodes into 2 – 3 hour movies back in the 2000’s. With that said, we get enough backstory to understand that Louis Koo (League of Gods, Paradox) is stuck in the past, where he tutored Raymond Lam (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, Detective vs. Sleuths) to become the emperor of the Qin Empire, with the latter’s increasing lust for power resulting in Koo taking exile in the countryside.
What was Koo doing before he got stuck in the past? Why was he sent there in the first place? How did his relationship form with Lam? Perhaps the biggest question of all – why does he seem to have 2 wives!? All of this is taken as presumed knowledge, with the expected audience for Back to the Past clearly being those who have a nostalgia for the original series. So why would a complete newbie clock in to a production which so obviously requires an understanding of what went down in 2001? Well, it’s a big budget Hong Kong movie in 2025 featuring a cast of familiar HK faces, and even if it’s not nostalgia for the original series, considering I only got into HK cinema a couple of years before it originally aired, in my case the nostalgia for the era is enough of a draw. If you’re in the same boat, then my one recommendation would be to check out the A Step into the Past wiki page before you go in, you’ll thank me later!
Back to the Past offers up the sophomore directorial credit for a pair of directors – with visual effects artist Ng Yuen-Fai here following up his directorial debut for Koo’s 2022 passion project Warriors of Future, and Jack Lai following up his 2024 debut Possession Street (having notably also worked as an assistant director on Warriors of Future). The pair wisely choose to steer away from the multiple plot threads a 40-episode series has the luxury to develop, and instead opt for what’s essentially a chase flick. It turns out Michael Miu (The Trough, Handsome Siblings) invented the time machine that originally sent Koo back, but since it sent him 3 years earlier than where he was supposed to be (thanks wiki), Miu was imprisoned for 20 years. Now released, his wrongful imprisonment has made him eager for revenge, so he hires a group of mercenaries and travels back to the past as well, the plan being to make himself the emperor.
In fact the best way to approach Back to the Past for a newcomer is not so much to look at it as a sequel to a TVB series, but rather approach it from the perspective of it being a 2025 update to 1979’s G.I. Samurai. While that production saw a military unit transported back to feudal Japan, here it’s essentially the same concept. Interestingly despite the present-day scenes being set in 2025, the technology on display implies a much more futuristic setting. Handheld devices turn into futuristic motorbikes or hoverboards (yes, hoverboards), a device worn around the neck can change your face to look and sound like someone else (think the Mission: Impossible series, just minus the need for masks), and smartphones are now completely holographic. There’s obviously a lot of artistic licence at play (Yuen-Fai definitely enjoyed his time on Warriors of Future), but considering we’re already dealing with time travel, it works.
Watching machine gun brandishing mercenaries on motorbikes facing off against Qin dynasty era soldiers on horseback is exactly as cool as it sounds, with Lam coming to the realisation that his newly arrived enemy would appear to be from the same mysterious “hometown” that Koo spoke of being from. Tracking him down, once the pair are reunited Koo realises that after more than 20 years he finally has some company from his own time (even if it’s not the kind he wants), and perhaps an opportunity to return to the present day. However he also knows that he’ll need to protect Lam if the course of history is to remain as it’s intended, so after taking out one of the mercenaries (none of whom seem particularly phased to have travelled through time), he suits up and starts the journey to bring both the emperor and his family to safety.
The rest of the narrative unfolds within the context of the pursuit, serving to maintain a welcome sense of urgency throughout the punchy runtime. Miu’s band of assassins include the likes of Fay Bay Baihe (Monster Hunt, Chongqing Hotpot), Wu Yue (The Tai Chi Master, The Brink), Chris Collins (Ip Man 4: The Finale, Wolf Warrior), and Timmy Hung (Death Notice, Shock Wave 2), with the latter marking Back to the Past as a family affair. It’s Hung’s father Sammo Hung (Invincible Swordsman, The Bodyguard) who’s credited as action director, with his brother Jimmy Hung (Septet – The Story of Hong Kong, Keep Calm and Be a Superstar) on choreography duty for the Hong Kong unit. On the other hand it’s Jack Wong Wai-Leung (Coffin Homes, Revenge: A Love Story) who handles the choreography for the mainland shot parts, however disappointingly there’s nothing particularly distinctive on display in the action department.
The likes of credible screen fighters such as Wue and Collins are mostly left to scheme about getting rich and making their way back to the present alone, while those expecting to see some classic HK choreography will instead be left with Louis Koo in a dodgy CGI hoverboard battle. What’s more surprising though is that this doesn’t feel particularly important, with enough forward momentum and a surprising amount of humor working in Back to the Past’s favour, keeping it an entertaining watch from start to finish.
If anything, the part that will likely split audiences down the middle (regardless of if they’re newcomers or fans of the original series) comes in the final 20 minutes. With everything resolved, Koo and Lam are finally able to have a heart to heart, proving that even in the 21st century, nobody does bromance quite like Hong Kong cinema does. It’s a fitting end, effectively concluding Back to the Past bang on the 90-minute mark, but we’re then greeted with a ‘Keep watching for an alternate ending’ message, explaining the 105-minute runtime. I’ve only ever seen this kind of thing done once before, and that was in Tsui Hark’s 2014 production The Taking of Tiger Mountain, in which it really didn’t work. Here I feel inclined to say the same, as after the unapologetic brotherhood angle that events conclude on, it feels decidedly anticlimactic for it then to say “hey, here’s another way this movie could have ended, don’t leave the cinema just yet!”
It’s best described as a rug pull moment, maybe because after getting the audience emotionally invested and offering up a suitable payoff, there’s something akin to a feeling of betrayal by having the narrative offer up another way it could have ended, making it blatantly clear that what we’re watching is just a movie. The cynical part of me thinks it’s been thrown in there just to have Louis Koo arrive in 2025 and express how much Hong Kong has “progressed in the past 20 years”, ensuring no one runs afoul of the National Security Law. The less cynical part of me thinks it was there to offer up a cameo from Michelle Saram (Paradox, Skyline Cruisers), who played the Wu princess in the original.
Either way, we should be thankful that time travel movies can be made again considering they were off the table for so long in China, and no matter which way you look at it, for fans of Hong Kong cinema it’s simply impossible to dislike Back to the Past. Blending just the right amount of humor, action, and historical hijinks, Louis Koo’s unwavering commitment to keeping Hong Kong cinema alive in a way that’s both recognisable and entertaining is something to be admired and thankful for. Is it perfect? Far from it, and some may argue, perhaps rightfully, that his latest trades too much on nostalgia. But with a name like Back to the Past, audiences can’t say they weren’t warned.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10
I watched it last weekend, and as someone who grew up watching TV shows starring all these actors, not specifically A Step into the Past, I thought it was pretty darn good even if it could’ve been better. I can understand if you have no attachment to this show or HK media in general, it would be pretty mid. Like I’m bummed that Louis Koo didn’t fight antagonist Michael Miu mano a mano. But it was a very satisfying movie for the bond between Hong Siu Long and Poon Yi, even if like this same thing happens in the much superior Twilight of the Heroes. I too didn’t care for the alternate ending.
The second ending was not for Sonija Kwok cameo – she plays Kam Ching – one of Hong Siu Long’s wives (also dual playing as his them present day girlfriend). The cameo was for Michelle Saram who played the Wu princess Chiu Sin who tragically died in the series. It’s a play on the promise that Hong Siu Long made at her grave that he considered her his wife even though they weren’t married.
Thanks for the correction Patrick, the review has been updated to reflect the same. (Ironically Michelle Saram did play Louis Koo’s wife in 2017’s ‘Paradox’!)