“Just Heroes” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: John Woo
Co-director: Ng Ma
Cast: David Chiang, Danny Lee, Chen Kuan Tai, Stephen Chow, Lo Lieh, Cally Kwong, Wu Ma, Shing Fui On, Zhao Lei, Tien Niu, Alan Chan, Fung Hak On, Philip Ko Fei
Running Time: 97 min.
By Numskull
This is the John Woo “gun fu” movie that nobody has seen. It’s listed on the filmographies, but nothing much is ever said about it. It simply gets nestled between A Better Tomorrow 2 and The Killer.
So I watched it hoping I’d be able to write a rave review of it, saying how criminally unfair it is that it doesn’t get more attention and how it deserves to be ranked right up there with Woo’s best.
Sorry, folks. No can do.
Just Heroes is just so-so. John Woo turned out a chain of seven films during his HK golden era: A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow 2, Just Heroes, The Killer, Bullet in the Head, Once A Thief, and Hard Boiled. This, friends, is the weak link.
One might say that the absence of Chow Yun-fat (who appeared in five of the seven films listed above) harms this movie and keeps it from attaining the brilliance of A Better Tomorrow or The Killer. And one would be wrong, because there’s no shortage of talent among the cast here, and not even an actor as good as Chow Yun-fat can single-handedly save a movie from totally sucking (Replacement Killers, anyone?). I’m not saying that Just Heroes sucks, but it doesn’t mesmerize you like other Woo flicks do.
The story concerns the murder of a mob leader by an unidentified assassin and the subsequent chaos among his underlings as his chosen successor has doubts about his ability to fill his boss’s shoes and the search for the killer indicates an inside job. The gang splits into factions. Some guys are honorable, others are pricks. Violence ensues.
Don’t expect a thrill a minute. Just Heroes is no more story driven than any other John Woo film since the mid 1980s, but it’s definitely less adrenaline-charged. After the initial shootout, the better part of an hour passes before we see anything that resembles an action sequence again. What’s there is good, but more would have been nice since the plot and characters aren’t exceptionally interesting.
Ng Ma is credited as co-director and I’m given cause to wonder if he directed more of this movie than “they” would have us believe. At times it really does seem more like a John Woo imitation than a John Woo film. There’s one character who repeatedly makes references to A Better Tommorrow, reciting Chow Yun-fat’s urine-drinking speech and planting handguns in potted plants (get it? PLANTING handguns? Potted PLANTS? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… ha… heh… um… never mind).
Seriously… Just Heroes is worth watching once, but it’s hardly touched by greatness. If you’re a Woo completist, it is, of course, required viewing; if not, don’t beat yourself up for skipping over it. To my knowledge it is not available on DVD. Tai Seng has released full-frame and (barely) letterboxed videos. Both have blurry white subs burned onto the print; in the full-frame version, which sould be avoided at all costs, the text constantly runs off the edges of the screen and gets chopped off at the bottom. Nothing new there. Watch it letterboxed or not at all.
Oh yeah, and the ending is very abrupt.
Numskull’s Rating: 5/10
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