Hero of Tomorrow

Director: Poon Man Kit

Starring: Max Mok Sui Chong, Miu Kiu Wai, Cheung Wing Jing, William Ho Ka Kau, Gam Siu Mooi and Joan Tong Lai Kau.

Plot: Sam Lee (Miu Kiu Wai) is released from prison and quickly takes revenge on his betrayers before jetting off to Taiwan to meet up with his old triad boss Billy (William Ho Ka Kau). Sam does a few jobs but then announces that he wants to lead a crime free life. Meanwhile Crow (Max Mok), a local street vendor is working his way up through the ranks of the same triad organisation that Sam wants to leave. The two men cross paths and Sam falls for Crow’s sister Lai Ling (Gam Siu Mooi), Crow on the other hand is busy helping his friend Little Santung (Cheung Wing Jing) pay off his gambling debts to the boss. Crow meets an up and coming singer Naïve (Joan Tong) to which the boss also takes a liking to. The boss then betrays Crow and Sam is forced back into his gun blazing past to take revenge on the evil boss.

Review: Hero Of Tomorrow was heavily influenced by John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow which was release a year before in 1987. The storyline is very run of the mill heroic bloodshed, it mixes action, drama and romance together with bloodshed. It’ll come as no surprise when no-one lives through the final reel. The action is great, the bullet ballets are gripping, shot on par with Mr. Woo himself. The script is written well enough to make the audience feel for the characters, the action takes a backseat while the codes of honour between brothers are being explained.

All the leading players give great performances, I was especially impressed with Miu Kiu Wai, who I’d only previously seen in goofball comedy roles. Max Mok portrays a man who is greedy for revenge with ease. His trench coat, dark glasses and cigarette chomping gangster image is obviously influenced by that of Chow Yun Fat. William Ho Ka Kau is the average triad boss, make money for yourself and betray anyone who gets in your way. His performance is good, which is all the more rewarding when he is taken out. During the course of the film his character has his tooth knocked out, unfortunately in the later scenes William Ho has black felt-tip pen coloured on his tooth.

There is connection between characters without any dialogue, such as the scene in which Crow removes his own finger to buy time for his friend, these scenes are very powerful and explain the codes of brotherhood with using many words.

The action scenes are few and far between, that is until the tense 15 minute finale, in which blood is shed by every character. The violence is gritty, although it has dated somewhat since 1988 and just doesn’t seem realistic, an example of this is when Tommy Wong’s character is butchered.

The music is powerful but unfortunately that has dated too, it sounds like a 80’s retro soundtrack, which lifts the tension from dramatic scenes.

There are a truck load of guest appearances from the likes of Tommy Wong Kwong Leung, Phillip Kwok, Phillip Chan, Blacky Ko, James Tein and Lung Ming Yan.

Hero Of Tomorrow is up there among the best heroic bloodshed films, I highly recommend Hong Kong film fans to see this. It has real emotion that will remain in your thoughts for a long time. Defiantly on the same level as A Better Tomorrow and The Killer due to it’s wonderful performances by Max Mok and Miu Kiu Wai.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.0