Tiger Cage, director Yuen Woo-ping's take on a modern, urban crime thriller, distinguishes itself from the rest of the streak thanks to a healthy appetite for excess and endangerment. The film's opening shoot-out, when the central narcotics task force are at the height of their powers, is sprawling and relentless. Civilians are caught up in the crossfire as an undercover drug bust spills out onto the streets, before crashing over neon-piped promenades and concrete sprawl. As soon as the police have chased off their quarry, Tiger Cage switches gears to focus in, leadenly, on the forced camaraderie displayed by work acquaintances. The false note these sort of unfunny capers usually strike in similar films actually ends up working in Tiger Cage's favour when it is slowly revealed that several key players within this chuckling department are on the payroll for a heroin smuggling ring.
As the group dynamic dissipates, the film narrows in on a trio of rookie cops played by Jacky Cheung, Carol Cheng and a young Donnie Yen. Obviously, given that this is film directed by Yuen Woo-ping, Yen is given ample opportunity to shine: his hot-headed plod, Terry, a more than convincing answer to a pair of heavies deployed to massage a dockside drug deal. This is Yen pre-megastardom though, so his high-kicking hold on Tiger Cage is only fleeting. Yen's twirling showcase quickly comes a cropper, suddenly depositing Terry in a situation that is reminiscent of the doomed heroics so beloved of Shaw Brothers great, Chang Cheh. As the stakes continue to ramp up, Tiger Cage only gets meaner and coarser, casually disposing of, apparently, crucial characters and trapping Cheng and Cheung's disgraced fuzz in situations that have more in common with a bloody, Italian horror film than your standard police procedural.
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