Beast Cops

Infobox Film
name = Beast Cops


image_size =
caption = DVD cover
director = Gordon Chan
Dante Lam
producer =
writer =
narrator =
starring = Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
Michael Wong
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1998
runtime = 110 min.
country = flagicon|Hong Kong Hong Kong
language = Cantonese
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0157366

"Beast Cops" (Hong Kong title: 野獸刑警) is a 1998 Hong Kong action film co-directed by Gordon Chan and Dante Lam which stars Anthony Wong Chau-Sang and Michael Wong.

Plot

Sergeant Tung is a street cop in Hong Kong who is friends with a Triad "dai lo" named Fai. Fai hires a hitman from Mainland China to execute a business rival; the hit goes wrong and Fai, implicated in the incident, goes on the run. This leaves Tung in the put-upon position to look after Fai's affairs.

Soon, however, Tung's squad is assigned a new Commanding Officer in the form of Lieutenant Michael Cheung, a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails cop who was transferred for having punched out his own previous Commanding Officer. In an attempt to keep tabs on Cheung -- and similarly introduce him to their precinct -- Tung takes Cheung to the disco owned by Fai. There, Cheung meets a madam named Yoyo, who is also Fai's moll. Angry and upset that Fai left on such short notice without her, Yoyo instigates an affair with Cheung and the two soon find themselves in love.

In the meantime Fai's eager underling, Push-Pin, moves himself into Fai's role and attempts to force Yoyo to peddle customers drugs through her escorts. Yoyo refuses, an action which results in Push-Pin slapping her across the face. Cheung finds out, and the incident immediately marks he and Push-Pin as enemies.

As Cheung and Yoyo's relationship turns serious, Tung finds his own relationship with a married woman turning sour. She routinely asks him for money, which leaves him constantly broke. When Push-Pin realizes slapping Yoyo has resulted in Cheung becoming an enemy, Push-Pin hands Tung a handful of money, "as a gift." Actually, this act is a bribe, and when Cheung is later attacked by a group of Push-Pin's men and Tung, having made the connection, attempts to bring Push-Pin in, Push-Pin reminds Tung of the money he'd given him. Tung finds himself powerless to arrest Push-Pin without exposing himself as having been bribed.

Things come to a head when Fai returns to town and learns that Yoyo is seeing Cheung. Fai goes after Cheung; their fight leads to a stand-off with Tung between them, and Yoyo proclaiming she and Cheung are in love and are having a baby. Fai storms off, followed by Tung. The two decide it's time to pay a visit to Push-Pin, who has now been officially promoted by the area's lead Triad boss into Fai's place as "dai lo".

While Tung waits outside the disco, Fai goes in to confront Push-Pin. After an emotional confrontation, Push-Pin chops Fai in the neck with a machete, killing him. Tung sees Push-Pin leaving the club; when he runs inside to see what happened, the sight of Fai's body on the floor leaves him devastated and wanting revenge.

Tung, loaded with alcohol and barbiturates, cruises town to find Push-Pin. He receives word Push-Pin is back at the disco and goes there to bring Push-Pin down once and for all. This results in Tung taking on not only Push-Pin, but all his underlings as well. Cheung shows up with his officers to help, only to find Tung moments later seemingly dead from a steel spike Push-Pin has rammed into Tung's gut. Seconds later, Push-Pin is killed by one of Fai's men as revenge for Push-Pin having killed Fai.

As it turns out, Tung survives and he and Cheung pay a visit to the lead Triad boss, where the two promise to eventually bring him down.

Cast

*Anthony Wong Chau-Sang as "Tung"
*Michael Wong - "Michael Cho" ("Michael Cheung" in some prints)
*Kathy Chow Hoi-Mei - "Yoyo"
*Roy Cheung - "Brother Fai"
*Patrick Tam Yiu Man - "Push-Pin"
*Sam Lee - "Sam"

Trivia

*In some dubbed versions, Yoyo's full name is given as Yo Yo Ma, the name of a famously renowned cellist.
*Though neither Anthony Wong nor Michael Wong are related, they are both half-Caucasian.
*The film was one of the first Hong Kong films to be filmed with sync sound; up to this point Hong Kong films were normally filmed without sound due to the inherent cacophony of noises prevalent in the hyper-active streets of Hong Kong. This adds tremendously to the grittiness and "street feel" of the film.

Awards

*1999 Hong Kong Film Awards:
*"Best Actor" - Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
*"Best Director" - Gordon Chan, Dante Lam
*"Best Picture"
*"Best Screenplay" - Hing-Ka Chan, Gordon Chan
*"Best Supporting Actor" - Patrick Tam

*1999 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
*"Best Actor" - Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
*"Best Film"

ee also

* List of Hong Kong films

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157366/ Beast Cops] at the Internet Movie Database