Will Of Iron - Just Say Blow | Trash Cinema Club

Jul

13

Will Of Iron - Just Say Blow

≡ Category: Action, Drama, Hong Kong, Movie Reviews By Country, Recommended |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Drama/Action
Director: David Chiang
Year: 1990

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE

Wildly inconsistent, but entertaining just the same, Will Of Iron is a melodrama about the evils of drug addiction, Hong Kong style.

Golden Age Of Hong Kong flicks are not exactly noted for their sophistication regarding social problems and mores, but Will Of Iron is not as clueless as you might expect.

True, it is strongly suggested that marijuana is a gateway drug, and there is a scene in which Jacky (Jacky Cheung) gets so stoned on cocaine that he nods out (yeah, um…okay), but most of the details of drug addiction ring pretty true.

For example, artists often take so-called performance enhancement drugs like cocaine because they think it will give them inspiration. In fact, all the drug does is make them think they’re inspired. Eventually, they can’t produce at all. Also, as everyone knows by now, drug addicts will lie like rugs to their significant others, even stealing from them and physically abusing them while in the throes of physical addiction. Scriptwriters Law Tai-Man and John Chan Kin-Chung depict these aspects of addiction quite well.

The filmmakers got lucky casting Jacky Cheung as a drug addict. I can’t think of another Hong Kong actor who would be able to suggest the lack of control and stinkin’ thinkin’ typical of an addict better than Jacky Cheung. Crystal Kwok also does very well in the role of Carol, the typical long-suffering wifey. You might think that her tolerance of Jacky’s behavior is an exaggeration, but I assure you that it is not. Asian women really do stand by their men like this. Maggie Cheung is fantastic as the heroic friend, Maggie, who has the guts to negotiate with the head of the triad who Jacky owes money to.

Unfortunately, not all of the casting works. Michael Wong is his usual execrable self as Michael, the triad member who is torn between his friendship for Jacky and the demands of his job. This role demanded subtlety and soul, an ability to convey psychic torture, but poor Michael Wong just doesn’t have it in him. All he can manage is to look peevish, as if he got to the front of the buffet line and there were no more cocktail shrimp.

More unusually, the actor who plays the chief villain sucks. This is a pity, because there are easily a dozen other actors who would have kicked ass in this role.

You see, Jacky owes so much money to his dealer, Sam, that the bastard tries to pressure him into being a mule, which involves swallowing condoms filled with cocaine and transporting them to other countries. (There is an early scene that illustrates the dangers of this practice quite effectively.) For this kind of vindictive, merciless bastard, you need an actor like Yu Rong Guang, Roy Cheung, or Philip Ko Fei. Who did they get instead? Kwok Yiu-Wah. This guy is like a cartoon. He’s impossible to take seriously.

The terrible acting from Kwok Yiu-Wah and Michael Wong undercuts the drama, which keeps Will Of Iron from being an all-time classic.

Fortunately, there are compensations. For one thing, it’s interesting to see the dilemmas of the characters played out in the context of Hong Kong society. When Maggie finds out that her boyfriend Michael is part of a triad that deals drugs, she is furious with him. Not because he’s a drug dealing scum — she doesn’t care who he hurts to make money — that’s his business. No, what she’s mad about is that Michael would involve his own friend — that’s where she draws the line. Interesting, no?

Finally, the filmmakers aren’t so invested in making Will Of Iron realistic that they aren’t willing to have some fun with some martial arts beatdowns from time to time, engagingly choreographed by James Ha. For the grand finale, they depart from reality completely, staging a desperate situation for our heroes involving attempted rape, forced swallowing of cocaine-filled condoms, and pregnant wife abuse, culminating in a full-scale gun battle in an abandoned building.

Good times.