The Current Cinema - John Snadden draws attention to the remake of A BETTER TOMORROW 2018 (Ding Sheng, China, 2018)

A quick few notes on A BETTER TOMORROW 2018 which turns out to be an OK remake but with one serious flaw that nearly sinks the movie.

As a remake of John Woo's 1986 HK crime drama, director Ding Sheng has virtually cloned the story-line and structure of the original (which we should remember was based on a famous 1960s HK pic THE STORY OF A DISCHARGED PRISONER). But the mainland stars have acquitted themselves well in the lead roles and it was good to see Canto character actor Lam Suet as Qingdao's Mr Big.

Surprisingly, this pic's main problem is the poorly choreographed and filmed action sequences which visually often verge on pixilating images with too many close-ups and frantic cutting The large scale closing shipyard shootout is - frankly - shite, and ties up loose ends in a very unsatisfying law and order way.

It's my guess the producers of this film are aiming at a young Mainland audience with little knowledge of the original film series and that's the demographic which made up yesterday's audience...all approximately fifteen of them.

Lam Suet as Qingdao's Mr Big, A Better Tomorrow 2018

I'll have a longer review up on Heroic Cinema  within a few days.