Plot: Infamous triad Autumn Yip (Ekin Cheng) has just been released from an 8 year sentence in a Thai prison. He returns back to Hong Kong as a changed man, rather killing his rivals with machetes, he’s donating vast amounts of money to several charities and becoming quite the public figure.
Yip’s sudden change of heart doesn’t fool Inspector Ming (Alex Fong) though, he knows that Yip is planning something, people don’t just change, triad is a triad and that’s that.
Another unhappy face is Ghost (Stephen Fung) a young triad in Yip’s group, Ghost was making a name for himself, until Yip returned and stole his thunder.
When Yip is reunited with his old triad buddies he asks for their help. He wants them to help him set up a supposedly legitimate business. But Inspector Ming and his Anti-Triad Unit don’t believe him for a minute.
So the big question is, has Autumn Yip really changed?
Review: James Yuen amused me with My Wife is 18, he then wowed me with Crazy n the City, but with Heavenly Mission he’s left me doubting him. No doubt that the cast is good, Ekin being very calm and collected, Stephen Fung being shown in darker colours than usual and Alex Fong as a hot headed cop who’d break the rules to find dirt on Yip.
The story is a little complex; I do admit that I was scratching my head at times. I really think James Yuen was learning how to run before learning how to walk.
Ekin Cheng’s character seems rather emotionless until the last half hour although I guess it’s all part of his characters new calmer image. Stephen Fung surprised me as this no holds barred, who dares win type triad, his ruthlessness really shows a mean streak which could be perfected in the next coming years.
Later the film My Name is Fame star Fok Sze-Yin appears as a blind masseur from Macau who gives Autumn a massage after her original client dumps her. Autumn befriends her and travels to Macau just to visit her, although as you can expect this provides a weakness to Autumn, giving the advantage to foes.
The film has a mixed assortment of actors, Eric Kot as the boss of a tabloid newspaper, he had the right image for the film, really suited him, he usually annoys me but this time he done well in his role. Screen legend Ti Lung appears in the movie as Boss Hung, Autumn and Ghosts boss, he spends most of his time running a restaurant and eating meals with his sworn brothers. Sunshine band member Wong Yau-Nam appears as a tag along triad buddy of Ghost, Niki Chow appears as his forever nosey/annoying girlfriend.
Other notable appearances in the movie include Julian Cheung, Wayne Lai, Hu Jing, Carl Ng, Ng Ting-Yip, Henry Fong and the lanky Samuel Pang. Oh and that bald fat kid from AV.
Final thoughts, the film is decent, the cast is good, but it doesn’t surpass Crazy n’The City, that film was Ace! Enjoy!
