“The Last Tycoon” is one of Jing Wong’s better films yet. For a man who has created many action films, this is the most balanced, the most beautiful and the most memorable. There are no contrived goofiness, the film tries to combine triad action, romantic melodrama and nostalgia and it is effectively done. “The Last Tycoon” is recommended!
TITLE: The Last Tycoon
FILM RELEASE: 2012
DURATION: 119 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 16:9 Widescreen, Mandarin DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Stereo, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Well Go USA Entertainment
RATED: NR
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Directed by Jing Wong
Screenplay by Koon-nam Lui, Jing Wong, Manfred Wong
Produced by Wai-Keung Lau
Executive Producer: Dong Yu
Associate Producer: Manfred Wong
Music by Kwong Wing Chan, Yu-peng Chen
Cinematography by Jason Kwan, Wai-keung Lau
Edited by Wai Chiu Chung
Production Design by Chung Man Yee
Art Direction by Che Kiu Lam
Costume Design by Ivy Chan, Jessie Dai
Starring:
Chow Yun-Fat as Cheng Daiqi
Huang Xiaoming as Cheng Daiqi (young)
Sammo Hung as Hong Shou Ting
Francis Ng as Mao Zai
Yuan Quan as Ye Zhiqiu
Monica Mok as Bao
Kimmy Tong as Bao (young)
Feng Wenjuan as Ye Zhiqiu (young)
Yuan Li as Ling Husheng
Xin Baiqing as Cheng Zhaimei
Gao Hu as Lin Huai
Yasuaki Kurata as Major Nishino
Han Zhi as Warlord Lu
Zheng Yitong as Zialanchun
Qi Ji as Lu Xiaojia
From Hong Kong action superstar Chow Yun-Fat and powerhouse director Wong Jing comes a story of the rise and fall of real-life gangster Cheng Daqi, spanning 30 tumultuous years in Shanghai. For Cheng, innocence and young love are shattered by circumstance, wrongful imprisonment, murder, and escape. He finds himself in the crime gangs of Shanghai and apprenticed to the local “tycoon” (Sammo Hung). As the years pass, Cheng rises to the upper echelons of power and finds himself torn between the love of two women, the murderous plots of the secret service, and the looming threat of war that may destroy the entire city.
When it comes to Hong Kong cinema, one of the well-known filmmakers is Jing Wong.
Known for directing films such as “Legend of the Red Dragon”, “God of Gamblers” films, “City Hunter”, “Naked Killer”, “Sex and Beauties”, “The Duel” and many more!
And now Jing Wong is back with the film “The Last Tycoon”, a film which he co-wrote with Koon-nam Lui (“Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen”, “The Guillotines” and Manfred Wong (“The Storm Riders”).
“The Last Tycoon” stars Chow Yun Fat (“The Killer”, “Hard Boiled”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Curse of the Golden Flower”), Xiaoming Huang (“Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster”, “The Banquet”), Sammo Hung (“Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster”, “The Legend is Born: Ip Man”, “Legend of the Dragon”), Francis Ng (“Infernal Affairs II”, “Exiled”, “The Bride with White Hair”), Monica Mok (“Apart together”, “Koma”) and many more.
The Last Tycoon” begins with Cheng Daqi (portrayed by Chow Yun-Fat) watching a play and then the film goes back into the past where we see a young Cheng Daqi (portrayed by Huang Xiaoming) as a young man and his friend watching the talented Ye Zhiqiu (portrayed by Feng Wenjuan).
Zhiqiu is showing the guys how she is talented and can deflect weapons and wants to make her deceased mother proud by becoming the first female as a male lead in play. Something her father is against and beats her for it.
Bruised from being hit by her father, Cheng Daqi feeds her and takes care of her wounds but also showing his love for her with a kiss. Both promise each other that they will reunite as she plans to go to Beijing and he plans to go to Shanghai to make something of himself and find a good paying job.
One day while visiting his boss, his boss tells him that his wife is having an affair and she is having sex with someone. That someone turns out to be a a corrupt military official and he quickly reacts to both Cheng and his boss by pushing Cheng over the balcony (knocking him out) and killing Cheng’s boss.
When Cheng wakes up, he awakes to find himself in prison, being accused for the crime of killing his boss and is slated to be executed for his crime. That is until he meets Mao Zai inside the prison and Mao gives him a chance to live after his men are able to break into the prison and rescue them. Mao tells Cheng that now he owns his life and must do what he says and offers him a job.  But Cheng ends up choosing to travel to Shanghai and start a new life and maybe someday, their paths may cross again.
As Cheng goes back home, he finds out that Zhiquiu has moved to Beijing with her father.  So, Cheng ends up moving to Shanghai and taking part in the criminal underworld. He eventually impresses Hong Shouting (portrayed by Sammo Hung), a triad boss who happens to be the police chief in the area. Hong’s wife Ling Husheng sees potential in Cheng and she persuades her husband to allow him to join his group.
And we see see how Cheng becomes a powerful person in the criminal underground and becomes a major triad boss. And the storyline shifts from current Cheng and Cheng in the past, showing us how he met his love Bao (portrayed by Kimmy Tong (young)/Monika Mok (old) and how he runs into his old love Zhiqiu, who is now married.
Meanwhile, the Empire of Japan is planning to invade China and try to threaten Cheng. Cheng also runs into Mao Zai, who now leads the local secret service. But we learn what has happened in Cheng’s young past and how it has changed the current man that Cheng is now.
VIDEO:
“The Last Tycoon” is presented in 1080p High Definition and presented in widescreen (2:40:1 aspect ratio). The film looks absolutely beautiful with outdoor scenes are shown as vibrant, indoor scenes still looking very good and warm. The costume design for the film is also magnificent and the cinematography does a wonderful job in showcasing the beauty of its environments plus costume and set design. This is is a beautiful film shot by Jason Kwan and Wai-keung Lau.
I didn’t notice any artifacts or banding during my viewing of the film.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Last Tycoon” is presented in Mandarin DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Dialogue is crystal clear through the center and front channels, while surround channels tend to showcase ambiance, fireworks, explosions and gunshots. For the most part, audio effects are crystal clear and soundtrack for the film is appropriate but during the action scenes, the film does become much more immersive.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Last Tycoon” comes with the following special features:
- Making Of – Featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes from “The Last Tycoon”.
- Trailer -Â The theatrical trailer for “The Last Tycoon”.
EXTRAS:
“The Last Tycoon” comes with a slipcover.
Jing Wong’s “The Last Tycoon” is a beautiful film in which he doesn’t every scene is meaningful, every action scene is carefully choreographed and each flashback and modern scene is effectively shot.
At first glance, I was wondering if “The Last Tycoon” was supposed to be an HK version of “The Godfather” but the film is primarily about one man’s past and present. A story about loss and betrayal. But also a film about life and death.
How Cheng Da Qi became the powerful triad boss but also an ominous feeling that the Japanese would be invading Shanghai. But doing all he can to outwit them.
It’s a film that manages to combine the gangster genre Chinese styles with butcher knives and seeing gangs vs. gangs, also featured is a love story that involves Cheng and Zhiqiu, two people who were in love when they were younger but when the two are reunited and are at a church together, instead of a harmonious reunion, it becomes a bloodbath in which many are killed and Zhiqiu realizes that Cheng is not the same man he she knew long ago.
While Zhiqiu goes off to marry another man, Cheng meets Bao, a beautiful singer and a devoted wife that stays by his side from his younger years, to his older years. But when Zhiqiu is back in Shanghai, while no love triangle is played out, as Cheng respects her marriage to another man, the sexual tension between the two still exists.
And along with the storyline is this planned resistance to the Japanese (which Zhiqiu’s husband belongs to) and we see how people like Mao Zai end up aligning with the Japanese and making life harder on Chinese as those who are against Japanese occupation, end up being tortured by Chinese working for the Japanese. Francis Ng plays a wonderful antagonist and the ultimate snake to his own people, while the Japanese are the secondary antagonists. Especially knowing that before the Japanese attacked Nanjing, they also took over Shanghai in one of the bloodiest battles on Chinese soil against the Japanese that left Shanghai battered with many air strikes in Shanghai by the Imperial Japanese.
Performances by Chow Yun Fat as the older Cheng Daiqi and Huang Xiaoming as the younger Cheng are wonderful. Where as Chow Yun Fat shows restraint and maturation, younger Cheng is a man with rage, a man who has been wronged but most importantly, a man that is trying to survive and do the best he can with the job he has to offer, even if it means being the enforcer of Triad leader/police chief Hong Shou Ting.
Francis Ng is a bonafide antagonist and he plays it well, while I was enamored by the performances of Ye Zhiqiu (by Feng Wenjuan) and Yuan Quan as older Zhiqiu but also the performance by Kimmy Tong (Tong Fei) and Monica Mok as Cheng’s wife.
Performances were magnificent but the set and costume design also added to the beauty of this film!
As for the Blu-ray release, picture and audio quality were great. I saw no problems with picture or audio quality. There were not a lot of special features but I’m glad there was a “making-of” and that there was something than nothing.
Overall, “The Last Tycoon” is one of Jing Wong’s better films yet. For a man who has created many action films, this is the most balanced, the most beautiful and the most memorable. There are no contrived goofiness, the film tries to combine triad action, romantic melodrama and nostalgia and it is effectively done.
Recommended!
