Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

dworldeater I bought this excellent movie 10 years ago and I enjoy it immensely . I was expecting Beast Cops to be a bullet ballet similar to the films of John Woo. It clearly is not, this is an excellent cop/triad action drama with the HK sense of humor . This stars Anthony Wong (one of the best actors to work in HK ) and Michael Wong (one of the worst actors to work in HK ) . Both of these actors are part caucasian , but they are not related. Anthony Wong plays a streetwise cop and Michael Wong plays his uptight boss assigned to his unit . Michael 's crappy acting works great for his character . Plus the Wongs together have good chemistry . Sam Lee is great here also, as is Roy Cheung .(who is awesome in everything he is in) This movie is very dark with a lot of funny stuff, action and drama . The characters are off the wall and the cop and triad worlds exist together . This could have been an abortion , but in its own way it really works. I was expecting a standard HK action flick, I got a lot more.

simon_r_clay One of the worst films it's been my misfortune to watch in quite some time. A script which tries to simultaneously be serious, funny and different ends up offering none of these things. If ever there was a case of a film failing due to trying too hard to impress this would be it.

contronatura A gritty and beautifully shot Hong Kong action film, one that announces all is not lost in the post-Woo/Hark/Lam Hong Kong action genre. Anthony Wong gives an astonishing performance as a cop who walks the line between police officer and triad. Michael Wong is for once not completely bland, and even has a couple of wonderful comic moments. And the violence in this film is remarkably startling, which is not something I find too much in Hong Kong cinema. In most films, even in masterpieces like The Killer or City on Fire, the violence is relatively unsurprising. Here, perhaps because it's mostly committed with crude machetes, the violence is brutal and tough. And the way it's cut and edited makes it all the more effective. For fans of Hong Kong cinema, it's not to be missed. And even for people who aren't usual fans of that genre, this is an interesting film to check out. From me, this is easily a 9/10.

donleavy A cops-n-robbers movie, but not at all typical. An interesting departure from the stylized violence of classic HK movies, such as those directed by John Woo. Despite the chaos of those movies, there was always something "neat" and organized about the action, a choreography. Kind of like a fireworks display. As exuberant and fun as that style is, Beast Cops is an example of a new sort of HK cinema.And it's a bit messy. Even the characters are somewhat sloppy; spitting on sidewalks, flinging beer cans in the backseat, etc. No one in this movie looks particularly dashing.Even the violence is messy. For some reason, guns are seldom used, and most of the damage is caused by beating people with sticks or stabbing them with knives. And the knives aren't even cool-looking, they look like kitchen cleavers. So there's a more "hands-on" and labored feeling about the violence as opposed to the more effortless killing accomplished by guns.But the slapdash feel and somewhat primitive action actually amounts to a very purposeful sophistication and insight about the characters. All the characters are realistically flawed, and the emotions feel genuine. The usual conflicts of loyalty/betrayal and the notion of brotherhood are all addressed, but the outcome is not formulaic or predictable.Over all, this is a very well-made movie. The acting is first-rate, with Anthony Wong (as Tung) being especially good, as his character spans a confident wise-ass, a dejected lover, a ballsy hero, to a full-on psycho. Instead of a fireworks display, this movie is more like abstract art - a whole different kind of pleasure.