The Corruptor (1999)

I have not seen this one in a long time. When it comes to introducing  Chinese Movie Star, Chow Yun Fat to the western world, I think the Replacement Killers was the far more stylized and rememberable way than his follow up to that movie (course nothing beats Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)

I myself know nothing about Chow Yun Fat prior to the Replacement Killers except that he got one of his early breaks in a movie by John Woo who has just broke out into the western world a few years before with Hard Target (or Face Off, depending on your level of action film enjoyment).

The Corruptor seems more like what Chow Yun Fat is all about (based on what I could gather of him because of my own knowledge of bootleg Asian Cinema at the time). The Replacement Killers tried to replicate what he’s most famous for but the Corruptor is showing the type of gritty films that made him somewhat of a Denzel Washington or a Robert DiNiro in his home county.

Mark Wahlberg looks like a baby in this picture. That was the point really, he was playing a wide eyed busy tailed rookie detective. He’s so young looking it takes you back to his Markie Mark days. complete with a “I got to take my shirt off” moment.

It’s a gritty police drama and it’s not a bad movie, but it possibly does not stick out as well as other police drama, that’s probably why I don’t remember seeing it, even though I know I did,. Though it showcases a more realer look at what Chow Yun Fat is about it’s not flashy enough in a world where most Americans were into Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Still good to watch.