Born Wild

"Fight Club" with a HK vibe sans the smart dialogue with a hint of arthouse aspiration which never quite gets to the lofty heights to match the impact of its body blows.

Director $$ID=Patrick Leung$$, best known for co-scripting $$ID=John Woo$$'s bleakly excellent "&&ID=V1058||Name=Bullet In The Head&&" and directing Milky Way's killer flick with a difference "&&ID=V1042||Name=Beyond Hypothermia&&" returns with this stylish, good-looking tale of a street fighter in the subculture of HK underground boxing. Tan ($$ID=Louis Koo$$ in signature tan and buff matinee idol form) is a rebellious youth who packs a mighty punch but falls prey to triad kingpins (veteran swordplay actor $$ID=Bai Ying$$) who control the betting game. Stuff that legends are made of, his rise and fall from the ring is narrated by former agent and one time rival in love, Mann ($$ID=Patrick Tam Yiu Man$$), a slimy hoodlum who turns loyal - Tan knocks his lights out and makes off and out with sultry galpal Sandy ($$ID=Jo Kuk$$) - to younger twin brother of 3 minutes, Ho ($$ID=Daniel Wu$$, not as tan but equally buff).

There is much of a play on kindred souls as Ho shadows the path of Tan, in a bid to understand the sibling who left the family years ago for the wild side. There is also a hint of sibling rivalry told in flashback when a young Tan tells Ho that he will never fight him so that his superiority will always remain a mystery. This is echoed in Ho's eventual relationship with Sandy, belying a secret family past that underscores the film's ambivalent twist at the end.

But the guts of the film lie in the full impact fight scenes high in the blood quotient. $$ID=Yuen Tak$$, one of the HK Yuen's struts his stuff choreographing the jabs and blows whenever slow and fast tracking shots aren't present - to be honest they don't work all too well here and seem like a knockoff of Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock..." and "Snatch". Louis is wolfishly handsome in character and does standout fight scenes beating a Korean fighter to pulp in a back street brawl where differences are settled with the boxers donning lethal chain mesh gloves. Ditto for his death at the hands of an African American ex-pro, who in true formulaic fashion, Ho eventually fights in vengeance. Daniel Wu is increasingly trying to steer further from the brat-pack but strutting his pecs and six-pack does little to help. Lacking somewhat compared to Patrick Leung's more compelling boxing drama "&&ID=V2823||Name=Somebody Up There Likes Me&&", those expecting a similar emotional charge will be disappointed. But watch this film if only for the brawling scenes alone....