Devil Face, Angel Heart

In the movie, Wu plays a disfigured hitman who is treated harshly by his boss, and after falling in love with his girlfriend ($$ID=Gigi Lai$$), Wu decides to take out the boss. However, the girlfriend has an agenda of her own, which leaves Wu's brother ($$ID=Lam Suet$$) dead and Wu in a coma. Waking up with a surgically-altered face, Wu infiltrates his old gang in order to take his revenge.

Even though Devil Face, Angel Heart's has a plot full of twists and turns, the film-makers manage to keep things on track by keeping the movie focused on Daniel Wu, and he is up to the task. While it's not a earth-shattering performance, it is worlds above most of the other teeny-bopper pop-idol actor wannabes currently stinking up Hong Kong movies. Even while hiding behind grotesque makeup, he manages to create a believeable and, more importantly, sympathetic character. By the time the film draws to a climax, the viewer actually cares about what will happen to Wu, which is more than you can say about a lot of recent Hong Kong movies, which end up coming off as so generic and bland.

There is also a good deal of sex and violence to keep the viewer's interest. It's nothing along the likes of Naked Killer, but $$ID=Wong Jing$$'s (his production company financed the film) fingerprint is definitely there -- which makes it refreshing compared to the relatively tame films Hong Kong has been producing as of late. Devil Face, Angel Heart isn't a classic, but it does harken back to the "golden days" of Hong Kong cinema, where fans could expect oodles of "naughty bits" and solid performances, and as such, it's worth a viewing.

Review Courtesy of Neil Koch