The Corruptor

The corruptor is really a story about loyalty. 2 cops in Chinatown who are loyal only to each other. At this point the movie still has potential. However, the movie mixes two genres unsuccessfully : action flick and social commentary/drama. The action is ok... mostly gun-fighting and car chases. However, the movie again and again treats us to disturbing visuals : hundreds (apparently six) civilians gunned down in a car chase, emaciated Chinese women packed in a rooms and kept as slaves for the * industry, illegal immigrants stuffed into the hull of a boat, etc. I appreciate that the creators of this movie wanted to show their audience that the people who traffic drugs and * are basically monsters. Maybe it's just me, but absurdly unrealistic action doesn't mix well with disturbing reality. I give this one 1/2 a star.

Another action gay movie Chow starred in. And this time the gayness is more "subtle" than his previous action movies made in Hong Kong. The plot is just so so. Not very impressive. What stands out is the tone of this movie. Everybody talks and acts in a violent way. Kind of cool. The culture thing is perfect. They act like both Chinese and Americans, without stupid stereotyping.

I still wonder why Hollywood gives Mark Wahlberg any work. His dramatic range is nil. If it weren't for his aww shucks schtick he would have no schtick at all. His performance in this movie is the single worst thing about the movie. There are other things that aren't so good, but nothing else is nearly as bad. That being said I have nothing but good things to say about Yun-Fat Chow. This is the kind of character he plays best. Edgy, complex and dynamic, a tough cop and a bad cop that is at heart a good guy. The story is that Mark Wahlberg is sent into the chinatown precinct to fill a staffing shortage. The lead detective in that precinct, played by chow, is corrupt and in the pay of the Tong. Over the course of the movie Wahlberg's character is sucked into the corruption as well. The story is pretty standard cop drama fare with a few twists, but nothing spectacular. Really the best part of the movie is watching Chow, the worst is watching Wahlberg.

While not perfect, The Corrupter is far from lacking when it comes to delivering the action goods we've come to expect from a Chow Yun Fat movie. People who say it needs more action or character development must have watched the wrong movie. To add more of either would have had to resulted in a longer movie. From start to finish, no time is wasted in conveying the story or showing Hong Kong style gunplay that is above and beyond what American audiences are used to. Extremely violent and full of imaginative ways to kill people with a gun, I don't see how anyone who would even consider watching this would give it a low rating. Unlike today's action flicks who strive for their precious PG-13 rating, this movie takes it over the top and is full of gratuitous nudity, immoral activity, and point-blank head-exploding gunfire. If you're into any of the aforementioned goodness, then you more than likely won't be disappointed by this flick. The famous car chase scene is perhaps the most violent ever put to celluloid. Mark Wahlberg isn't the greatest actor but is believable nonetheless. Chow Yun Fat plays the role of desensitized Asian gang taskforce detective Nick Chen perfectly. This isn't a movie to watch with the kids as Chen's antics can sometimes leave one questioning his sanity. With a touching ending and adrenaline pumping action, The Corrupter delivers on all promises - so much so that I must wonder if some of the other reviewers here were even watching the same movie. 9/10

Wahlberg and Chow both perform very believably and work well on screen together. This partnership reminded me of Training Day (with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke). That is, the green cop being "educated" by the seasoned cop and we're not sure if the seasoned one is corrupt or not. I also thought it was shot well with good use of lighting. The action scenes were well directed and quite spectacular in some cases (eg. the car chase and several shoot-outs) without going too over the top. The plot was a little hard to follow at first, but I blame this on myself, not the storyline. It's commendable that so much thought was given to the script and plot so it didn't always seem we were just waiting for an action scene. The drama added intensity and suspense well, too. For example, the tension between Chen and Wallace. The thread with Wallace and his father added good depth to his character and the story, as did the fact that he and Chen retained their partnership in fighting even when the suspected worst was revealed about Chen. It was also notable the role music played in the film. For example you always knew when the Asian punks were about to show up due to the rap music. The subtle music in dramatic dialogue scenes gave the scenes a good atmosphere.

i was very impressed with this one. i dind't know what too expect from chow yun fat: i was most pleasantly surprised. i loved the opening sequence of the car getting blown up very effective, i loved the plot in this movie, chow's character Nick, gotta love him,, i didn't really know if Marky Mark could act,, too my amazement he can,, conggrats i might like you better as an actor than an 80's singer. this movie has a great plot too, Chineese Triads trying to bribe the cops,, lot's of shooting,, hookers getting killed, bad cops, good cops,, and of course you have to have an Uncle Benny, much like Lethal Weapon 4 , which this movie kinda reminds me of. look at all of those illegals in the boat during the movie. i have personally been in Chinatown in N.Y.C. before, about 3 years before this movie was filmed there, and it looks even better than when i was there, i remember going to eat at a Chinese restaurant and smelling all the garbage in the alley, because the city was on a trash strike,, gotta love New York, all in all i think that this was a great movie, with a lot too offer. It's a thrill ride for the action fan, and that is me.

In a world of no rules (as the log line says), films like this are bound to happen. Without a foundation from which to tell a story, corruption isn't just something that happens to be part of the title of this film, it's at the very core of why this film even exists. Very briefly, this film is about two cops who work in the middle of gangland Chinatown in New York. One cop, Nick Chen (played by Chow Yun-Fat), knows that he has to break some rules to get to the bad guys. The other cop, Don Wallace (Mark Wahlberg) is a rookie cop who seems to be as straight-laced as Jimmy Stewart. So with this cliche all set, the film moves into a storyline of two gangs at war with each other and detectives Nick and Don dive in head first. After all of the set-up then, the rest of the film is a very bad attempt at being clever: The double- and triple-crosses aren't nearly as surprising as finding the morning paper on your doorstep every morning. The action is gratuitous and lends nothing to the film, let alone the imagination. The violence is unbearable and most alarmingly, goes towards glorifying gang warfare and not discouraging it. The sex is... well, it's what it is in all movies these days: unnecessary, uninvolving, brutal, irresponsible, and stupid. The high-key lighting style of the cinematographer is completely out of place in this film since there's nothing to really be suspenseful about. And this film absolutely does not merit any comparison to the film-noir genre even though you get the sense (if being pounded over your head with something means "sense") that the director tries for it. For all of the black and white spaces created by using high-key lighting, the underpinning absence of a clear morality actually undermines this story instead of enhancing it. Usually, audiences assume that when you're a cop, you stand for all that is good. Well, at least that's what people used to assume. In any case, even in an absence of a clear line of good and bad, a strong story with good, strong characters will arise and tell a tale that makes people think about what is good and bad. This film just makes you wonder if there are any good cops out there at all (I don't mean boy scouts). Why does everyone have to be so corrupted in movies these days? Why does it have to be so dark? I don't believe the line that says, "It's dark because that's reality." It's only a portion of reality and even then, it's only because certain people in this society think it's cool to have a smoking gun and a smoking piece of garbage in your mouth. How dumb is that? Bottom line is, this film lacks a moral underpinning that makes all movies great. Whether this morality is challenged, questioned, or turned upside-down makes no difference. At least a morality exists. In THE CORRUPTOR, there is no morality to do anything with. That's why in this film, the violence is gratuitous, the sex uninteresting, the double- and triple-crosses obvious. It's just a stupid movie.

A thriller with a difference, this is a rare film: an action film that gives us complex human characters to care about, as well as plenty of adrenaline-pumping shoot-outs and car chases to enjoy. It's a complex film to watch, with lots of different characters and relationships. It's not simply a film about good vs. evil, the bad guys versus the good guys - here, the lines are blurred, and nobody is painted in just black and white. Chow Yun-Fat excels as the corrupted cop with a heart of gold, giving us a noble character (no stretch for him) who we really care about by the film's ending. However it's Mark Wahlberg who comes as the real surprise, giving us a man torn between doing what's right (i.e. turning in his partner) and doing what his heart tells him. The two men strike up a realistic relationship, one which is very watchable, and the film keeps you guessing as to the final outcome of things right up until the very end. There are lots of sleazy criminals also kicking around, and the film is shot in gloomy locations with a lot of shadows. Typically men will be talking in an office with sunlight shining on them through the half-closed blinds. This gives it a dark atmosphere, yet it's still a very crisp, well-photographed film to watch. The action is fine and realistic-looking, with a top car chase (my only complaint is that it could have been longer) through the streets as bullets rip through the two vehicles and a whole slew of innocent people are butchered as the carnage progresses through the city. There are also plenty of shoot-outs as the cops raid illegal brothels and drug dens, the film painting a very seedy picture of the city. The ending is unusually heartfelt. It's not a perfect film, but the relationship between Yun-Fat and Wahlberg is enough to make it work. This isn't just an action film - it's a human drama too, with believable characters mixed in with the expected bone-crunching excitement. A nice surprise.

I still wonder why Hollywood gives Mark Wahlberg any work. His dramatic range is nil. If it weren't for his aww shucks schtick he would have no schtick at all. His performance in this movie is the single worst thing about the movie. There are other things that aren't so good, but nothing else is nearly as bad. That being said I have nothing but good things to say about Yun-Fat Chow. This is the kind of character he plays best. Edgy, complex and dynamic, a tough cop and a bad cop that is at heart a good guy. The story is that Mark Wahlberg is sent into the chinatown precinct to fill a staffing shortage. The lead detective in that precinct, played by chow, is corrupt and in the pay of the Tong. Over the course of the movie Wahlberg's character is sucked into the corruption as well. The story is pretty standard cop drama fare with a few twists, but nothing spectacular. Really the best part of the movie is watching Chow, the worst is watching Wahlberg.

With the aid from a New York City policeman (Mark Wahlberg), a top immigrant cop (Chow Yun-Fat) tries to stop drug-trafficking and corruption by immigrant Chinese Triads, but things get complicated when the Triads try to bribe the policeman. Roger Ebert wrote, "Director James Foley is obviously not right for this material. It's a shame, actually, that he's even working in the genre, since his gift is with the intense study of human behavior." High praise for Foley, who made the excellent "Glengarry Glen Ross", but has also gone on to work in the "Fifty Shades" franchise. Maybe Ebert was too kind. For some reason, this film seems like it had the script of an exploitation film but the budget of a major feature. This ends up with sleazy situations and bad dialogue that do not belong in anything this major. One wonders how this was not a major stumbling block for Wahlberg, though it may not be his only misfire.