Andrew Lau and Manfred Wong take their landmark Young and Dangerous series in unexpected directions with Born to Be King, an ambitious foray into the inherent complexities of Taiwanese politics, pan-Asian collaboration and long term romance. The depiction of Japanese gangsters may look a little old-fashioned alongside Jingle Ma's Tokyo Raiders and Gordon Chan's Okinawa Rendez-vous, but the Taiwanese footage is contemporary to the max, paralleling the island's hot-off-the-press presidental elections.
Having bet on the wrong candidate in Taiwan, Hung Hing gangster Chicken finds himself involved in another political manoeuvre: marrying Nanako, the daughter of Kusakari, head of Japan's Yamada gang. Lui is an unexpected guest at the wedding, having returned from his studies in the States with the intention of unifying Taiwan's underworld under the San Luen gang. Meanwhile, just as Mei-ling is pushing Hung Hing boss Ho-nam towards marriage, he stumbles across a teacher bearing a striking resemblance to lost love Smartie.
Film's depiction of micro- and macro-politics is spot-on with Hung Hing gangsters having to redefine their positions in the new pan-Asian underworld where trust and diplomacy must be learnt for survival. Jordon Chan as Chicken ably moves to centre stage with Singapore's Peter Ho radically transforming his screen persona as ambitious Lui. Highlights include a fashion victim makeover for Shu Qi in Tokyo, Jordon Chan's earnest Japanese, and a standout cast of Taiwanese character actors as San Luen gangsters facing a generational crisis.
Stephen Cremin