Viewing an Invisible Target
Of Hong Kong’s recent contemporary martial arts actioners, INVISIBLE TARGET has a special place in my heart. It was directed by my old friend Benny Chan, whom I first met back when he was directing Donnie Yen in the Kung Fu Master TV series at TVB. (He looked like he’d just left school and, despite a few more grey hairs, he still does!) The film is very much in a tradition that Benny defined with Gen-X Cops and its sequel, on both of which I was lucky enough to work.
Gen-X was the first major Hong Kong film I got to work on. It had kind of a Mod Squad premise: youngsters go undercover as cops to take on youthful gangsters. Like INVISIBLE TARGET, it starred Nicholas Tse. For reasons solely to do with industry politics, Nic didn’t return for the second film, Gen-Y Cops. Over the years, we all used to kid with Benny that he needed to give the world Gen-Z Cops, and INVISIBLE TARGET is kind of that film (by any other name).
Benny has always been able to pick winners. Gen-X launched not only Nicholas, but also Daniel Wu, Stephen Fung (later to become an action director in his own right) and Sam Lee (so good in the later Dragon Dynasty release Dog Bite Dog). Gen-Y gave the world Edison Chen, Maggie Q and, get this!, Paul Rudd (currently on view in Dinner for Schmucks).
INVISIBLE TARGET sees Nic return to the fray, joined by the finest of the latest ‘gen’ of young actors: There’s Shawn Yue, who first showed his potential, as an actor, in Infernal Affairs 2 (out now from Dragon Dynasty), and here makes his full on film fighting debut; Jaycee Chan, son of Jackie, in his first real fighting role; wu shu warrior Wu Jing, star of Fatal Contact, and Andy On, from Three Kingdoms, who should, by any rights, be the biggest star in town.
The INVISIBLE TARGET Blu Ray release gives audiences a fresh chance to enjoy the unusual multiple player commentary. I got in the room with Shawn, Jaycee and Andy. Unfortunately, Nic couldn’t make it because the local paparazzi were hounding him with even more energy than usual.
I brought my eldest son, Ryan, to the studio to meet everyone. Not only that, he insisted on sitting in on the session. No problem there, except for the fact that he started impersonating Jaycee every time he said something. This continued until Andy volunteered to dangle Ryan out of a window (he was the biggest guy there), and I said that sounded fine to me. (Number One Son remained silent thereafter.)
The bonus features also include an interview with the charismatic bad guy Wu Jing. I remember this well because I asked my questions in Cantonese, he answered in Mandarin, and, such was his body language and expressiveness, I understood every word. And so did my American friends Marcus and Wendy, who don’t speak any Chinese at all. Wu Jing: The Great Communicator!
One of the most memorable scenes in the film happened almost be accident. The fight scene between Andy On and Jaycee Chan was originally meant to take place in an underground car park. They commenced filming, the scene wasn’t working and so it was shifted outside, and with both combatants in flames. (We couldn’t locate the deleted footage, but you can see a few shots from it in the ‘making of’ documentary.)
I should also mention Philip Ng, who plays the yellow dyed bad guy who engages in that terrific roof-top chase. A Chicago native, Philip is an expert in Wing Chun and Choy Li Fut kung fu. I first met him through our mutual friend David Peterson. By my recollection, I helped get Philip his first job in the business when we hired him to play a vampire in ‘The Twins Effect’. We just worked together again when he helped us out with a cameo as a trainer in my new film Beach Spike! Super nice guy, great kung fu and he deserves a lead of his own.
Benny is one of our finest directors, and I’ve enjoyed his work since he made his debut with the Andy Lau gangster drama Moment of Romance. It just shows you the longevity of Hong Kong leading men that Lau also stars in Benny’s next project, Shaolin. We’re tracking that project with great interest (it isn’t released here in China until December), and I hope I get the chance to work with Benny again, maybe even on Gen-Z Cops!
- Chris, NYC | 2010-08-29 09:10:21