In a Hong Kong southern district, triad boss Jimmy controls five gangs, which are given their own territory to run, but they all work as an extended family. However, Jimmy's wife is the brains behind their success and they are growing more powerful each day. Consequently, the police are now starting to take notice and planning to take them down permanently.
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Jimmy has a right hand man and a trusted bodyguard called Po. One night, Po is given the evening off since it's his birthday; nonetheless, he ends up getting drunk all by himself. This is also the night when two riders on a motorbike put a few bullets in Jimmy's back as he enters a restaurant. Jimmy's wife, who is in Taiwan during the shooting, puts Po in charge temporarily whilst Jimmy is in a coma. In the meantime, she's flying back to Hong Kong to gather all the leaders together to select a new boss.
However, Blackie, the second in charge gangster is not content about the whole arrangement because he thinks he should be the boss and accordingly starts to cause trouble. Po, on the other hand, now finds himself in an acute situation besides trying to find Jimmy's assassins; he now has to prevent an uprising or even possible bloodshed between all five gangs.
At first glance, “Rebellion” looks like a typical violent gangster movie, but it turns out to be one of those ‘who done it' dramas instead. It's beautifully shot by director Herman Yau, particularly those neon-lit nighttime street scenes which are a joy to behold, and through his lens, Hong Kong nightlife comes alive. The indoor restaurants, nightclub shots are similarly impressive. In contrast, shots of run down back streets look sleazy and sinister.
The main character here is Po, solidly portrayed by Shawn Yue. Interestingly, we learnt that he's a respectable fighter, but we don't see him fight that much. He does throw up a great deal since he's dead drunk and he runs around trying to figure out who gunned down his boss. We get the impression that he's a soft spoken, gentle gangster who's not interested in becoming the boss. Likewise, he's loyal, he follows instructions without questioning the boss, but he also comes across as rather weak. Anyway, Shawn does give us a character here in which we can sympathize with.
Blackie, the second in charge gangster, played here by Chapman To, is loud and hot headed. He's unpredictable and dangerous, a total contrast to the good natured Po. Chapman is perfect as Blackie and gives the movie that hard edge and unsettling feel. He has a worthy presence on screen and provides most of the action scenes too. “Rebellion” is considerably character-driven; all the gangster leaders have different personalities: vicious, antagonizing and sarcastic. Nonetheless, they all make the movie interesting to watch.
The action in “Rebellion” is swift and more like street brawls, there's hardly any martial arts on display here. The gangsters don't use guns; they are the machete wielding type which truly makes them more dangerous and threatening. However, we don't see close up of people getting cut up, but digital blood is used here and there.
Overall, this is a fast-paced, solid triad action drama and well directed by Herman Yau. Although at times complex and some supporting characters could do with more developing, it's still entertaining, thanks to a collection of colorful and interesting main characters.
