Back in the late 80's and 90's, John Woo was on a roll. Starting with “A Better Tomorrow” through to “Hard Boiled”, he came to define the Heroic Bloodshed sub genre. In 1989, he co-directed “Just Heroes”, a tribute movie to the legendary mentor at Shaw Brothers Chang Cheh. Staring several actors from his productions and featuring cameos from others it should be more recognized than it is. Yet when John Woo's Hong Kong canon is discussed it is almost an afterthought. With his Hollywood career seemingly done and his more recent vehicles lacking the magic of old, it's a good time to go back and see if “Just Heroes” is worthy of rediscovery.
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With the death of their leader, a criminal organization seeks to arrange a successor. Sou (Danny Lee) is chosen and along with Tai (Chen Kuan Tai), tries to find who is responsible for their bosses murder. Jacky (Stephen Chow) is more aggressive in the hunt which only leads to more trouble as others move in to fill the power vacuum. Wai (David Chiang) a former member turned fisherman, finds himself dragged back into his former life as the violence escalates and betrayal sees the true villain emerge.
Developed as a tribute to Chang Cheh, there is a lot of talent involved both in front and behind the camera. John Woo who was co-director here, was an assistant to Chang Cheh and you only need to see several of their respective catalogues to observe some of the thematic similarities they shared. Danny Lee got his start at Shaw Brothers before breaking out afterwards as Hong Kong cinema's resident maverick cop. Tsui Hark is also on board as producer with another Shaw Brothers alumni Wu Ma the other co-director.
Notable amongst the cast is Stephen Chow in an earlier straight dramatic role. It does feel rather odd seeing him in this position but that is through the benefit of hindsight. It's a good performance and an indicator of the direction his career might have gone. Cropping up in a cameo is Ti Lung who was one of the few to really make a successful transition from the Shaw Brothers martial arts epics to modern day action. This brings us nicely to the three main leads. As already mentioned, Danny Lee broke out after his performance in “Law with Two phases” and would then regularly be seen as a cop. Here as Sou, he makes a rare turn on the other side of the law. It's a competent performance and is really just along for the ride. David Chiang (now known as John Chiang to confuse us lovers of old school action!) gets the most dramatic weight and of all of the reassembled cast, seems to have aged the most. It's a different kind of role for him as was usually the more mischievous one in the martial sagas of Chang Chen. His Wai is a more world weary, dour figure that's drawn reluctantly back into the criminal world. Completing the trio is Chen Kuan Tai. Like David Chiang, he never really transitioned his Shaw Brothers stardom into the modern day style. His Tai is the more enigmatic, typical of a performer comfortable as both hero and villian.
The female characters are sidelined for the most part as stay at home wives. Whilst Cally Kwong gets a bit more to work with as Tai's traumatized wife, as with Chang Cheh they are marginilised.
You get the sense that this is a more “for hire” work as never touches the heights that John Woo was frequently reaching during his golden period. It just feels it's missing something. There is a nice sly dig at the influence of “A Better Tomorrow” with Wai's junior trying to replicate the flowerpot scene and imagining how cool it is to be a gangster, only to be shown the brutal reality at the conclusion. This sequence resembles the climax to “A Better Tomorrow 2” but whilst again is well shot and staged, only feels at half power. I don't know which of Wu Ma or John Woo filmed what but I am left with the impression of a John Woo imitation as opposed to one where his heart is fully in it. The camera work feels less fluid than usual. The slow motion and freeze frames are all there, but never quite gell in the way you'd expect.
Narrative wise it's nothing we haven't seen before. Triad power struggles are simply martial clan battles for supremacy in different eras. The usual brotherhood elements and betrayals can all be ticked off. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the storyline and performances, it doesn't add anything new.
Whilst marketed as a tribute to Chang Cheh and his 40 years as a film maker, it doesn't feel that significant effort has gone into its construction. It's a standard by numbers effort of a Heroic Bloodshed that is elevated by the quality of its participants. Even working at a lower level than normal they have too much talent to make a really bad movie. It's entertaining and passes by perfectly well. It's just you expect more from it as a result. Lower that expectation level and you have a better than average action movie that If in other hands would probably be praised more.
