In 1987, Yoshiaki Kawajiri released one of the most seminal anime ever in “Wicked City,” a celebrated tale of the fragile existence between humans and demons, featuring a series of imaginative concepts to enhance a spectacular storyline. In 1992, Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark brought about a live-action version of the film with the same general story but several key differences to make for a wholly intriguing remake.
Both “Wicked City” Titles are screening at Hong Kong Arts Centre, as part of the Late Night Series-Art X program
Working in a futuristic version of Hong Kong, agents Ken (Jacky Cheung) and Taki (Leon Lai) are among a team tasked with trying to keep order between humans and Rapters. The Rapters are a race of superpowered beings that live in harmony despite some outliers like Shudo (Roy Cheung) and Orchid (Carmen Lee) playing both sides against each other. After a series of incidents involving entrepreneur Daishu (Tatsuya Nakada), who is trying to keep a drug known as Happiness that's been created by Shudo as a way of trying to take over humanity, and his daughter Windy (Michelle Reis), who was romantically involved with Taki in the past, the team discovers the nefarious plans and race into action to find the source of the drug and stop it from spreading beyond the city.
Overall, “The Wicked City” was a serviceable if somewhat disappointing remake. Among its positive factors is a rather fun sense of energy and excitement brought about by the relentless visuals of the storyline. While still somewhat restrained and obviously low-budget in nature, the energy present in the confrontations that take place manages to generate a strikingly enjoyable sense of action present. As the battles range from the various supernatural powers of the Rapter being used against the human weaponry and guns, the use of wild special effects to put everything into perspective allows for a fun time.
Wild confrontations in nightclubs, hotel rooms, massive hotel lobbies, and out on the city streets bring a series of high-energy set-pieces which showcase a series of practical effects and virtual imagery. The creativity to pull off the use of the Rapters' powers when they're cornered or trying to go on the offensive makes this one fly back incredibly quickly, generating a type of pace that keeps the interest going in the storyline. The twists and turns are handled well since the constant introduction of new factors that are quite enjoyable work quite well.
There are some big problems in “Wicked City” that stand out here. Among it's biggest drawbacks is the bizarre storyline from writers Roy Szeto and Tsui Hark that abandons a lot of the political ramifications of the original version into a rather underwhelming mafia-style soap opera involving Taki and Windy falling in love in the middle of the confrontation. That we're never really sure what the Rapters are, shifting between demons, mutants, aliens, shapeshifters, or just human-like beings from a different dimension interacting in our world makes up a lot of this, causing a great deal of confusion over what the creatures are really after, beyond the distribution of the drug. That's really the only part that makes sense but this factor is merely glossed over in the grand scheme of the rest of the storyline, involving Windy trying to make things right with Taki and Ken so that they can trust her to then team up and take down the drugs sweeping the city.
Check the review of the film
This provides the film with a specific identity, unique to itself but also loses a lot of the charm present from the anime. That version relied on the gonzo imagery just as much as the fantastic interdimensional storyline at play that's somewhat missing here. As well, the rushed nature of the brief running time has a hand in that, with there not being a lot of time to delve into anything so unanswered questions run rampant throughout here. Answering what the creatures are is a big one, much like how characters suddenly get superpowers whenever it's convenient in the scene to do so or just randomly accepting something without hesitation.
An enjoyable if somewhat convoluted take on the material, this live-action version of “Wicked City” comes off fine for what it is but does have more of a specific interest mindset. Viewers more interested in the over-the-top action and visuals over the convoluted storyline, want to compare the two versions against each other, or are just not interested in anime as a preference will be fine with this adaptation.
