It is no secret that Hong Kong cinema is a lot different today than what it was in the 80s or 90s and it has been for a while. The one thing it was known best for, its action, is today but a mere shadow of the past and the incredible stunt work that came with it now largely missing. Gone are the days of risky, often illegal ways of filming that ended up giving classics, making way for more controlled, regulated and risk-free filmmaking, which is sometimes credited to have taken away the soul of what made Hong Kong action cinema click. Hoping to relive those days are Albert Leung and Herbert Leung with their debut feature “Stuntman”.
Stuntman is screening at Hawai’i International Film Festival
An on-set accident many years ago in his youth has kept action director Sam Lee away from the set, who now works as a security guard in a building. A meeting with an old director friend gives him a chance to make a comeback, but he is required to work with the stunt team of hotshot superstar Wai, a former protege of his, who reluctantly agrees to work with the old legend. As his stunt coordinator, he chooses Long, a delivery boy who dreams of being a stuntman, taking on any menial job on set that he can. Going against the wishes of the elder brother he works for, who just wants him to take up a stable, safe way of living, Long accepts the offer but the job seems difficult for both Sam, who can’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that the times have changed and filmmaking with it, and Long, who seems to be way in over his head and is slowly realising the dangers that come with this line of work as Sam keeps putting him and other stuntmen in the line of danger for the perfect action shot.
Hong Kong stuntmen, the unsung background heroes of the past, have been the subject of interest for many years, especially in documentary filmmaking, with works like “Red Trousers: The Life of Hong Kong Stuntmen” dating back to 2003 and, more recently, 2020’s “Kung Fu Stuntmen”. The brothers Albert and Herbert Leung attempt to bring them front and center of the narrative in their debut feature, with mixed results. Clearly fans of old-school Hong Kong cinema and its style of shooting, they are also wholly conscious and acknowledging of the fact that it is now a dying art and that the changes that have come about due to the times and technology are what is causing its slow death. A lament to these changes and an ode to the times gone by, the narrative also believes that while it is necessary to change with the times to keep up, sometimes, just sometimes, it may be necessary to go back to what made it special to create something truly special again.
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The issue however is that despite having a title such as “Stuntman”, the production is quite lacking in some terrific stuntwork of its own. Sure, it starts off well, with a decent action sequence in a mall and is interspersed with at least a couple decent set-pieces, including a robbery that is clearly an homage to that landmark scene from “Long Arm of the Law” and its making. However, outside of that, the feature is devoid of much action and focuses mostly on the drama between Sam and his daughter and Long and his brother. This wouldn’t have been a problem if the characterization wasn’t superficial at best and the arcs cliched, to say the least. The behind-the-scenes issues that come up within the production do just about enough to keep things from going stale, but the production is at its strongest when using the stuntwork, which sadly gets relegated to the background for a majority of the runtime.
Thankfully, the runtime is populated by actors who understand action sequences and stuntwork, making (at least what looks like) easy work out of what is required of them. Stephen Tung Wai is no stranger to it, having worked in the background on titles such as “Hard Boiled”, “Twin Dragons” and many more, is the perfect fit to play Sam and it is good to see the actor finally get the limelight in a leading role. His emotional moments are fairly impactful, even if the shortcomings with his range are sometimes laid bare, thanks to some well-written moments for the character.
If Terrance Lau impressed with his fight sequences in “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In” earlier this year, he also gets to try his hand at some risky stuntwork here, while also flexing his dramatic prowess, thanks to the scenes with his brother as well his burst-outs at Sam. Fans of his debut feature “Beyond the Dream” will also be glad to see him share screen space with his co-star Cecilia Choi, who plays Sam’s estranged daughter Cherry. Another “Twilight of the Warriors” alum, Philip Ng gets more to do with some dialogue heavy scenes than he does with action as Wai, a rather well-balanced character that embodies modern Hong Kong action cinema mentality.
It is certainly a big ask to make a feature using methods of old-school Hong Kong films, and while Albert and Herbert Leung never try to go as strongly with their stunts, they do manage to include some impressive stuff, including a fellow being thrown down an escalator, into a glass display rack, onto a makeshift stall from the first floor and from a bridge onto a running truck, all of this in the first ten minutes of the feature itself. Elsewhere, a punch that takes a stuntman through a wooden plank and rolling down a flight of stairs is also noteworthy, all lensed with great precision and displayed from various angles for our viewing pleasure. If anything, they work to make one appreciate the tremendous work that goes into creating a scene worth a couple seconds that most might not even appreciate on first glance.
Ultimately, “Stuntman” works as a love letter to Hong Kong action scene of the years gone by and a dedication to the countless stuntmen, men and women who literally put their lives at stake with every jump, a tiny millisecond meaning a lifetime in terms of what can go just right or horribly wrong. As a feature by itself though, it lacks in character development and a satisfactory storyline to make it a truly memorable cinematic experience, despite some good intentions and performances.
