I was really looking forward to seeing the sequel to Tokyo Raiders, but Seoul Raiders truly demonstrates how far Hong Kong film-making has fallen. Tokyo Raiders was never a great movie but it managed to still hold on to a little of what was great about Hong Kong film. It’s sequel was just trying to capture the first movie.
I fell in love with Hong Kong movies ten years ago after seeing such classics as Chungking Express and He’s a Woman, and She’s a Man. Granted what made these movies great was fleeting their success seems to have killed whatever it was. Now movies from Hong Kong seem like they’re just trying to recapture the old days rather than forge ahead.
It leaves me a little sad, I’ll no longer get excited to see what’s hit the video store from Hong Kong. I want that amazement back, that freshness that these Hong Kong movies once provided me. In some ways Korea has taken over where Hong Kong left off, but I’m afraid that it will prove just as fleeting.