Wei Shen (Xin Sareth Yuku) is a cop working deep cover in
Hong Kong’s seedy underworld. As part of
his dangerous assignment, he’s been working as hired muscle for Tong (Michael
Lehr). One evening, the two meet up at
Tong’s restaurant hideout. During their
meeting, Wei belligerently tenders his resignation, effective immediately. A fight between the two men ensues, and
quickly becomes an all-out brawl upon the arrival of Tong’s security force. As
Wei fights for his life, Tong makes a hasty retreat. Despite facing insurmountable odds, Wei maintains
pursuit. No matter the obstacles, he
will have his revenge.
The Live Action "Sleeping Dogs" Fight Film is a short film based on the video game Sleeping Dogs. It was done in conjunction with video game
developer Square Unix. In bringing their
ultra-violent property to life on the small screen, Square Unix allowed director Clinton Jones a
fairly free hand. Jones does his benefactors proud by applying such privileges responsibly. Though Sleeping
Dogs often seems completely out of control, there is a clear yet
understated method to the madness on display.
Everything operates according to a very explicit floor plan.
Sleeping Dogs the
video game begins as an exercise in atmospherics. The introductory cut-scenes efficiently lay
out the story and establish the proper mood.
Once the preliminaries are neatly out of the way, it violently thrusts
the player head first into the action. Clinton
Jones attempts something similar, going abruptly from a seemingly mundane
dialogue exchange to a brutal fight scene.
The story is but an excuse for pugilistic pyrotechnics, and Jones makes
no apologies for that. The line
deliveries telegraph the film’s intent.
The viewer is not meant to focus on the nuances of the acting, but to
revel in the ensuing bloodbath.
The fight choreography exudes the energy of hyper-active
child. Once it gets going, there’s no
stopping it. The fracas starts in Tong’s
office, and then calamitously stumbles from one room of his restaurant
stronghold to the next. It shifts
between various speeds, slowing down and even stopping at unexpected
moments. Amazingly, such pauses never
truly interfere with its steadily building momentum.
The frustrated energy exuded by the film is enhanced by the
cinematography, also by director Clinton Jones.
The camera splits the difference between medium and relatively wide
shots. It’s vantage point is close
enough to pull the viewer into the action, but not so much that the onscreen
activity becomes obscured. The furious
melee constantly threatens to break free of its letterboxed prison cell. The effect is sort of like a comic book in
which the actions of the characters break free of the panels, spilling out onto
the white borders.
The film gradually ramps up the violence. During the ending confrontation in the back
alley, it intentionally jumps the proverbial rails into the realm of splatter
film humor. The final kill goes for a
rather cartoonish brand of self-parody.
Though it seems to come out of left field, it’s actually right in line
with the film’s natural progression. It
also plays as something of a release valve.
To a degree, Sleeping
Dogs recalls the early Shaw Brothers classics of Chang Cheh, particularly
crime films such as Vengeance. Those
films laid the groundwork for the “Heroic Bloodshed” subgenre of Hong Kong
action cinema, which in turn inspired video games such as Sleeping Dogs. While this
short film doesn’t attempt that sort of operatic grandeur, its brand of stylized
bloodletting proves equally cathartic.
Sleeping Dogs is a
short film that begs to be expanded into something much larger. If not a full length feature, than perhaps an
ongoing series of self-contained action vignettes. It could be a “Hong Kong Noir” version of the
old adventure serials. I’d gladly pay
for content like this, or at least donate a few dollars to a kickstarter program. True talent should be rewarded. It’s been a long time since a short film has
had me this giddy.
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