SPL: Sha Po Lang
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| SPL: Sha Po Lang | |
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 SPL: Sha Po Lang DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Wilson Yip |
| Produced by | Carl Chang |
| Written by | Wai Lun Ng Kam-Yuen Szeto Wilson Yip |
| Starring | Donnie Yen Sammo Hung Kam-Bo Simon Yam Jacky Wu Liu Kai Chi |
| Music by | Ken Chan Kwong Wing Chan |
| Cinematography | Wah-Chuen Lam |
| Editing by | Ka-Fai Cheung |
| Release date(s) | 2005 |
| Running time | 93 min |
| Country | China |
| Language | Cantonese Mandarin |
| IMDb profile | |
SPL: Sha Po Lang (殺破狼, US title: Kill Zone) is a 2005 Hong Kong martial arts-crime film directed by Wilson Yip. It stars Simon Yam, Sammo Hung, Jacky Wu and Donnie Yen. Yam portrays a retiring police detective who resorts to the use of questionable methods in order to catch Wong Po, a ruthless Triad boss (Hung).
The title, Sha Po Lang refers to three words derived from Chinese astrology that each represent a different star capable of good or evil depending on their position in the heavens. [1].
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Hong Kong Police Detective Chan has devoted his career to putting the notorious triad boss Wong Po behind bars. While escorting a witness with damning evidence of Wong Po's wrong doing to court, the police van is rammed at high speed by a car driven by the ruthless assassin Jack. The wreck kills the witness and his wife, but spares the witness' young daughter. Detective Chan is left with a piece of glass in the back of his head. When the glass is removed, doctors notice a tumor in Detective Chan's brain. He doesn't have long to live making Detective Chan all the more determined to bring down Wong Po.
Ma Kwan, a detective from another precinct with a harsh reputation – he punched a suspect so hard once that he left the man with permanent brain damage – is assigned to take over the squad. The men on the squad are:
- Lok – Very moody; was angry when Chan told him about his brain tumor. Has issues with his sick father, whom he hasn't spoken to in years.
- Kwok – A long-haired cop; his wife left him and has a daughter that he hasn't seen for ten years.
- Lee – The youngest on the squad.
All the men are very protective of Chan, who's since adopted the slain witness' daughter.
When an undercover detective from the squad is killed, and video showing the murder surfaces, Chan and his detectives see a way to frame Wong Po, who is caught on tape swinging a golf club, presumably at the man outside the frame of the video. The detectives decide to alter the tape, intimidate a witness and eliminate the real killer.
Ma Kwan is upset when he discovers the deception by the squad, but assists in the arrest of Wong Po, which culminates in a brawl in the lobby of a department store with the rotund crimelord, who has just purchased a large stuffed animal for his one-month-old son.
The action, coincidentally, comes to a head on Father's Day.
Lee goes to buy a gun to frame Wong Po with, and is killed by the knife-wielding Jack. Lok and Kwok are both eliminated by Jack as well.
Chan then goes to Wong Po's office alone, and is thoroughly beaten by the gangster.
Ma Kwan, in a dispute with his superiors over the handling of the case, turns in his badge and gun, and then goes to Wong Po's. He is met by Jack in the alley. Armed with only a baton, Ma Kwan engages in intense martial arts combat with the knife expert, and is especially angered when the blade slices his leather jacket. He then wrestles the knife away and eviscerates Jack with his own knife.
Ma Kwan then heads up to Wong Po's office, finding Chan strung up and unable to move. The big gangster proves a worth opponent for Ma Kwan's martial arts skill. The fight is a grueling test of strength and endurance. At one point in the fight, Ma Kwan puts Wong Po in a head-scissorlock. The fight ends seemingly when Ma Kwan backdrops Wong Po onto a stack of glasses and bottles. Wong Po appears to breathe one last breath, his eyes gaping wide open at the floor blankly, giving the audience the impression that he is dead. Ma Kwan then sits down at the bar and starts to pour himself a drink. Detective Chan, still strung up starts to speak to Ma Kwan. Less than a minute later, Wong Po suddenly gets up (not shown) and charges at Ma Kwan, smashing him out a full-sized window that is right next to the bar. The camera pans to slow-motion as the audience sees the surprised Ma Kwan falling to his death from the multiple-storey building. Unknown to Wong Po, his wife and baby son are waiting in their car coincidentally parked underneath that window. Ma Kwan smashes into the car, killing all three of them instantly. When Wong Po looks down at Ma Kwan's body, he has a smug look on his face. As he starts to move away, he notices the car underneath the body. His eyes scan the license plate of the car, and realizes that it is his wife's car. At the same time, he receives a call from his wife's handphone. How this can be is not clear. It would appear that the impact of Ma Kwan somehow triggered the call. In an equal mixture of shock and horror, he stares blankly at the scene below a while before the impact of the event sinks in. Broken with grief, Wong Po slumps down onto a stool and starts sobbing as the scene fades to black.
The movie then fastforwards to an unknown amount of time later. The audience sees Detective Chan with the little witness girl that he has adopted at the same beach he brought his squad to earlier on in the show. He sits down, tired, on the sandy area of the beach, watching the girl at play. At this point in time, it would be assumed that Wong Po has been put behind bars. The movie ends when Detective Chan sits motionless for some time in the same position, indicative that his brain cancer has finally consumed him. (It is unsure if this is the case. He could possibly also be sleeping.)
The ending described above is one of 2 different endings targeted at different audiences. Local audiences in Hong Kong, and a few other Asian countries see the ending above, while in International theatres, moviegoers see a different ending where Ma Kwan is not killed, but ends with Wong Po going out the window instead. The reason for this difference is that general sentiment in Hong Kong favours that the characters played by actor Sammo Hung not die, as Sammo Hung has become a sort of icon held high in respect in the country's movie industry.
[edit] Cast
- Donnie Yen as Ma Kwan
- Sammo Hung as Wong Po
- Simon Yam as Detective Chan
- Jacky Wu as Jack
- Liu Kai Chi as Lok
- Danny Summer as Kwok
- Ken Chang as Lee
[edit] Reception
[edit] Festivals and awards
Hailed as a return to the classics of Hong Kong action cinema, SPL opened in Hong Kong on 18 November 2005. However, it premiered in the "Midnight Madness" program of the Toronto International Film Festival in September that same year, at the Ryerson University Theater.
Donnie Yen won the 'Best Action Choreography' award at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards. The film was also awarded the "Film of Merit" at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.
[edit] Box office, DVD release
SPL opened in Hong Kong on November 18, 2005. In its first three days it grossed $2,166,088 HKD. It stayed in the number one position at the Hong Kong box office until December 6[1], and eventually grossed $7,425,473 HKD in its entire run[2]. The figure was generally regarded as mildly successful given the overall state of the Hong Kong film industry and the Category III rating given to SPL, and the film would probably turn a modest profit once foreign sales and revenues were taken into account.
North American rights to the film were purchased by The Weinstein Company, which is releasing the movie as Kill Zone in a special DVD package that includes many deleted scenes, commentary tracks and interviews with the stars.
[edit] Production
The fight scenes were choreographed by Donnie Yen, who aimed for authenticity, which was possible with the presence of the veteran martial arts actor and choreographer Sammo Hung. The knife and baton fight between Donnie Yen and Jacky Wu was made up by the two by actually sparring with each other. Although, as shown in the behind-the-scenes featurette in the US DVD release, and interviews with Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung, kicking the flying tantō in mid-air was one of the only CGI shots in the entire movie, because throwing a real tantō at the actor would have been extremely dangerous and risky.
Hung's real life son, Timmy Hung, makes a brief appearance in the film.
[edit] Sequel plans
A prequel to SPL is planned that will star Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Sammo Hung and Jacky Wu reprising their roles from the original. Meanwhile, director Wilson Yip has started filming a similarly themed martial arts film, to star Donnie Yen and Louis Koo.[2] The title of this new movie has been confirmed Po Jun, or Flash Point.
[edit] References
- ^ Pollard, Mark. Review: SPL, KungFuCinema.org
- ^ Hendrix, Grady (August 4, 2006). No Donnie in SPL 2, KaijuShakedown.com (retrieved August 8, 2006).
