DVD Corner

The Last Tycoon Blu-ray Review

“The Last Tycoon” is a laborious drag.

“The Last Tycoon” begins by introducing viewers to a young 20 something Cheng Daqi and his love interest Zhiqui. Cheng dreams of being successful in Shanghai (his plans for success are vague at best) while Zhiqui desires to go to Beijing to pursue her Opera career dreams. Minutes later, Cheng is wrongfully framed for murder and is put in death row. A few minutes later again, he breaks out of jail thanks to a man named Mao. After getting out of jail, Cheng learns that Zhiqui has moved away and so the two are forced to go their separate ways for the time being. ‘Tycoon’ then jumps forward in time to show that Cheng has rose to a life of crime as he works under the corrupt chief of police named Master Shouting (played by Sammo Hung). His past comes back to haunt him, however, when he encounters both Mao and Zhiqui (both of whom create complications). On top of that, tensions are high amidst growing conflicts between Japan and China. Will Cheng and Zhiqui rekindle their love or is their relationship doomed?

After the laughably bad “Dragonball: Evolution,” we haven’t seen much from Chow Yun-fat in the past few years (at least in the U.S.). Now, he’s back in the spotlight with a gangster flick that feels like little more than a rip-off of films like “Casablanca,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Godfather” and especially “The Godfather Part 2” with all of the flashback sequences. The jumbled, slow motion filled ‘Tycoon’ rarely feels like an original film, and when it does, it’s a downright mess. I can’t even begin to count how many forced and abrupt scenes there are that further the action in a ridiculous way. The screenplay (written by Koon-nam Lui, Jing Wong, and Manfred Wong) reeks of laziness and could have used several additional rewrites to fix the pacing and the stale, clichéd plot that imitates so many other “rise to power” gangster stories.

Video/Audio:

The film, which is presented in widescreen 1080p, generally has a very gloomy and dark style which isn’t the most pleasing to the eyes. With that said, it’s still a solid hi-def transfer.

The Mandarin 5.1 DTS-HD MA (with English subs) is a bit on the soft side, but it’s adequate.

Extras:
* Trailers for “The Last Tycoon,” “Saving General Yang,” “Ip Man: The Final Fight,” and “Drug War.”
* “Making Of”- A solid featurette containing behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews, and film clips. This extra makes the film look more exciting than it really is which is a feat in itself.

Summary: Skip “The Last Tycoon” and rent a Chow Yun-fat classic like “The Killer” instead.

September 16, 2013 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Chow Yun-fat, Gangster Film, Sammo Hung, The Last Tycoon 2012, The Last Tycoon Blu-ray Review