Go for Broke 重生 (2024) Review: Nick Cheung Excels in Marc Ma’s Pulpy and Entertaining Crime Drama
Go for Broke marks the second time actor-director Marc Ma explores the familiar theme of vengeance told in a labyrinthine storytelling approach. His first directorial feature Wolf Hiding saw Ma take the cue from Japanese yakuza genre and old-school Hong Kong triad movies, resulting in an ambitious but half-baked effort. Thankfully, he improved considerably in his sophomore effort with an assured direction and an intriguing story that he co-wrote alongside Zhao Haozhe and Gu Haoran.
The movie opens with a pre-credits sequence with Special Forces soldier Zhangyao (Nick Cheung) returning home after seven months at sea and discovers his wife (Zhang Li) has sold their restaurant and becomes addicted to drugs. Their little daughter is killed in a car accident and Zhangyao witnesses his wife commits suicide after losing her will to live.
“Once addicted, you can never quit.“
Those were his wife’s last words before she jumped off the pedestrian bridge. The story then jumps two years forward, where we learn Zhangyao works as an undercover for narcotics squad leader Andu (Ethan Juan). His mission: Goes to Fei City prison, bribe the wardens and kill the notorious Shawang. The latter’s death allows Zhangyao to assume his identity (I have to admit it took me a while to get used to Nick Cheung’s distracting bleached-blonde hairstyle).
Disguised as Mu Kun’s (Vithaya Pansringarm) illegitimate son, he returns to Man City to work for his wealthy father. It turns out that Mu Kun isn’t only a powerful businessman but also controls the drug empire in Man City (no, not that Manchester City but rather a fictional location that has been a go-to alternative solution in an otherwise censorship-heavy Chinese film production these days, allowing the filmmakers to express more creative freedom) and his son’s return allows him to redeem his past wrongdoing. However, Shawang’s arrival doesn’t sit well with Herta (Danny Chan), Mu Kun’s trusted right-hand man who has a hidden agenda of his own.
The story may tread familiar ground but Ma manages to overcome the cliché with a lively pace and thrilling action set pieces. His tribute to the golden era of Hong Kong cinema remains evident in Go for Broke, which can be seen during the tense and violent gunfights with the help of Wu Gang’s (Detective Chinatown trilogy) action direction.
Like Wolf Hiding, Ma raises the stakes by flipping his story at one point with subsequent reveals of some of the characters’ motivations. This leads to a few twists and turns with obvious traces of an Infernal Affairs-style narrative and some flashbacks along the way. There are times when Ma tends to overexplain things as if spoon-feeding the viewers what really happens from point A to B, while his decision to twist the story inside out stretches believability, which in turn, requires the viewers to suspend their disbelief. This is especially true with the third act revolving around the elaborate setup to outwit the antagonist.
And yet, the overall story retains my attention, thanks to its forward-momentum structure. It also helps the actors’ committed performances elevate the story, beginning with Nick Cheung’s go-for-broke (pun intended) engaging lead performance as Zhangyao/Shawang. He is backed by a stellar supporting cast, notably Ethan Juan and Danny Chan (Kwok-Kwan) who deliver equally solid performances as Andu and Herta. Ma himself shows up on-screen as Balai, playing the role of a drug addict responsible for stealing Mu Kun’s merchandise.
As in a Chinese production, the movie goes heavy on the message related to the War on Drugs and how drugs would destroy one’s life. But at least Ma doesn’t resort to a preachy way of delivering the message in his movie, opting for an entertainingly pulpy narrative instead for an efficient result. Go for Broke has amassed 456 million RMB in the China box office against a reported 30 million RMB budget, a significant increase over Wolf Hiding‘s 250 million RMB total.
