Jing Wong’s The Last Tycoon is a reasonable
entertaining film. There are more than a few engaging sequences, though they
are buried enough amongst many forgettable and vaguely familiar moments to make
The Last Tycoon feel like the echo of
better films from recent past. Despite a jarring editing style which jerks the
audience back and forth in time, there are few surprises to be found and little
distinctly memorable. With that being said, The Last Tycoon is still a
reasonably entertaining film.
Action star Chow
Yun-Fat plays the seasoned older version of the film’s main character, Cheng
Daqi, and it almost feels as though the editing was a choice made in order to
keep the film’s largest star equally dispersed amongst the narrative. First played
by Huang Xiaoming, Daqi is a young man working for a fruit stand owner in the
early 1920s when he is framed for murder and forced to flee to Shanghai
He is forced to leave behind
childhood sweetheart, Ye Zhiqui (Feng Wenjuan followed by Yuan Quan), only to
meet up with her later in life as a powerful gangster. She is married to Mao
Zai (Francis Ng) whose involvement in the battle against Japanese occupation
doesn’t always take her best interest at heart. Daqi takes it upon himself to
protect his long lost love, despite her marriage to another man, forcing him to
risk all that he has for something he has lost. The film’s narrative actually
shares a great deal with Casablanca
The Blu-ray release includes a
making-of featurette and a trailer.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Disc Features: 5/10
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