The Taiwanese
buddy cop TV series “Black & White” ran for a successful season in 2009,
followed by this 2012 prequel film and a subsequent sequel. Although Black & White: Dawn of Assault is
the first to be made available in the States, no previous knowledge of the
franchise is entirely necessary for its enjoyment. At its core, this is simply
a blockbuster popcorn film that doesn’t require a great deal of thought, but is
heavily rewarding in terms of spectacle. The only reason the previously
established television series is significant has to do with the amount of
chemistry that the cast already has with each other.
As a prequel, The Dawn of Assault offers the starting
point of the series’ central partnership between maverick cop Ying-xiong Wu
(Mark Chao) and low level gangster Xu Dafu (Bo Huang). After crashing an
illegal deal that is meant to be Dafu’s retirement plan, Wu finds himself
caught up in a larger conspiracy with the criminal as his only ally. A
briefcase of stolen diamonds ends up containing something a lot more dangerous,
and there are several groups of organized criminals willing to do anything to
get their hands on it. Even the police force has been infiltrated, forcing Wu
to trust Dafu alone in stopping the criminals from using new weapon technology
against their home town, Harbour
City
The Dawn of Assault seems modeled after Hollywood blockbusters, both in the predictable buddy-cop
narrative and its reliance on large action sequences peppered with humorous
one-liners and reaction shots. Much of this Taiwanese interpretation is
unmistakably familiar, though there are a few sequences of bad CGI effects
which must be overcome. All of the hand-to-hand fighting, gunplay and car chase
sequences are excellently done, but a sequence with a helicopter at the
beginning of the film and another with an airplane in the film’s climax remind
us that special effects are still somewhat sub-par outside of Hollywood
studios. Ironically, the other weak aspect of the film comes in the form of the
English-speaking villains, whose acting is painful for those who understand the
language. It makes you wonder about the foreign-language-speaking villains in Hollywood films. Thankfully, these moments are minimal in
Dawn of Assault, and often
overshadowed by the effective banter between the stars.
It may have
taken some years for this film to be released internationally, but hopefully
this Blu-ray will prove successful enough to warrant the sequel, if not the
television series. The special features include a generic making-of featurette
and a theatrical trailer.
Entertainment Value:
8.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 6.5/10
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