Payment in Blood (aka Rules of a Gangster) (2000)

[One Armed Boxer]

'Payment in Blood', not to be confused with the 1973 Shaw Brothers movie of the same name, is a no less confusing gangster thriller from 2000.

 

The confusing part is, the Hong Kong Movie Database would have us believe that it's a movie directed by Philip Ko Fei (who also briefly appears), starring Yu Rong-Guang, and featuring a very early screen appearance from Xing Yu - 

 

(http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=12158&display_set=eng)

 

However the Korean Movie Database would have us believe that it's a movie directed by Joe Moung-hwa and Go Bae-wi, starring Cha Ryong and Lee Il-jae - 

 

(http://www.kmdb.or.kr/eng/vod/vod_basic.asp?nation=K&p_dataid=05264#none)

 

The truth is it was most likely a co-production, with the Hong Kong crew receiving credit on the Chinese release, and the Korean crew on its release in Korea.  The plot concerns 5 Chinese orphans who grew up in an orphanage together in Korea, and grow up to be a gang of criminals, led by the eldest who is played by Yu Rong-Guang (the most underused action guy in HK cinema!?).  When the movie opens, Rong-Guang has just gotten out of prison, and gets the crew together for a final heist in Seoul.  However when one of the gang betrays the others, they're left to not only figure out who they can trust, but also deal with the Korean mafia who want their money back.

 

Sadly, neither Rong-Guang or Xing Yu get to do any martial arts whatsoever, as do any of the other cast members.  That could be forgivable, if we're instead given some heroic bloodshed style action in its place, but sadly we don't even get that.  Apart from an opening chase sequence involving the gang on motorbikes and several cars, which features a couple of great crashes, and the finale that features a cool scene of a character walking towards camera, while cars explode behind him skyrocketing into the air in balls of flame, there's not a whole lot else going on.

 

For all the backstabbing and hunting that the plot entails, the movie is as dull as dishwater, plodding along from one uninteresting scene to the next.  If Philip Ko Fei was indeed involved in directing this, and he probably was, then it makes his work in the Philippines look like masterpieces.  'Payment in Blood' looks like it was trying to be a gritty gangster movie, however the painful pacing issues and lack of any real action, within a plot which requires a lot of action to keep it interesting, ultimately render the production as a completely forgettable entry into an already saturated genre.