Film Review: High Risk (Meltdown, 1995)
While many films are personal, very few are “personal” in terms of their main purpose settling some very personal scores. One such example can be found in High Risk a.k.a. Meltdown, 1995 Hong Kong action film directed by Jing Wong and Wai-Lun Lam.
Protagonist, played by Jet Li, is Kit, police bomb defusing expert whose attempt to rescue number of schoolchildren from booby-trapped bus results in explosion that would also claim the life of his wife and son. Five years later, still troubled by the event, Kit works as bodyguard for Frankie Lone (played by Jacky Cheung), megapopular action film star famous for doing his own stunts, but who is actually a drunk, womaniser and coward. Because of that, Kit is often forced to serve not only as his bodyguard, but also his stunt double. One day Lone arrives in hotel during Russian imperial jewels exhibition. The hotel is invaded by gang of vicious terrorists who take everyone hostage. The only one capable to wreck their plans is Kit and he is further motivated when he learns that the terrorist leader Professor (played by Kelvin Wong) is person responsible for his family’s death.
Jet Li, who would gradually become huge international stars in subsequent years, is the most famous among the cast. However, the more famous actor appearing the film, although in rather indirect way, is Jackie Chan. Screenwriter and co-director Jing Wong has worked with Jackie Chan, then the top Hong Kong film star, two years earlier in ambitious film City Hunter, a production beset with various problems, many of them caused by disagreements between Jing Wong and Jackie Chan. Following premiere, Chan has criticised Jing Wong who apparently took it very personally and decided to make a film in which character of pompous, drunk, womanising and cowardly action star would be obvious dig at his former collaborator. This, in many ways, turned High Risk in one of the rare and the most spectacular cinema equivalents of “diss track” from the world of hip hop music.
Despite its clear purpose, High Risk functions as an action film in its own right. With the plot obviously “borrowed” from Die Hard, many times it serves as more generic spoof of various popular Hollywood action films. Jing Wong, known for his budgets, provides very effective combination of ultra-violence, pathos and slapstick humour which, on the other hand, might not be anyone’s cup of tea. Jet Li is very good in his role and has good interaction with the rest of the cast, including Kelvin Wong as very intelligent villain, in performance obviously inspired by Alan Rickman in Die Hard. Despite fans of Jackie Chan being the main targetted audience and his alter ego sometimes being too overwhelming at the expense of plot and other characters, High Risk is a film that could be appreciated by fans of Hong Kong action cinema,
(Note: 1998 Hong Kong film Another Meltdown, despite its title, has nothing to with High Risk.)
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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