The Wicked City (1992 film)
Encyclopedia
The Wicked City is a 1992
science fiction film
directed by Peter Mak and produced by Tsui Hark
. It is a live-action
film adaptation
of the Japan
ese anime
of the same name
. The film stars Jacky Cheung
, Leon Lai
, Yuen Woo-ping
, Roy Cheung
, Tatsuya Nakadai
, Michelle Reis
, and Carman Lee. It tells fictional story of conflicts and relationship between demon-like creatures and humans in 1990s' Hong Kong.
is near, Anti-Rapter Special Police Headquarter withdrew many agents from Hong Kong. This is a chaotic period when Hong Kong is vulnerable to rapters. That's why Taki is sent to Hong Kong to help.
Also in the unit is Taki's buddy Ken Kai (or "Ying", Jacky Cheung). Ken's father fall in love with a rapter, thus in the veins of Ken flows the black blood of rapter, which caused distrust on him every time. But he always hopes to prove his humanity. Besides Taki, Orchid ("Loh", by Carman Lee) is the only one in the unit on his side.
Once Taki is back in Hong Kong from Tokyo, the unit begins investigation on an addictive and harmful performance enhancing drug named "Happiness". The emotionless leader of the police unit Sergeant Kayama ("Commander", Yuen Woo-ping) suspects that Happiness is imported from the Rapter World by a tycoon named Daishu ("Yuen", Tatsuya Nakadai). He orders Taki and Ken to slip into Daishu's mysterious 150th birthday party. There Taki meets his former lover Windy ("Gaye", Michelle Reis), who is a rapter and now a mistress of Daishu. On the other hand Daishu and his raptor staffs are having a meeting, because they don't know who is importing Happiness the drug either. The staffs are nervous, but Daishu persuades them to control humans' economy in order to bargain with humans.
The meeting is attacked by two rapter killers. All other staffs are killed. Daishu is injured and Windy is injected with Happiness, however they escape from killers and police. Sergeant Kayama suspects a traitor in the unit. He suspends Ken from duty and says he has a suspicious origin. Knowing rapters would access energy to recover, Sergeant Kayama pays attention to electricity consumption over districts and locates the rapters in a power plant. Taki enters the plant, lets Windy escape but catches Daishu. Windy seeks help from Daishu's son Shudo ("Gwei", Roy Cheung). Shudo orders her loyalty to him. Windy is sent to hurt Taki and later she too is caught by police.
Daishu hopes to coexist with humans, since worlds of rapters and humans are together facing the energy crisis
. Further more, he hopes to learn human emotions. His son Shudo is the mastermind who imports Happiness and attacks Daishu. Shudo also trades with Orchid, the real traitor in the police unit. Orchid doesn't care about either humans or rapters, she only wants to make money and leave the city to survive the energy crisis. With help of Windy, Taki and Ken find out the truth, but Windy falls into hands of Shudo. They rescue Daishu from the unit and join forces to fight Shudo and his two killers. On the other hand Sergeant Kayama's announcement to suspend Ken is a trap to lure out the real traitor. Orchid is caught by Sergeant Kayama after she sabotaged the police unit's facility. Sergeant Kayama kills Orchid in cold blood, and leads a team to go after Taki. Because of Orchid's sabotage, an artificial megnetic field that protects Hong Kong is turned off, and Shudo is now able to turn the time backward to an age when humans are easy to control. Taki and Ken collaborate with Daishu to stop Shudo.
After night battles, Shudo's killers are eliminated by Daishu, but Ken under Shudo's influence turns into a rapter and then is injured by Sergeant Kayama's team. Windy is dying from the effect of Happiness. Daishu returns to his rapter form to battle Shudo. Daishu says it is because only a rapter can kill his own son. Shudo is happy for his father finally turns back to a rapter. Later they jump on an airplane and fight above Hong Kong. Daishu's power is weakened by age, but he dives into Shudo's shadow and defeats him with the power of his shadow. Shudo takes Ken as hostage, as he knows human emotion is his father's weakness. At the same time Ken regains human consciousness. He gives his blood to Windy so that Windy is able to overcome Happiness and rescue Taki from Shudo.
In the end Shudo is killed. Sergeant Kayama's team put the airplane on the tip of Bank of China Tower. With remorse of failing to prove his humanity, Ken dies in arms of Sergeant Kayama. Weighting his duty and emotion, Taki hesitatingly frees Daishu and Windy from hands of police. Taki meets a sad Sergeant Kayama and says Kayama may have become too emotional to lead the unit. On a car, Daishu dies for depletion of energy, only Windy drives away from the city alone at dawn.
and Joe Chan are the photographers of this film. They featured the film with darkness from many night scenes and dark interior scenes. They used coloured lighting in these scenes, especially for supernatural combat sequences. The filmmakers also used black light
on Shudo's special make-up and creature costume to make him glow in the darkness. Some jumping and flying effects were done with Wire fu
(wire work). Monster transformations and abilities were done with simple optical effects such as double exposure
and step frame printing (Morton, 2001).
Hong Kong films of 1992
A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1992:.-1992:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 1992 at...
science fiction film
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by Peter Mak and produced by Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...
. It is a live-action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
of the same name
Wicked City (film)
is an animated horror neo-noir directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, based on Hideyuki Kikuchi's novel of the same name.The story takes place towards the end of the 20th century and explores the idea that the human world secretly coexists with the demon world with a secret police force known as the Black...
. The film stars Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
, Leon Lai
Leon Lai
Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings . He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn."-Biography:...
, Yuen Woo-ping
Yuen Woo-ping
Yuen Woo-ping is a Chinese martial arts choreographer and film director, renowned as one of the most successful and influential figures in the world of Hong Kong action cinema. He is one of the inductees on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong...
, Roy Cheung
Roy Cheung
Roy Cheung Yiu-Yeung is a Hong Kong-based actor, best known on-screen for his roles as Triad gangsters in a number of films.- Early life and career :As a child, Cheung idolized kung-fu legend Bruce Lee but never seriously considered a career in acting....
, Tatsuya Nakadai
Tatsuya Nakadai
is a Japanese leading film actor.He became a star after he was discovered working as a Tokyo shop clerk by filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi during the early 1950s...
, Michelle Reis
Michelle Reis
-Biography:Reis was born in Macau which was then a Portuguese colony. Reis is of mixed ancestry as her father is Portuguese and her mother is Chinese. So, she can be considered as a macanese. Reis attended Maryknoll Convent School, and matriculated from St. Paul's Secondary School.Reis started...
, and Carman Lee. It tells fictional story of conflicts and relationship between demon-like creatures and humans in 1990s' Hong Kong.
Shorter synopsis
The story took place in Hong Kong in a conflict between worlds of Humans and "Rapters" before the handover. Special polices in the city are investigating on a mysterious drug named "Happiness". Taki, one of the polices, meets his old lover Windy, who is a rapter and now a mistress of a powerful old rapter named Daishu. Taki and other special polices track down and fight Daishu, but later find that he hoped to coexist with humans. The son of Daishu, Shudo, is the mastermind. In the end Shudo is defeated, but Daishu and Taki's friends die, too. Windy leaves alone.Longer synopsis
The film begins with the sun setting in Tokyo. Unknown to most people, there is the demonic "Rapter World" in conflict with human world. Rapters shift their shapes and infiltrate human world. Taki (or "Leung", played by Leon Lai) is a sales of a Hong Kong import/export company, but that is only his cover. He reveals his real occupation when he hunts down a seductive spider-like rapter in Tokyo. Taki belongs to the Anti-Rapter Special Police. One day he is transferred back to Hong Kong. The 1997 handoverTransfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong
The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, referred to as ‘the Return’ or ‘the Reunification’ by the Chinese and ‘the Handover’ by others, took place on 1 July 1997...
is near, Anti-Rapter Special Police Headquarter withdrew many agents from Hong Kong. This is a chaotic period when Hong Kong is vulnerable to rapters. That's why Taki is sent to Hong Kong to help.
Also in the unit is Taki's buddy Ken Kai (or "Ying", Jacky Cheung). Ken's father fall in love with a rapter, thus in the veins of Ken flows the black blood of rapter, which caused distrust on him every time. But he always hopes to prove his humanity. Besides Taki, Orchid ("Loh", by Carman Lee) is the only one in the unit on his side.
Once Taki is back in Hong Kong from Tokyo, the unit begins investigation on an addictive and harmful performance enhancing drug named "Happiness". The emotionless leader of the police unit Sergeant Kayama ("Commander", Yuen Woo-ping) suspects that Happiness is imported from the Rapter World by a tycoon named Daishu ("Yuen", Tatsuya Nakadai). He orders Taki and Ken to slip into Daishu's mysterious 150th birthday party. There Taki meets his former lover Windy ("Gaye", Michelle Reis), who is a rapter and now a mistress of Daishu. On the other hand Daishu and his raptor staffs are having a meeting, because they don't know who is importing Happiness the drug either. The staffs are nervous, but Daishu persuades them to control humans' economy in order to bargain with humans.
The meeting is attacked by two rapter killers. All other staffs are killed. Daishu is injured and Windy is injected with Happiness, however they escape from killers and police. Sergeant Kayama suspects a traitor in the unit. He suspends Ken from duty and says he has a suspicious origin. Knowing rapters would access energy to recover, Sergeant Kayama pays attention to electricity consumption over districts and locates the rapters in a power plant. Taki enters the plant, lets Windy escape but catches Daishu. Windy seeks help from Daishu's son Shudo ("Gwei", Roy Cheung). Shudo orders her loyalty to him. Windy is sent to hurt Taki and later she too is caught by police.
Daishu hopes to coexist with humans, since worlds of rapters and humans are together facing the energy crisis
Energy crisis
An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...
. Further more, he hopes to learn human emotions. His son Shudo is the mastermind who imports Happiness and attacks Daishu. Shudo also trades with Orchid, the real traitor in the police unit. Orchid doesn't care about either humans or rapters, she only wants to make money and leave the city to survive the energy crisis. With help of Windy, Taki and Ken find out the truth, but Windy falls into hands of Shudo. They rescue Daishu from the unit and join forces to fight Shudo and his two killers. On the other hand Sergeant Kayama's announcement to suspend Ken is a trap to lure out the real traitor. Orchid is caught by Sergeant Kayama after she sabotaged the police unit's facility. Sergeant Kayama kills Orchid in cold blood, and leads a team to go after Taki. Because of Orchid's sabotage, an artificial megnetic field that protects Hong Kong is turned off, and Shudo is now able to turn the time backward to an age when humans are easy to control. Taki and Ken collaborate with Daishu to stop Shudo.
After night battles, Shudo's killers are eliminated by Daishu, but Ken under Shudo's influence turns into a rapter and then is injured by Sergeant Kayama's team. Windy is dying from the effect of Happiness. Daishu returns to his rapter form to battle Shudo. Daishu says it is because only a rapter can kill his own son. Shudo is happy for his father finally turns back to a rapter. Later they jump on an airplane and fight above Hong Kong. Daishu's power is weakened by age, but he dives into Shudo's shadow and defeats him with the power of his shadow. Shudo takes Ken as hostage, as he knows human emotion is his father's weakness. At the same time Ken regains human consciousness. He gives his blood to Windy so that Windy is able to overcome Happiness and rescue Taki from Shudo.
In the end Shudo is killed. Sergeant Kayama's team put the airplane on the tip of Bank of China Tower. With remorse of failing to prove his humanity, Ken dies in arms of Sergeant Kayama. Weighting his duty and emotion, Taki hesitatingly frees Daishu and Windy from hands of police. Taki meets a sad Sergeant Kayama and says Kayama may have become too emotional to lead the unit. On a car, Daishu dies for depletion of energy, only Windy drives away from the city alone at dawn.
Special effects
Andrew LauAndrew Lau
Andrew Lau Wai-Keung is a Hong Kong cinematographer and filmmaker. Lau began his career in the 1980s and 1990s, serving as a cinematographer to filmmakers such as Ringo Lam, Wong Jing and Wong Kar-wai. In the 1990s, Lau decided to have more creative freedom as a cinematographer by becoming a film...
and Joe Chan are the photographers of this film. They featured the film with darkness from many night scenes and dark interior scenes. They used coloured lighting in these scenes, especially for supernatural combat sequences. The filmmakers also used black light
Black light
A black light, also referred to as a UV light, ultraviolet light, or Wood's lamp, is a lamp that emits ultraviolet radiation in the long-wave range, and little visible light...
on Shudo's special make-up and creature costume to make him glow in the darkness. Some jumping and flying effects were done with Wire fu
Wire fu
Wire fu is an element of Hong Kong action cinema. It is a combination of two terms: "wire work" and "kung fu". Wire fu is used to describe a sub-genre of Kung-Fu movies where the stuntmen's skill is augmented with the use of wires and pulleys, as well as other techniques, in many cases to perform...
(wire work). Monster transformations and abilities were done with simple optical effects such as double exposure
Double Exposure
Double exposure is a photographic technique in which two images are captured and combined into a single image.Double exposure may also refer to:* Double patterning, a technique for improving the resolution of patterning semiconductors...
and step frame printing (Morton, 2001).
External links
- WICKED CITY (an introduction)
- 妖獸都市 (1992) (Hong Kong Movie Database)