Damn you, Fatty!

I like Johnny To. Every movie of his I've seen, I've liked. Maybe not loved, but had a good time. PTU : Police Tactical Unit (or Into the Perilous Night:PTU which is just a sillier, cooler title) joins the likes of Exiled, The Mission and Fulltime Killer as movies of Mr. To I had a good time with.

I wonder how many of the names in the movie are real vs. bad/lazy translations. Fatty, Bald Head, Eye Ball...what the hell, man? I won't bother getting into the story, it's just a McGuffin for cop shenanigans to occur. And honestly, that's part of the reason that I didn't find this movie just super badass cool. After you've seen The Shield and The Wire, every other cop thing just feels 2nd rate.

But there's a lot of menace to the proceedings. The main band of roving cops, led by Sgt. Ho, rove the street like a gang, and in many ways, are. Beatings happen, people. And slappings. Slapping...not as shocking as allowing a man to lose his teeth thanks to the help of a law book (The Shield. Watch it if you havn't. You'll thank me, then God.) Maybe a slap means more on the streets where Ho is from.

It's definitely worth checking out for the opening scene in the restaurant, though, which I totally want to homage whenever I get around to making movies. The general air of menace is very cool on the shadowy streets of what appears to be a business district at night. It's Johnny To and he might not make the best movies, but he makes them damn entertaining.