Badges Of Fury (2013/Well Go USA Blu-ray)

Picture: B Sound: B Extras: C Film: B+

Young detective Wang (Zhang Wen) is paired with veteran detective Huang (Jet Li) and assigned to solve a series of murders of wealthy young men. More than often Wang believes he is a hot shot maverick and over eager (and in over his head), Huang finds himself more than often pulling his partner out of hot water and of trouble. After discovering all the victims were former boy friends of a young starlet Liu, they go undercover with Wang posing as her lover to find out who the killer really is.

In Tsz Ming Wong's Badges Of Fury (2013), a young starlet's boyfriends are being found dead one by one, each one dying a grizzly dead with a smile on their face. Baffled the police tossed on the two underdogs of the force. As the rookie and old cop investigate Liu, they find out all the former boyfriends have also been seduced by Liu's well endowed sister and signed life insurances to them. As they suspect one or both of the sisters to be the murderer they must find the evidence, but before they solve the case, can they survive these deadly vixens, let alone each other?

This was a comic movie compared to all the other movies Jet Li did, it reminded me of Stephen Chow movies. Jet Li played more of a support role than the main character, but there was plenty of other martial artists with stylized fights enhanced special comical effects. It felt like it was a movie giving more of a chance for young future martial arts actors a chance to debut. With all that, it worked very well and is highly recommended.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer comes from a 5K RED EPIC HD shot and though the image is consistent, it still can look like HD more than it should, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is not always spectacular, but is fine when the action kicks in and is well recorded and edited all around. Extras include making of the film, behind the scenes, and trailers.

- Ricky Chiang