Category: III (Cantonese)

Last impressions are lasting. In this case, it's a weak finale that blunts the overall force of an otherwise forceful feature. Soi Cheang Pou-sui, whose raw sense of drama brought a unique twist to ostensibly mainstream productions such as New Blood (2002) and Love Battlefield (2004), turns Hong Kong into a murky twilight zone in this gritty tale of a hit man and the cop who pursues him.

Although this may sound like a familiar premise, the script (by Matt Chow Hoi-kwong, Szeto Kam-yuen and Lee Chun- fai) injects considerable vitality by stripping the characters down to almost primeval types. The killer (Edison Chen, who delivers a performance shorn of teen idol mannerisms) is an anonymous Cambodian contract killer. His nemesis is Wai (an intense portrayal by Sam Lee), a troubled policeman whose explosive temper is an expression of deep personal turmoil.

For the first 100 minutes of the 109-minute production, the director succeeds in enticing the viewer to delve into the film's simultaneously repelling and compelling universe. Odd camera angles, strange sound effects and disconcerting visuals serve to keep the audience off- kilter as it experiences a dark world in which Hong Kong is a jungle, where it seems that only the most ruthless thrive and those who play by the rules are doomed to failure. It's a stylised yet not altogether unrealistic canvas, with human touches provided by Wai's colleagues (effective depictions by Lam Suet, Wayne Lai Yiu-cheung and Eddie Cheung). Another whiff of humanity is provided by a curious romance (for lack of a better word) between the assassin and an abused Chinese illegal immigrant girl (an impressive debut by Pei Weiying).

An intriguing thread linking the principals is their fractured connection to craven patriarchal figures, particularly Wai, who is seriously conflicted about his policeman father (Lam Kar-wah).

The violence is unrelenting and often difficult to watch (hence the Category III rating), yet the movie is admirably restrained in its muted palette, the starkness of the images and sparing use of music. There's a refreshing lack of mawkishness in the way people relate to one another, whether it be out of love, opportunism, duty or a primal impulse to endure.

The tone abruptly changes when the action moves to Cambodia for a final reel that feels as if it has been made by another director. To the strains of an English-language pop ditty, we're treated to a montage of the killer rebuilding his life with pregnant wife in tow.

Brutal fighting again takes over, but the staging is stylised to a ludicrous degree. The relative subtlety of the movie's underlying themes is made obvious by the overuse of symbolism, and the shocking sensationalism of the last scene emphasises the artificiality of the entire affair.

In the end, Dog Bite Dog bites off more than it can chew. Cheang would have been better off ending things in Hong Kong.

Dog Bite Dog opens today