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https://scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3033558/5-louis-koos-best-movies-celebrating-hong-kong-actor-so Celebrities
5 of Louis Koo’s best movies – celebrating the Hong Kong actor so beloved they named a cinema after him
Hong Kong Arts Centre opened the Louis Koo Cinema in 2018 to celebrate a homegrown icon. As the actor, director and philanthropist turns 49 a year later, here are 5 of Koo’s most memorable performances – from Throw Down to Paradox
Louis Koo starred in frequent collaborator Johnnie To’s Three – picked by our writer as one of the actor’s five top movies.
After the famed “Four Heavenly Kings”, there was Louis Koo. Of all the actors to emerge since the heyday of Hong Kong cinema – between the mid-80s and mid-90s, when stars like Leslie Cheung and Jacky Cheung were at their peak – Koo is almost certainly the most popular and most respected.
Always perfectly coiffed and tanned, Koo originally made his name at local television station TVB, winning the station’s Best Actor award in 1999 and 2001, before jumping to the big screen. Now a stalwart of the local film industry, Koo received long-deserved recognition last year winning, for the first time, both the Hong Kong Film Award and Asian Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Paradox.
In celebration of his 49th birthday, on October 21, 2019, here are five of Koo’s best films.
Throw Down (2004)
One of Koo’s most impressive performances came in this often misunderstood movie by acclaimed director Johnnie To. Koo plays Szeto, a former judo champion who, having fallen on hard times, now operates a run-down club. Opposite him is Aaron Kwok, who plays a young up-and-coming judo practitioner keen to test himself against the best. Much more than your typical chopsocky film, To weaves Throwdown into something much more philosophical and significant. Action fans might be a little disappointed, but those looking for deeper meaning will find plenty to like.
Overheard (2009)
Louis Koo is just one of a number of stars in this 2009 hit which also features Sean Lau and Daniel Wu. Directed by Alan Mak, of Infernal Affairs fame, Overheard has its three stars working as policemen in the Commercial Crime Bureau investigating white collar crime via wiretaps and hidden cameras. Drama unfolds when these officers of the law lose their moral compass and end up mired in corruption. Exceptionally well cast and entertaining, this is one of the best Hong Kong police dramas of the last 10 years.
Drug War (2013)
Johnnie To’s first Mainland film has Louis Koo playing Timmy, a gangster who turns informer in order to avoid China's death penalty for drug trafficking. Opposite him is Captain Zhang Lei (Sun Hong-lei) who seeks to use Timmy as bait to catch bigger fish. Timmy, however, has his own underhanded plans and has no intention of being used so easily. A tense battle of wills ensues that builds to a shocking climax.
Three (2016)
Set entirely within a hospital building, this most recent Johnnie To/Louis Koo hook-up examines the pressures building on three principal characters – a detective (played by Koo) desperate to bring a criminal to justice; said villain (Wallace Chung) betting his health against his freedom; and a doctor (Vicki Zhao) buckling beneath stress following a botched surgery – and each principle’s response to their individual crises. An excellent film, Three is worth seeing for its stunning final shoot out, shot with the actors performing in real-life slow motion.
Paradox (2017)
A fantastic combination of brutal action, courtesy of Thai martial arts star Tony Jaa, and emotional heart provided by Louis Koo, Paradox was the third film in director Wilson Yip’s unofficial action trilogy that began in 2005 with SPL. Yet again, Koo plays a Hong Kong cop, though this time he must head to Thailand to find his missing daughter. With its exotic locations, bone-crunching action and ever-widening criminal conspiracy, Paradox thoroughly deserved the various awards that came its way.