John Woo’s action film A Better Tomorrow (1986) revolutionised Hong Kong action cinema. It became a massive commercial hit, and was hugely influential upon a generation of filmmakers, and of course let to a wide spate of similar ‘heroic bloodshed’ pictures looking to capitalise upon its success. There is a large number of excellent action films released in Hong Kong in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is not surprising, then, that there are also a lot of poor quality and disposable ones as well.

Let’s take a look at City War.

Police officers Dick Lee (Chow Yun-fat) and Ken Chow (Ti Lung) are best friends. The former is a charming bachelor and negotiator, the latter a hot-tempered family man with a wife and two children. When convicted drug lord Ted Yiu (Norman Chui) is released from prison early, and Ken’s former partner is killed in revenge for arresting him, it is clear that Ken will be Ted’s next target. Dick also becomes unsuspectingly involved when he begins romancing Ted’s long-time girlfriend: the seductive Penny (Tien Niu).

You cannot win them all. While City War reunites A Better Tomorrow stars Chow and Ti to recapture the appeal of their earlier hit, it comes saddled with a weak, inconsistent screenplay and some film-breaking tonal problems. Hong Kong cinema has always been somewhat mercurial, City War tries to jump from comedy to tragedy so suddenly that it is difficult for the audience to follow along. Its gun-shooting action is heavily back-loaded to the final act, at which point most viewers’ attention will have wandered considerably.

There are certain things that a poor film cannot diminish: chief among them Chow Yun-fat’s inevitable charm and watchability. He remains one of the most pleasing actors of all time, lighting up any film in which he appears with a near-supernatural charisma. If he was not in City War, it is questionable if the film would even be watchable. As it stands it is simply deeply underwhelming. It is difficult to recommend to anyone bar Chow completists, since there are so many better Hong Kong action movies out there. Ti receives far less material with which to work. Tien Niu works well in her scenes with Chow, but her character is simply too facile to properly engage.

The film is the work of director Sun Chung, who does rather showcase how difficult the late 1980s must have been for Hong Kong’s veteran filmmakers. For decades the territory had succeeded on the back of cheap-and-cheerful martial arts films and comedies. Suddenly the bar of quality was raised sharply, and the old guard struggled to compete. Sun was a working director who spent the 1970s churning out disposable entertainment at a dizzying rate; six films in 1977 alone. After City War he only directed one more feature: the satanic cult thriller Angel Hunter (1992).

City War is a deeply ordinary film. With boutique video labels around the world currently restoring and releasing the Cinema City Company’s long-desired back catalogue to the English-speaking market, this is one title that can probably remain in the vault.