The Wicked City (1992)

A neon-soaked cyberpunk-infused drug trip

A feverish, neon-soaked descent into a cyberpunk-infused drug trip at its most excessive and imaginative, Tsui Hark's adaptation of The Wicked City is less concerned with coherence than with spectacle, atmosphere and a restless sense of urban dread. Playing exceptionally fast and loose with its source material, the pacing is absolutely relentless, opting for a mafia-style soap opera with a doomed love at its core, rather than the political ramifications of its origins. The visual insanity of the film feels almost unearned in the grand scheme, with Hark and director Peter Mak unleashing a barrage of practical effects, grotesque creature designs and kinetic action sequences that are truly chaotic. It all oscillates between horror, action and dark fantasy, delivering sex, violence, bizarre sensuality and outrageously colourful lighting. Yet, beneath the excess lies a familiar Tsui Hark preoccupation: anxiety about modernity, urban alienation and the hidden rot beneath a glossy metropolis. There's a deep-rooted obsession with transformation permeating throughout, bodies mutating, realities slipping, identities dissolving, creating a sense of constant instability. At times, this works brilliantly, evoking a city on the brink of moral and supernatural collapse; other times, it overwhelms the narrative, which can feel fragmented and rushed. The performances from the central cast are entirely serviceable; they function well within Tsui Hark's heightened, stylised universe. Leon Lai operates as the brooding protagonist with stoic restraint. At the same time, Michelle Reis brings an alluring, tragic presence that fits the film's noir-inflected tone. A fascinating artefact of unrestrained creativity, where ambition matters more than polish, seductive, violent and perpetually on the verge of completely losing its sanity, there's a method to The Wicked City's madness. Its storytelling is messy, its mythology underexplained, and its indulgences plentiful, but if you're willing to meet it at its level, it's a wild, flawed and ultimately unforgettable ride.

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