CASINO (1998)

Starring: Simon Yam, Alex Fong, Kent Cheng, Kennix Kwok, Ng Chi Hung, Moses Chan, Michael Lam, Raven Choi, Ada Choi, Ben Ng, Chan Wai Man

There is less about gambling and more about turf wars and triad gangsters gunning at each other, akin to military generals outdoing each other in the thick of battle. Casino is vaguely based on the real life of Macau's most notorious criminal, Gold Teeth (correct me if I'm wrong), who terrorised the Portuguese colony, and controlled the goldmine that is Casinos which made him very rich indeed.

Simon Yam plays Giant Wan, a local hoodlum who breezes his way to the top of the gangster chain through hard work, a little bit of luck, and nerves of steel. He had friends in Liu (Alex Fong) and Lee (Ben Ng), who became mighty famous after their run-in with a local gang boss. By 1991, Wan had nearly half of Macao under his control, but it was his disposal of Lo Ping (Ng Chi Hung) that gave him control of the casinos.

Although the filmmakers have stressed that the film has nothing to do with the real life criminal of Gold Teeth, most critics believe that the story is too similar to be just coincidental. Gold Teeth made a mockery of the Portuguese law, and often bribed his way through officials, even to the point that cops were in cahoots with the gangster. After all, if you can't beat them, join them.

In the film, Giant Wan grew gradually to be one of the heads of Macau, but on his tail was good cop Officer To (Kent Cheng), who vowed to put Wan in jail. Eventually, Officer To and Wan became friends out of mutual respect, even to the point that To helped Wan rid Lo Ping.

To be honest, the film isn't that great, with the biggest fault in the script. The rise of Wan isn't spectacular by any means, and we don't see him being particularly nasty or brutal. He's certainly not subtle either, with most of the carnage achieved through sheer numbers. In contrast, the Young and Dangerous series shows how it should have been done, with particular emphasis on the rise of Chan Ho Nam.

Apart from some good performances, and some nice action, there is not a lot to enjoy about Casino. This is definitely not The Godfather.

RATING

5 / 10