REVIEW:
Alas, May's debut is a complete flop. However, since May is completely adorable about it, the obliging audience forgives her. Especially a creepy old man who's been eyeballing May for the entire dance. Michael watches a game of racquetball between his father (Michael Chan) and Sharkey (Chung Lam). Sharkey mentions that he wants a larger cut of the drug money. Michael and his dad fume - what to do about the annoying Sharkey? Back at the club, May's been demoted to handing out flowers and taking photos. The creepy old guy (let's call him Mr. Wong) insists on a photo of himself and May, taken by Brandon. The irony of this gesture won't become apparent until much later on. Michael shows up at the club, and wastes no time in hitting on May. She jerks away and mutters something about Brandon. Bolo Yeung also shows up at the club, attempting to extort "protection insurance" from the club owner. As tempers are escalating, Brandon enters and accidentally spills his entire tray of drinks on the gangsters. Bolo wastes no time in sucker punching Brandon in the stomach. Brandon, in a superb moment, freezes, looks about ready to retaliate, and then slowly backs down. He backs away, then returns with a fresh round of drinks, which gets promptly thrown in his face. Enough is enough, and Brandon gut-punches Bolo Yeung ("Now we're even!") Bar fight! The next day, Brandon, Michael and May are all out on Michael's yacht. Michael's brought along an antique revolver, which he shows off to Brandon. While Brandon's busy playing with Michael's gun, Michael asks Brandon about May ("If you're dumping her, I'll take her off your hands. I don't mind secondhand clothes") Brandon presses the gun against Michael's crotch, and snarls "If you do, I'll shoot your cock off." Michael hastily backs down. Brandon removes the gun with a smile - turns out he was only joking. Michael is less than amused. Still trying to work the May angle, Michael offers Brandon a job with his company, which Brandon refuses. Michael watches Brandon and May slow-dance, and flashes back to their first meeting:
Brandon, Michael and Michael's ditz of a girlfriend are hanging out at the mall. Michael spots May and starts putting his cool 80's moves on her ("Hey babe, why don't you give me your phone number?"). May rejects him, and Michael's girlfriend leaves in a huff. On her way out, she knocks over May's tray, spilling the entire contents on the ground. May dejectedly sinks to the floor, and Brandon goes over to help. Love at first sight. Back on the beach, Brandon has left to attend to, er, personal business. Michael tries YET AGAIN to make a move on May, telling her that he's always liked her. May snubs him YET AGAIN, saying that she's engaged to Brandon and that they're going to be married next week. Somehow, I don't think this will stop Michael. You'd swear that May was the only woman in Hong Kong. A gang of local thugs dash down the sand dunes and beat up Michael, May and Brandon ("Here's what our boss Sharkey thinks of your father's plan!"). This pretty much kills the evening. Michael's dad finds out about the beating and mentions how nice it would be to get rid of Sharkey, but it will be difficult, seeing as he's a policeman. One of Michael's henchman mentions "If only we had a fall-guy..." and Michael looks altogether too thoughtful. Back at Brandon and May's apartment, Brandon ogles a cherry-red motorcycle. May pouts, not liking to be second banana in Brandon's heart. Brandon kisses ass and tells May that he'll save up the money for their baby instead, presenting her with an engagement ring. May hugs Brandon, as he sneaks one last peek at the bike. Just as things are beginning to get PG-steamy, Michael calls, wanting to take Brandon out for an apology dinner. Brandon agrees, for reasons we, the viewing audience, will never understand. Let's see: sex with girlfriend vs. impromptu dinner with sleazy friend. Male bonds work in weird ways. Michael greets Brandon at a local Turkish restaurant, wearing an astonishingly ugly argyle sweater. There's actually a damn good reason for the sweater, as we'll see later. At dinner, Michael not-so-sneakily places a gun under his chair, in full view of Brandon. Sharkey shows up, and demands to see Michael. In an oddly sexual move, he throws Michael up against a pillar and pats him down for a weapon. Since Michael's gun is back under the table with Brandon, Sharkey lets him go. Turns out the meeting with Sharkey was a sham. As Michael kicks a table at Sharkey, Sharkey withdraws his gun and fires on Michael. Michael's down for the count, and Brandon takes up the gun and points it at Sharkey. Sharkey tells Brandon he's a police officer, which Michael vehemently denies. Brandon believes Michael, and shoots Sharkey. Whether or not this shot would have killed Sharkey remains moot, as Michael's henchman puts another bullet through Sharkey. Brandon drops the weapon and flees (at Michael's behest), and is quickly captured by the cops. Meanwhile, Michael's henchman drives Michael away. He solicitously asks about the bullet wound, and Michael shows him the bulletproof vest, under that awful argyle sweater. Michael and his dad meet on the floating Jumbo Restaurant with Sharkey's replacement. As money exchanges hands, the Inspector notes to Michael that it must have been hard to betray his friend in order to get rid of Sharkey. Michael looks glum & solemn for maybe half a second. Dad worries about Brandon incriminating Michael at the trial, but Brandon's defense lawyer isn't worried ("Don't worry sir. He's a very simple-minded kid." ) Back at the jail cell, Brandon's lawyer is carefully instructing him not to mention Michael. Twisting the blade a little deeper, he mentions: "Don't worry about your girlfriend. Michael will take care of her." Brandon is tried, convicted and locked up for eight years for the death of Sharkey. In prison, Brandon makes friends with a bespectacled drug-runner. Brandon picks a fight with another inmate and gets sent to solitary. He writes a heartfelt note to May ("I know Michael is trying to help me. He's a real pal"), who runs to the bathroom and throws up once she's received it. Crud, May's pregnant. After her club gig, Mr. Wong waits for May outside with chocolates and roses. May spurns Mr. Wong's affections and Michael shows up. Michael's plastered, but he knows the words to woo May ("I want to talk with you about Brandon.") May foolishly hops in Michael's limo. Naturally, Michael doesn't want to talk about Brandon - he just wants to hit on May. May rejects his drunken advances, so Michael throws her down and attempts to rape her. May flings herself out of the limo, as the psycho Michael flips the car around after her. May returns to the club. Her boss hands her escape money and warns her off Michael ("You mustn't trust him.") Duh. Outside the club, Mr. Wong offers May a strange solution: have her kid with him in Brazil ("I just want a companion; you can discuss it with your boyfriend.") Brandon finds out about Michael's betrayal and tries in earnest to escape. He gets caught twice, and spends the full eight years in prison, silently burning letters from May in Brazil and fuming over Michael.
EIGHT YEARS LATER: Michael's done fabulously for himself - taking over the family business and partaking deeply of fast cars, floozies and cocaine. He dons wire-rimmed glasses, just so you know there's been a significant passage of time. In an ironic twist of fate, Brandon is working at a gas station when Michael pulls up. A shocked Michael offers Brandon a better job with his company, but Brandon just glowers and demands payment for the gas. As soon as Michael leaves, Brandon tenders his resignation at the gas station. At the same time, Michael whips out his massive cell phone and tells his henchman to kill Brandon. Brandon takes a new job at a construction site. May returns from Brazil and tracks Brandon down. Just as things are looking pretty warm and fuzzy, an eight year-old kid emerges from the car, along with Mr. Wong. Brandon takes the hint and sadly bids May farewell forever. Back at the hotel, Michael checks in at the front desk with two lovely ladies and requests a room with a bed large enough for six, while May and her family hides in the elevator. Michael approaches May as her family leaves the elevator. He notices her husband and kid, and chases them down the hall in anger ("So you'd rather marry him than me?"). Mr. Wong tells May they'll have to flee Hong Kong again. At the airport, Michael's men abduct both May and her kid. They also mention that if this is Brandon's kid, there's going to be a serious problem. There is going to be a serious problem. Mr. Wong finds Brandon and tells him about the attempted rape, his sex-free proposal to May and the birth of Brandon's son. Once he's spilled the beans, Michael's henchmen kill Mr. Wong. Brandon works his way through Michael's house, killing numerous villians with varied weapons. He enters the master bedroom and sees May, on the floor, bleeding to death. Since we're never told exactly what happened, let's just say May died valiantly protecting her son and her honor from Michael, and leave it at that. Michael is doing his damnest to kill Brandon, who's taken to hiding in a closet. Inside the closet, he sees his son, tied in a bundle and crying. Brandon emerges, draws gunfire away from the closet, and heads downstairs for the final showdown with Michael. Michael and Brandon loot through countless bodies, searching for weapons with partial ammo. Michael finds an empty gun and chucks it at Brandon's head. Brandon finds a loaded gun and fires on Michael several times. Brandon, his son and and the prison buddy all head down to a speed boat. Brandon's son asks him: "Sir, isn't daddy coming with us?" Brandon sadly hugs his son, and credits roll.
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TWO DEGREES
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