Taipei’s Weekend is a movie from the 90s designed to be a complete action-packed picture, B-Movie style, directed by George Huang. It’s been co-written by Luc Besson which gives a bit of insight into the movie’s style.
Nonetheless, this movie portrays a few teenage characters engaging in fight sequences that make little sense. To add to it, there’s plenty of cringe dialogue, Raymondie’s scene with his father is by far the funniest. A kid who had cooking lessons just so he could bond with his, supposedly, deceased father; only to be told his father wasn’t dead in the first place. Finally, Yang manages to deliver this dialogue in the middle of a car chase scene which makes it even more absurd.
The directors have paid homages to a wide array of pop culture references, starting from the paying tribute to the notable opening of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” alongside a whereabouts cover of “Paint it black” by The Rolling Stones and the “Fast and the furious” franchise. This combination is odd, to say the least, but it works.
It’s mostly bland and unremarkable but can be funny and creative now and then. If you enjoy this type of content, you’ll enjoy this.
Evans is seen portraying undercover proceeded agent John Lawlor in the movie. And yes, he is a pastry chef in the movie, adding final touches to a plate with crème brûlée pots. Lawlor is tasked to take down drug lord Kwang (Kang) who runs a seafood business but uses it as a cover. Kwang is currently married to the slinky and sly Joey (Gwei Lun-Mei), with whom he is living in luxury in a high-end condo, raising Joey’s son Raymond as a father does. But John is Raymond’s real dad. All this time we were unaware of the fact that Joey and John were in a relationship that broke off 15 years ago.
Such an unthinkable series of events took place all because John’s angry boss Pernell Walker went on a whim and went to Taipei John was clearly told not to even think about it. But he’s unable to control himself like Axel Foley from “Beverly Hills Cop,” so he goes from Minneapolis to Taiwan taking everything into his own hands.
Even though Evans is using quite a weak New York accent being born in Wales, owing to his antics and nonnonsense attitude paired with the Corny Comedy parts, it somehow manages to be endearing and engaging.
Seeing her outlook when she’s with John, Gwei’s Joey is somewhat of a stronger person than she looks. And that is something that was very clear from the first time she and John met. (I can understand why everyone’s hair is so hilariously awful in these scenes from even earlier on; it was a stylistic choice apparently.) Sharing these memories over dumplings with the inquisitive Raymond is cute in a way, especially the moving retelling of these significant events due to John’s dumplings. However, Kang is a force and always has flair but gets typecast as a one-dimensional villain.
Character development is not the reason why someone would watch the film ‘Weekend In Taipei.’ Watching the battle sequences is the major reason. It is highly entertaining owing to the intricate choreography within a feeling of confined space and the funny use of woks, the first fight scene in John’s kitchen is one such scene. John and Kwang’s epic confrontation occurs affront to the huge movie theater projector screen where the projection casts an eerie light over the scene. (Many of these cinematographer Colin Wandersman scenes are slick and shiny, Wandersman being the d.p.). Along with the Taipei use such as alleyways, and claw machine arcades befitting the movie’s context gives it a zing.
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