ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

BA_Harrison Poor Chow Yun-Fat: he pays his dues in HK cinema, rising to Asian superstar, and gets a crack at Hollywood fame only to share the limelight with an ex-boy-band singer/underwear model in a mediocre crime drama.The Corrupter, directed by James Foley, opens promisingly enough with a shootout in a shop that could have been straight out of a John Woo movie, but soon settles into tedious mode with the introduction of Mark Wahlberg, who exudes all the personality of a dim sum dumpling. Wahlberg plays cop Danny Wallace, assigned to the Asian Gang Unit in New York, working alongside Lt. Chen (Yun-Fat), who is in the pocket of the Tong triads. It eventually turns out that Wallace is internal affairs, his job to collect the dirt on Chen, but predictably, he comes to realise that although Chen isn't playing by the rules, he isn't such a bad cop after all. Yawn.There's quite a lot of shooting, with satisfyingly bloody squib-work, and a half-decent car chase scene midway that results in the deaths of numerous innocent bystanders, but this is heavily outweighed by the forgettable drama, which isn't helped by some dreary guff about Wallace's strained relationship with his father (played by Brian Cox). It wouldn't be long before Chow Yun Fat returned to his homeland to make films, and judging by The Corrupter, who could blame him?

Python Hyena The Corrupter (1999): Dir: James Foley / Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Mark Wahlberg, Brian Cox, Kim Chan, Ric Young: Mindless action film about how honest people can become bad. It opens with Chow Yun-Fat holding off three Chinese thugs in a Chinatown antique store and he releases them with a warning. Mark Wahlberg enters as Yun-Fat's new partner. Yun-Fat handles the physical while Wahlberg is skilled at making arrests and eventually there is an undercover cop present during one of the arrests. He also discovers homeless people in a tunnel locked away, which can answer questions regarding dead women in dumpsters. There is much martial arts fighting with James Foley in fine tune as director. He previously made At Close Range and The Chamber but this is not exactly a step up despite his knack for pitching action scenes. Yun-Fat and Wahlberg have decent chemistry and their roles are broader than at first appears. They are complete opposites that test waters with each other until the big action ass kicking in the conclusion. Brian Cox, Ric Young and Kim Chan are flat in those typical cardboard supporting roles. This is really about the two leads in what appears to be typical buddy flick formula. Well made technically, purposed as an action film, but it could have been much more. Instead it corrupts viewers with its showcase and stupidity. Score: 4 / 10

kai ringler i was very impressed with this one. i dind't know what too expect from chow yun fat: i was most pleasantly surprised. i loved the opening sequence of the car getting blown up very effective, i loved the plot in this movie, chow's character Nick, gotta love him,, i didn't really know if Marky Mark could act,, too my amazement he can,, conggrats i might like you better as an actor than an 80's singer. this movie has a great plot too, Chineese Triads trying to bribe the cops,, lot's of shooting,, hookers getting killed, bad cops, good cops,, and of course you have to have an Uncle Benny, much like Lethal Weapon 4 , which this movie kinda reminds me of. look at all of those illegals in the boat during the movie. i have personally been in Chinatown in N.Y.C. before, about 3 years before this movie was filmed there, and it looks even better than when i was there, i remember going to eat at a Chinese restaurant and smelling all the garbage in the alley, because the city was on a trash strike,, gotta love New York, all in all i think that this was a great movie, with a lot too offer. It's a thrill ride for the action fan, and that is me.

bkoganbing If The Corrupter had been filmed back in the days of the studio system the only thing missing would have been Limehouse Blues on the soundtrack. Even given the fact that it was filmed on location right in New York City's Chinatown and I recognized a lot of the spots, it has the feel of one of those RKO noir type films with a couple of car chases thrown in. The location though really adds to the film.In The Corrupter the precinct of location is the fictitious 15th precinct which coincidentally enough is the one where Andy Sipowicz and the rest of those cops labored on NYPD Blue. Chinatown in Manhattan is actually in the NYPD Fifth precinct. A lot of police of Oriental ancestry get assigned there as a matter of course because of language skills. But Chow Yun Fat who heads the squad there does not need Mark Wahlberg assigned who's wet behind the ears. Additionally Wahlberg's dad was a former detective who got tossed out for a gambling problem that led to his downfall. The situation they've both got is a turf war going on in Chinatown between the old triads who like to run things with a minimum of headlines and a new crew of immigrants from China's Fukien province who are known as the Fukien Dragons. This is a really violent bunch who apparently just like to shoot things and people for enjoyment at times, make a lot of unnecessary noise.One thing I did like about The Corrupter was the fact that I've rarely seen films involving police chases where innocent bystanders get killed and injured. Here the collateral damage between the gangs and the police and the gangs is appalling. It couldn't be any other way because those narrow streets you see the police cars and the bad guys careening down are those in Chinatown.A few twists and turns in the plot give the film some added suspense. We only find out in the end who the real corrupt ones are.