Young and Dangerous

The Young and Dangerous series of films, and side projects associated with them, were a popular phenomenon of the late 1990's. Stars Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan had excellent onscreen presence, and there was good chemistry between them that enhanced their individual performances.

Directed by Andrew Lau, and based on the Teddy Boy manhua (comic books) by Cowman, the films comprised a successful mini-genre all their own, and became a significant part of the cultural history of Hong Kong surrounding the handover to China in 1997.

The first film, not intended to be the beginning of a series, introduced the central characters in perfunctory fashion, and jumped straightaway into the action - Much in the way that the first episode of a Chinese TV series might do, implying that by the time the film was edited, the second film must already have been a done deal. For a synopsis of the film, see the wikipedia article linked above.

The second film, Young and Dangerous 2,  is in my opinion somewhat stronger than the first. Jordan Chan's character, Chicken, is fleshed out thoroughly, giving Chan a good chance to make a name for himself as a capable actor.

There ensued 10 additional films, 4 of which were also directed by Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, who would go on to achieve fame and recognition with Infernal Affairs.

If anything bad can be said about the films it is that the producers were sometimes over-eager to release new material that was unpolished, and the general treatment of female characters in the films is chauvinist in the extreme. Unfortunately, distrust of women is a trope of Chinese heroic literature (see Outlaws Of The Marsh, for example) that inevitably finds it's way into film. 

Fans of HK genre film will be pleased to note the presence of Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Michael Tse, and Roy Cheung, all of whom figure prominently.

Some people seem to have felt that these films glorified the triad lifestyle and encouraged young people to emulate and even to join the triads. Whereas this may certainly have happened, I think it's a facile assumption of no merit. The same could be said about the vast majority of HK genre films.