0:03
Allan tell me about detective Chinatown
0:06
1900 okay so uh in researching the film
0:10
while reviewing it I found out that
0:11
detective Chinatown is a popular Hong
0:14
Kong movie series uh I didn't know that
0:18
but uh detective Chinatown 1900 takes
0:20
place in 1900 in San Francisco 1900 uh
0:25
Stars the two stars of the franchise uh
0:31
let's see oh yeah Wang buang Kang as Aki
0:39
kinfu the the way the story works is
0:41
we're in San Francisco uh the evil uh
0:45
Congressman uh Congressman Grant played
0:48
by John cusac wants to uh wants to take
0:51
back the Chinatown land wants to kick
0:54
out all the Chinese um but political
0:56
forces are preventing him to do it but
0:58
fortunately backing him up is the
1:00
Chinese Exclusion Act of uh
1:04
1848 I believe um so what's happening
1:07
now is a lot of stuff going on in San
1:09
Francisco Chinatown uh a uh a Grant's
1:13
daughter is found murdered in chinat
1:16
town next to a a Native American or as
1:19
they say in this movie an Indian chief
1:22
uh and uh so this Spurs Grant to finally
1:25
say okay that's it we're going to get
1:26
rid of the Chinese because they killed
1:28
my daughter uh so in comes a detective
1:31
uh kin kin Fu who happens to be the
1:36
Apprentice of Sherlock Holmes who is
1:39
traveling across the country uh though
1:42
he is The Apprentice of Sherlock Holmes
1:43
he's not quite as good as Sherlock
1:45
Holmes um but he is asked by The
1:47
Godfather of Chinatown uh played by
1:50
chaan Fett to solve the murder and uh so
1:54
that's what this movie is uh the son of
1:57
the the chief uh who uh who died uh he
2:01
is brought in to help him out and the
2:03
two go throughout San Francisco to find
2:06
out who murdered uh the daughter uh in
2:09
that there's a lot of intrigue uh there
2:11
is uh you know one of the reasons uh
2:14
people don't like the Chinese at this
2:15
time was because they were cheap labor
2:18
uh you could pay them very next to
2:19
nothing rather than employ American
2:22
workers and so the unions are involved
2:24
in this story um there's also uh the
2:28
fact that uh chion Fat's character is
2:31
called The Godfather uh because he uh
2:34
has created a force of enforcers because
2:37
uh at that time the uh the police
2:39
Chinatown uh and then there's also uh a
2:43
Revolution going on in China um there
2:45
are some uh some traitors in San
2:48
Francisco and a contingent of uh Chinese
2:51
warriors are sent in to find them all
2:54
right so this is the thing this is a two
2:56
and a half hour movie uh the issue I
2:58
have with Chinese films is the too much
3:00
plot uh there's too much story going on
3:03
uh this should be about the two
3:04
detectives instead there are at least
3:06
three or four subplots um it was kind of
3:08
cool to see John cusac in this movie uh
3:11
he has done Chinese movies in the past
3:13
I'll refer you to Dragon Blade where he
3:15
stars with jecky Chan and Adrien Brody
3:18
in a very horrible Chinese film um look
3:23
uh there okay there are things I like
3:26
about this there are things I don't um
3:28
this this takes place in the 1900 in
3:31
1900 which is essentially when my
3:33
great-grandfather was here in the United
3:35
States uh living in in San Francisco and
3:38
so it was kind of cool to to to kind of
3:41
see what life was like for him at that
3:43
time and then for when my grandfather
3:46
ultimately came to America um the set in
3:50
this movie is incredible uh it it is San
3:53
franisco of 1900 and they built it
3:56
practical it's a giant set wow and when
3:59
you and they go through the set if
4:00
you've ever been to San Francisco and
4:02
you walk through this set it feels like
4:04
San Francisco there there's one iconic
4:07
building in San Francisco is a is a
4:09
triangular building uh at an
4:11
intersection and the streets kind of
4:12
going that building is in this movie a
4:15
lot of money and effort has been spent
4:16
on this um the problem with the movie to
4:20
me is it's too much comedy and not
4:22
enough action there is I would say a
4:26
good half hour of action in this movie
4:28
and the rest of it is
4:30
um just the light-hearted comedy about
4:32
trying to find um trying to find out who
4:36
the murderer is um then also the other
4:40
problem I have it is that it leans so
4:42
much into the Chinese Exclusion Act
4:44
which is real um you know it I don't
4:47
think Chinese people in the 1900s talked
4:50
about the Chinese Exclusion Act as much
4:53
as this film did in real life uh the
4:55
other thing I find interesting about
4:57
that is all the people involved in this
5:00
movie were never affected by the Chinese
5:02
Exclusion Act because they're all from
5:04
Hong Kong and China they were never in
5:08
America like my like my grandparents my
5:11
great-grandparents they're the ones who
5:13
suffered through the Chinese Exclusion
5:14
Act and um and I'm I'm actually a result
5:18
of loopholes of the Chinese Exclusion
5:20
Act uh that brought my mother over here
5:23
to to China to start the family and
5:25
ultimately give birth to me um
5:28
so you know I I think if you're a fan of
5:31
the detective Chinatown and you like
5:32
these characters and uh you know chal un
5:35
fat great um but outside of that I can't
5:40
really recommend the movie um it's just
5:43
goes on too long uh and I don't know
5:46
there's just something you know as I
5:48
said there's a little bit of felt a
5:51
little disingenuous it just um you know
5:55
I need more action I need more
5:57
action so yeah uh I'll give it a five
6:00
out of 10 five out of 10 right Allan you
6:02
bring honor to your family with this
