Review: Dog Bite Dog
Penguin January 2nd, 2008
Rating: 2/4 stars
Dog Bites Dog is a HK movie about an assassin who falls in love. Pang (Edison Chen) is shipped to Hong Kong to assassinate a judge’s wife. Some detectives examine the scene and track Pang down. They manage to catch him, but he escapes and the cops pursue him.
This movie’s got a lot of style. And if you’ve seen the garbage of a movie Unleashed, where Jet Li is raised as a dog, you’ll undoubtedly see the similarities. Dog Bite Dog goes even further by actually inserting dogs barking and growling during some of the fights, specifically between Pang and the cop.
For the most part, the movie’s fine. The pacing is good and you end up really caring for Pang. But just when you think it’s over, they tack on another 25 minutes or so. This last bit is terrible and really pulls down the movie. Another case of greatness turned into garbage, a la, AI.
There’s some really strong themes in this, like identity and safety, but it gets lost in the final act. You’ll be tempted to watch more after Pang gets on the boat, but don’t, it’s not worth it.
- Penguin
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