5 Things To Love About School On Fire

Here's five reasons why you should love Ringo Lam's violent crime drama School On Fire

Number Five: Blood on the Streets

Ringo Lam isn't an action film director. He tends to do films which feature gritty, nasty and bloody violence and it doesn't get any grittier or nastier then in this film. It's fast, it's brutal and it shocks you.

Number Four: Lives Up To The Title

Ringo seems to love putting his characters through the ringer and no one else gets screwed over quite like the central character Chu Yuen-Fong played by Fennie Yuen. The tragedies in which her character is forced to endure come to a head when, in a moment of rage and frustration, sets fire to her school Library.

Number Three: Beautiful Tragedy

A good solid drama needs a good solid leading actor or actress and Ringo achieves this with Fennie Yuen. She gives an absolutely incredible performance that anchors the film's emotionally turbulent narrative.

Number Two: Blood on the Chalkboard 

The film's final act sees the central characters head into a collision course which culminates into a bloody confrontation resulting in a finale that brings everything to a satisfying conclusion.

Number One: So Good At Being Bad

One of my favourite Hong Kong actors, Roy Cheung, delivers one of his best acting performances as Brother Smart who revels in bringing nothing but torment upon Yuen-Fong. His character is so morally reprehensible that you can't wait to see him get what he deserves.

That's it for today. I thought I would do School On Fire as I've now decided the blog will not only concentrate on martial arts action but films from other genres such as gangland drama, comedy, thriller and even horror. This is an attempt by me to broaden my horizons as well as the appeal of the blog. Hope you enjoyed it. Check back tomorrow for my next Jetruary review.