[KFCC] Once Upon a Time in Triad Society Review

Story: Kwan is a powerful member of the HK Triad, he has a reputation for being ruthless. One day the police came to his home because someone complained of gunshots in the area. While the police were questioning him someone shoots him from a hidden location. While he is in the hospital and unconscious his life flashes before him and we find out how he became a cruel and hated man.

Review: This is a low down and dirty Triad movie, you'll find no nice guys in this movie. This movie had some success and has many elements in common with the successful Young and Dangerous series. The main character in Triad Society is the villain in YnD. Also you have a duel story, the same story shown twice but each time from a different perspective. The story is basic and easy to understand.

The entire story revolves around a single main character played by Francis Ng. This character is one of those bad guys that get away with everything. Francis Ng is really good in his performance because you just cant stop hating him. There is an interesting development when he explains his past but its not really a serious character developments. The rest of the characters are pretty much in the shadows and the spotlight is on main character. We found the acting of the other characters cheesy at times but we were wondering if this movie was not meant to be some sort of parody. There were many dramatic scenes but the over acting of emotions made it seem fake and sometimes cheesy.

For a triad movie there was a little less action than we hoped to see. The fights were very ordinary and there wasn't anything impressive actionwise. We guess that it is the telling of the story that is the entertainment factor in this movie. Not to mention the cruel acts done by the main character that makes you wanna throw a shoe at the TV, that actor is really convincing.

The subtitles are very poor quality, there is a lot of white on white. We had some trouble understanding the dialog. We are sad to say that we were disappointed with this moving, being fans of the Young and Dangerous series this movie is a sort of an alternate universe. I say alternate universe because a couple of characters are shared in both films, but in Triad society this character end up in situations that don't mix with the YnD storyline. It is still an interesting movie but it really did not impress us. For anyone who is a fan of YnD or Triad movies they might find this one interesting, as for others we suggest to pass this movie by.