All the talent surrounding this film yet it still manages to fall short of being a memorable Heroic Bloodshed flick. Return Engagement could have been up there among the ranks of great 1990's HK actioners on-par with that of John Woo or Johnnie To, however there are many scenes which are laughably bad at either an acting or technical level. First off the inclusion of white people in any Hong Kong film pre-21st century is generally a negative element, as their characters are disrespectful plus voice-overs are mismatched and over-acted. In this film the Italian mob embodies "silly" and "rude" to the extreme and the Vancouver segment should have been cut out altogether to avoid this obvious detractor. The movie wishes to be a serious action-drama about the prolonged efforts of one fallen gangster reuniting with his daughter, although there are silly moments which dissolve tension and weaken the impact of actual hard-hitting scenes later on in the movie. Next the transitions between some scenes are choppily edited, with rough cuts that leave you in haze of what's unfolding in the current scene. Wong Kar-Wai's script has some genuinely emotional moments however still is flawed with mysteries like Andy Lau's pointless character and two underdeveloped love interests. Mainly the pacing is off as there are intense shootouts followed by slow moving dialogue and filler scenes which don't progress the plot. The pros of this movie are Simon Yam's performance which is delightfully evil and the completely over-the-top shootout which happens in the final act of the film. This massive climatic gunfight alone earns this movie a 7 as it is one of the most impressive shootouts in the entirety of HK action cinema. If your interested in seeing a final shootout that rivals the work of John Woo, definitely see the movie just for the climax as it's similar to A Better Tomorrow Pt. II in terms of choreography and intense nonstop action. -6/10
