Black and White: The Dawn of Justice (痞子英雄：黎明再起) and other movie releases from Clover Films

Have you heard of Clover Films?

They are a familiar name and a key player in the Singapore movie industry. Clover Films was first established in 2009 and specialises in the distribution and production of Asian movies, with an emphasis on the Singapore and Malaysia markets. They also produce movies in collaboration with regional directors and producers.

The company has grew from strength to strength since its inception, having distributed more than 100 movies, including the record-breaking Jackie Chan blockbuster CZ12, the highest-grossing Chinese movie (excluding local movies) in the history of Singapore and other high-profile movies such as Jay Chou’s The Viral Factor, John Woo’s Reign of Assassins and The Fierce Wife: Final Episode.

Clover Films also co-produced, distributed and marketed Jack Neo’s Ah Boys To Men I & II, which set an all-time record for local movies in Singapore’s history, grossing a total of more than S$14 million at the local box office. Other quality home-grown movies produced include 23:59, The Wedding Diary I & II, Ghost Child and Filial Party.

This October, Clover Films is bringing in Taiwanese blockbuster film, Black and White: The Dawn of Justice (痞子英雄：黎明再起), starring Mark CHAO (趙又廷) and LIN Gengxin (林更新). The production costs US$15 million, featuring stunning visuals and adrenaline-pumping actions in 3D – rare among Chinese films.

Mark Zhao and the film director, Tsai Yueh-hsun (蔡岳勳) were both in Singapore last week to promote the film, gracing the gala premiere in Singapore:

Trailer:

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Synopsis:

Police officer in the Southern Precinct, WU Ying-xiong (Mark Zhao), has been revered as a hero in the Harbor City ever since he stopped the terrorists on a Boeing 777 airplane and kept the city safe. Unfortunately, the peace is only temporary…

Panic spreads the whole city as a series of bomb explosions happen within hours and this is just the beginning of a tight-knit conspiracy.

Righteous and impulsive, Wu is paired up with the intelligent but arrogant loner CHEN Zhen (Lin Gengxin) to track down the mastermind behind the bombing incidents. During the investigation, they find the clues are linked to a freeway kidnapping case. Worst of all, they find the next suicide bomber is XU Da-fu, a criminal who once helped Wu solve the airplane crisis and secretly ran away with his girlfriend Qiao-qing by faking death with Wu’s assistance.

Soon Wu and Chen will discover that the bombings are just the prelude to a massive destruction. Stolen military missiles are now aimed at the Harbor City; moreover, a deadly virus is about to breakout, which is so highly contagious that it can devour the whole world in 14 days. All the chaos is planned by the Nightwalkers—a secret assassination squad which used to serve the highest government officials.

Facing the unprecedented crisis, the two-men team of totally opposite characteristics is the only hope to reverse the situation. Nonetheless, when moral standards are turned upside down, what faith should they keep to maintain the so-called justice?

The film is reminisce of Hollywood action hero movies like the Die Hard series and kind of remind me of Independence Day (1996). Two cops versus a crazy villain bent on destroying the world with his crew of evil henchmen, the plot is straightforward and it is action packed all the way from the beginning.

The prequel to this film is a 2009 Taiwanese drama series, Black & White (痞子英雄) by the same director, which made Mark Zhao famous. I did not watch the series, but it does not affect the enjoyment of the film much. The film is now showing in Singapore cinemas. Go catch it if you like action movies. 🙂

At a sharing session last weekend, Clover Films introduced some of the Asian films which they will be bringing to Singapore audience. Watch out for these titles: