CHASING THE DRAGON (2017) — Power is earned. But empire is stolen.

When power answers only to greed, empires are doomed to fall.

Chasing the Dragon (2017) is a gritty, high-octane crime epic that plunges deep into the blood-soaked underworld of 1960s and ’70s Hong Kong—a city torn between British colonial rule, rampant corruption, and the lawless rise of the drug trade. Based loosely on the true story of infamous gangster Ng Sek-ho, the film offers a gripping portrait of ambition, survival, and betrayal at the sharpest edge of power.

Donnie Yen delivers one of his most transformative performances as “Crippled Ho,” an illegal immigrant from mainland China who arrives in British-occupied Hong Kong with nothing but grit—and a hunger for something more. Thrust into a brutal world of turf wars, bribery, and shifting alliances, Ho rises through the ranks not just with violence, but with vision. He doesn’t want to be a thug. He wants to rule.

Opposite him is Andy Lau, reprising his Lee Rock persona—the slippery, power-hungry police officer who becomes both Ho’s greatest ally and eventual adversary. Together, they build an empire: Ho supplies the drugs, Lee ensures the police look the other way. But as the stakes rise and the body count climbs, their partnership begins to unravel under the weight of politics, pride, and the illusion of loyalty.

Director Wong Jing crafts the film with slick, noir-infused intensity, blending brutal action sequences with smoky period detail and moral ambiguity. This isn’t the stylized glamour of classic triad films—it’s raw, dirty, and devastating. The city is alive with neon and rot. Every handshake could be your last. Every smile, a blade in waiting.

Chasing the Dragon isn’t just a crime saga—it’s a cautionary tale about the price of kingship in a world where the throne is built on bodies and betrayal.