'Revenge of the Green Dragons': Chinese mob from the inside

Bloody, brutal, and melodramatic, Revenge of the Green Dragons is a straight-up gang war thriller whose release is "presented" by Martin Scorsese. The master of Italian American mob movies saw much to like, and much that is familiar in this story of the rise of Chinese gangs in 1980s Flushing, New York.

"Inspired by a true story" (stay through the credits), Revenge follows a child smuggled into America in the early '80s, enslaved washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant, and eventually caught and coerced into joining one of the Asian gangs fighting to control Queens.

Unlike past depictions of this violent underworld of guns, knives, and mah-jongg parlors, codirectors Andrew Lau and Andrew Loo tell it from an insider's point of view. The cops and FBI agents are too racist to care much about the flood of Chinese illegals and the drugs and violence brought in by the gangs. This is Chinese-on-Chinese violence, gruesome eye-for-an-eye stuff.

Sonny avoids the gangs for a while. But when his "brother" Steven, the kid being raised in the same Chinese restaurant slave ring where he works, is kidnapped and tortured into joining, Sonny comes along.

By 1989, Sonny (Justin Chon) and Steven (Kevin Wu) are the Chinese equivalent of "made men," mobsters in good standing with the clean-cut leader of the Green Dragons, Paul (Harry Shum Jr.). The Tiananmen Square protests on TV mean nothing to them. Their simmering war with the White Tigers gang does.

Sonny falls for the willowy daughter (Shuya Chang) of a Hong Kong singer smuggled over by the Green Dragons. But whatever soul Sonny has long ago vanished from Steven, who has become a cold-eyed killer.

Scorsese must have appreciated the mob-movie cliches that make up Revenge. Colorful early scenes capture the terror of children hunted by gangsters, the beatings the kids endure before they're initiated. Later scenes descend into trite, gory, and predictable conventions - betrayal, the deaths of those close to the hero, laughably arch speeches about this war.

"There's a storm coming, Detective. And I don't know any umbrella that's gonna keep this city dry!"

This would work better if you thought the writers and directors were in on the joke.

Directed by Andrew Lau and Andrew Loo. With Justin Chon, Kevin Wu, Ray Liotta, Shuya Chang, Harry Shum Jr. Distributed by A24 Films.

Running time: 1 hour, 34 mins.

Parent's guide: R (strong violence including sexual assault, some drug use).

Playing at: PFS Theater at the Roxy.

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