With Hong Kong History X, low-budget writer/director Kenneth Lau offers his take on the "goo wak jai" (young Triad) genre, which was popular at the time, with films like the Young and Dangerous series dominating the local box office. Lau tries to make his effort more gritty and realistic, much the same way Ringo Lam did with the On Fire movies during the heyday of the "heroic bloodshed" pictures of the 1980's. But Kenneth Lau is really no Ringo Lam, and we're just left with your standard Hong Kong gangster drama, which, as you might guess, has really nothing to do with the Edward Norton movie American History X.

In the film, To Tai-Wai plays Bee, a young man living under the shadow of his brother Fifteen (Anthony Wong), a popular and powerful local Triad. After Fifteen is sent to prison, Bee decides to join up with Fire (Wayne Lai), to help support his ailing mother (Helena Law Lan) and impress Fifteen's girlfriend, Sandy (Yoyo Mung). Bee quickly becomes one of the biggest Triads in the area, which becomes a real problem after Fifteen is released from prison and Fire wants him permanently taken out of the picture.

Hong Kong History X's plot isn't anything special, so Kenneth Lau tries to differentiate the movie from the dozens of similar ones that came out around the same time by going for a down and dirty feel. It initially works a bit, but things start going downhill quickly when it becomes apparent that To Tai-Wai simply cannot carry the movie. Perhaps sensing this, Lau starts throwing seemingly every Triad movie cliche into the mix in order to prop up To's listless performance. By the time a Cantopop ballad plays over a slow-motion montage, I was just about ready to check out of the movie completely.

Veering towards the realm of cinematic ineptitude, Hong Kong History X is saved from becoming total dreck via the work of the veteran actors. In particular, Wayne Lai is quite good as the smarmy cigarette-chomping hothead Fire. And even though, as per usual for this genre, the female actors don't have much to work with, at least they provide some nice eye candy. Though it is certainly flawed, and ultimately doesn't bring anything new to the table, if you're a fan of Triad dramas and have already gone through the more well-known entries, Hong Kong History X can make for some decent viewing if you're not too picky.

RATING: 5