By Jamie Kennett
We all secretly agree that crime dramas make the best stories, so here’s my third choice with Sleeping Dogs.
The game is an undercover police drama uniquely infused with martial arts-based action. Set in modern-day Hong Kong, it tells the story of unorthodox detective Wei Shen as he attempts to infiltrate the notorious Sun On Yee triad (an organisation heavily based on the real-life Sun Yee On). Wei Shen is the classic anti-hero; he grew up amongst the very people who are now part of the organisation he’s investigating. He moved to San Francisco in his youth, and later joined the SFPD as an undercover police officer, infiltrating triad gangs on the West Coast. From there he transferred to Hong Kong, the centre of all the world’s triad activity, to investigate the organisations rife in the city.
We all secretly agree that crime dramas make the best stories, so here’s my third choice with Sleeping Dogs.
The game is an undercover police drama uniquely infused with martial arts-based action. Set in modern-day Hong Kong, it tells the story of unorthodox detective Wei Shen as he attempts to infiltrate the notorious Sun On Yee triad (an organisation heavily based on the real-life Sun Yee On). Wei Shen is the classic anti-hero; he grew up amongst the very people who are now part of the organisation he’s investigating. He moved to San Francisco in his youth, and later joined the SFPD as an undercover police officer, infiltrating triad gangs on the West Coast. From there he transferred to Hong Kong, the centre of all the world’s triad activity, to investigate the organisations rife in the city.
In the course of his investigations, he is forced to battle with three foes; the triads, who suspect his true identity; the police, who suspect he has involved himself too much and turned cloak to the other side; and his own mind. Wei’s past experiences in other triad gangs mixed with the very real fact he is trying to expose the lives of people he has known since birth mean he is in a constant fight with himself as he tries to recognise where his true allegiance lies. Is he a triad, or a cop? Nobody knows…
There is great potential for a film here. The story is superb, and whilst I’m not particularly keen on the game itself in parts, it would have my backing as a movie. The very thought of a contemporary martial-arts police thriller is exciting, and there is plenty of room for some no-holds-barred action as well as some truly great drama.
There is great potential for a film here. The story is superb, and whilst I’m not particularly keen on the game itself in parts, it would have my backing as a movie. The very thought of a contemporary martial-arts police thriller is exciting, and there is plenty of room for some no-holds-barred action as well as some truly great drama.
Personally, I’m a great fan of films that keep me guessing throughout. The character of Wei Shen would allow for just that. The audience would spend a great portion of the film doing their best to understand who he really is, not finding out until the end whether they were right or wrong. It’d be a lot like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, only not as mind-numbingly boring or brown.
On an interesting side-note, one of the pre-release trailers for Sleeping Dogs was actually shot as a live-action film. It depicts Wei battling his way through a restaurant with a Pulp Fiction-esque briefcase, utilising a blend of expertly executed martial arts and good old-fashioned gun power. Whilst there’s not a great deal of actual story to the trailer, we catch some glimpses of some major characters from the game and more important than anything else, we get a taste of what the game could look like if someone with enough gumption turned it into the film it’s deserved of.
On an interesting side-note, one of the pre-release trailers for Sleeping Dogs was actually shot as a live-action film. It depicts Wei battling his way through a restaurant with a Pulp Fiction-esque briefcase, utilising a blend of expertly executed martial arts and good old-fashioned gun power. Whilst there’s not a great deal of actual story to the trailer, we catch some glimpses of some major characters from the game and more important than anything else, we get a taste of what the game could look like if someone with enough gumption turned it into the film it’s deserved of.
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