Synopsis
A true immigrant story set against the vibrant backdrop of Flushing, N.Y. in the 1980s and 1990s.
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Cast
- Justin ChonSonny
- Ray LiottaMichael Bloom
- Kevin WuSteven
- Harry Shum Jr.Paul Wong
- Jin Au-YeungDetective Tang
- Shuya ChangTina
- Carl LiChicken Wing
- Leonard WuChen I Chung
- Eugenia YuanSnakehead Mama
- Celia AuBobo
- 58
The A.V. Club
Most of the pleasure in Green Dragons comes simply from the opportunity to watch some underused actors dig into meatier parts than they’re usually offered. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Fredric Dannen's reportage, which appeared in a 1992 issue of the New Yorker and serves as the film's basis, contains lurid details that leap off the page in a cinematic way. The "Dragons" script by Michael Di Jiacomo and co-director Andrew Loo preserves many, but few register on-screen. - 50
The New York Times
What initially feels like brash energy peters out until what’s left mainly evokes pretty ordinary gangster movies. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
In the end the taste of H.K. filmmaking dominates in the film's deliberately chaotic visual style, a circular narrative that heads nowhere, and lyrical song interludes that abruptly interrupt the non-stop action and camera movement. - 40
Village Voice
Green Dragons wants to be spaghetti with marinara, but it's closer to egg noodles and ketchup. - 40
The Dissolve
In Lau and Loo’s telling, the off-the-boat indoctrination of young, undocumented Chinese families into vicious gangsterism is overstated and cartoonish, like The Warriors trying to pass itself off as a docudrama. - 38
Slant Magazine
Like Better Luck Tomorrow, it tries to cut cool-movie poses under the pretense of providing an alternative racial viewpoint to typical genre tropes. - 30
Variety
This crudely made thriller plays like a stilted Cantonese riff on organized-crime cliches, substituting blood and brutality for novelty or insight.