“The Pig, The Snake and the Pigeon” is a much welcome return to HK-style action films, in the fashion set by Cheang Pou-soi in “Limbo” and Wong Ching-po in “Revenge: A Love Story”, although in less brutal fashion.

The rather oddly titled The Pig, The Snake and the Pigeon, is advertised as a black crime comedy but its more than a little hard, to swallow that label. This is essentially an extremely violent revenge crime thriller. Revenge, in this context, finds its motivation, in the perverse pursuit of notoriety, by a main character, who wants to become the first (as opposed to the third), most wanted fugitive, in Taiwan. Counter balancing this gruesome gangster tale is a "be careful what you wish for" lesson. A lesson that underlines the ultimate harm and futility of crime. In so doing, this tale reasserts the role of the Taiwanese state, as the gatekeeper of peace, order and civility. Well acted and directed, this film is inherently watchable but it is also at times, disturbingly violent. Its political message is hard to ignore, not to mention, difficult to accept, at face value, given the states uncivilised solution to serious crime, is the murder of the murderer. In summary, quality acting, decent pacing, an intriguingly original back story off set by violence that I personally felt, could have been toned down. The blatant political message embedded in this tale, feels more than a little hypocritical, too. Murder is still murder, no matter who carries it out.

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