The forgotten Mark Wahlberg action movie feels like a prequel to The Departed

A forgotten Mark Wahlberg cop movie from the 1990s feels like an origin story for his character in The departed. While Mark Wahlberg action movies may be ten a penny now, when he was transitioning from rapper to actor, he was more eclectic in his choices. He followed boogie nights With projects like Three kings While mixing in bigger budget fare like The perfect storm. He made his action debut in 1998 The big hitA weird mix of wacky comedy and Hong Kong-style action flick.

In the following years, the genre would yield some of ​​Wahlberg’s biggest hits, including the Transformers Sequels or 2007s Shooter. That said, arguably Wahlberg’s best performance was playing Sergeant Dignam The departed. It was very much a supporting role for the stars, with the story involving Leonardo DiCaprio’s cop Costigan going undercover in the Irish mob, while Matt Damon’s gangster is an undercover cop. Wahlberg’s aerobic, scene-stealing turn in the Martin Sorceress gangster movie would later earn him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Mark Wahlberg’s The Corruptor feels like a stealth prequel to The Departed

The 1999 thriller starred Mark Wahlberg as an undercover cop

One of Wahlberg’s earliest action vehicles was The Corruptor, Cast him as a rookie cop who teams up with Chow Yun-fat’s Detective Chen As they chase down gangs in New York’s Chinatown. The film is inspired by Hong Kong action cinema and has a distinct John Woo/heroic bloodshed flair to its setpieces. On the surface, the story is about Wahlberg’s naive detective who is slowly being corrupted by his veteran partner, who believes that the only way to get things done in Chinatown is to cooperate with the crime boss who runs it.

however, The Corruptor Big twist is that Danny is actually internal affairs, and despite his growing friendship with Chen and being seduced by his lifestyle, he eventually has to take his partner down. Wallace’s journey in The Corruptor Mirrors DiCaprio’s costume The departed In some ways. They both find themselves leading double lives and living with the constant pressure of potentially being discovered and the blurring of right and wrong that comes with maintaining their cover.

The Hong Kong influence means The Corruptor Puts more emphasis on the action, and it delivers an underrated car chase around the midway point. of course, The departed was also a remake of 2002’s Hell mattersAn acclaimed Hong Kong thriller, so they share DNA in that regard as well. The departed is a way better movie than The CorruptorWhich despite some great performances and intriguing ideas, never quite gels.

Danny Wallace of The Corruptor is very different from Dignam of The Departed

It’s hard to see Wallace morphing into his departed counterpart

Wahlberg’s dignity doesn’t get much screen time The departedAlthough the star certainly makes the most of his appearances. He is abrasive and cocky, although there is an underlying sense of loyalty and duty that contrasts him with Damon’s “rat” Sullivan; During The departed s Finally, Dignam is the only character left who can enact some degree of justice. It would be interesting to see Dignam and Wahlberg’s Corruptor character as the same guyAlthough the two are far apart in terms of personality.

Wallace too Has a strong sense of duty but is much more naive and impulsive. Dignam seemingly can’t go 30 seconds without offending someone, even if he’s on their side. Given the dark ending of The CorruptorIt’s not hard to see Wallace becoming more cynical and hardened Although. If anything, it would be interesting to see a Corruptor Sequel that began with Wallace 25 years later, to see how the bloody end of the Chen case changed him.

That’s not likely to happen, since The Corruptor failed to recoup its $25 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). The film is now largely forgotten, although it is part of Wahlberg’s evolution into a movie star. He has the presence and charisma, but the performance is not quite consistent, where he seems torn between wanting to make Wallace more three-dimensional while too Being a gun-toting badass. This, ironically, also mirrors his character’s dilemma, which exactly works in the movie’s favor.

The Corruptor is designed as a Chow Yun-Fat Star vehicle

Hollywood tested the killer star with leading roles in several big movies

Hollywood had a short-lived infatuation with Hong Kong cinema from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. This saw filmmakers like John Woo hand over major studio projects like Face / awayWhile superstars Jet Li and Jackie Chan were also given vehicles tailored to their talents. Maybe Mark Wahlberg is now the bigger name, but Chow Yun-fat is the undisputed lead of The CorruptorWhich was part of a series of films designed to break him through to American audiences.

His 1998 debut The replacement killers is essentially a stealth sequel to Woo’s The killerWhile he co-stars with Jodie Foster in the period drama Anna and the King. All three of Chow’s movies underperformedBut after he scored a shock international hit with Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonHe was given another American studio movie with 2003’s Bulletproof Monk. Chow has always been the highlight of these projects, and while they all have their merits – Bulletproof monk Apart from that – it never felt like they fully understood his star appeal.

The replacement killersFor example, was essentially an American riff on John Woo’s movies but the film makes Chow dull down his natural charm to play an almost-emotional killing machine. The Corruptor Gives him a meaty role, which is suitable since he gets Very Hammy with him. He and Wahlberg are an odd couple, but that uneasy chemistry actually enhances the relationship between Chen and Wallace. The movie caught both leads at a strange juncture in their careers, but despite their efforts, there’s a reason The Corruptor Rarely gets talked about nowadays.

Source: Box Office Mojo