The Invincible Dragon

The Invincible Dragon (Chinese: 九龍不敗) is a 2019 Hong Kong crime action film directed and co-written by Fruit Chan, and stars Max Zhang, Anderson Silva, Kevin Cheng, Annie Liu, and Stephy Tang.

The film follows a dragon-believing police detective (Zhang) investigating a serial murderer targeting policewomen which results in the death of his fiancée (Tang), as he hopes to enlist the dragon's help along the way.

Undercover police officer Kowloon concludes his mission to arrest mafia boss Uncle when they engage in a fight at a hotel.

Years later, Chow, Kowloon's former partner, finds him and informs him of a serial murderer in Macau using similar methods to kill policewomen.

Assigned to cooperate with the Macau police, Chow recruits Kowloon for the investigation, knowing he seeks revenge for Fong's death.

Kowloon agrees and investigates one of the crime scenes, discovering a deflected bullet from a stolen Hong Kong police pistol belonging to his deceased colleague.

Upset with their unauthorized investigation, he sends them back to Hong Kong, but Chow's superior continues to press them to solve the case within an additional half-month.

Kowloon requests Chow's men to monitor Lady during her visit to Hong Kong, and they overhear a call revealing that Sinclair is behind the serial murders.

[4] The screenplay of The Invincible Dragon was first conceived seven to eight years prior to the production,[9] predating director and writer Fruit Chan's 2014 feature film The Midnight After.

[17][18] Since the building was restricted area and permission for filming was not applied,[19][20] around ten members of the cast and crew including Fruit Chan, Kevin Cheng, and Alan Wan were apprehended by the Macau police.

[35] Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter criticized The Invincible Dragon for failing to fully exploit its sillier elements and become a "so-bad-it's-good" movie, while the heavy-handed post-production tinkering was unable to improve its commercial prospects, resulting in a confounding and messy film that lacks coherence and direction.

[37] Ed Travis of Cinapse lambasted the film for failing to utilize lead actor Max Zhang's talents, featuring a dreadful script, poor performances (especially from UFC star Anderson Silva), and unconvincing CGI that clashes with the attempted gritty Hong Kong action style, resulting in an overall confusing and unsatisfying film.

[39] Kau Si-pui, writing for HK01, observed that this film strayed away from director Fruit Chan's usual strength in political metaphors and character ensemble, instead turning into a formulaic action movie lacking logic and substance, which made the overall viewing experience subpar.