Imprisoned: Survival Guide for Rich and Prodigal (2015) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version) Blu-ray Region A

Wong plays Nelson Yu, a typical spoiled playboy son of super-rich parents, who spends all his time hanging around in fancy clubs and chasing women. His lavish life is turned upside down when he accidentally hits a pedestrian while drunk driving, and ends up convicted and sentenced to 18 months in Stanley Prison, despite the protestations of his mother (Candice Yu). Having to adapt quickly to prison life, he learns the tricks and techniques of survival, and manages to carve out a semi-peaceful existence for himself, thanks partly to the help of his newfound friend Roach (Babyjohn Choi, SPL 2: A Time for Consequences). Sadly this doesn't last long, and the arrival of a new prisoner called Jack (Justin Cheung) starts stirring things up, the angry lad determined to settle a past score with Nelson.

Although Hong Kong cinema has produced a fair few prison films over the years, most notably Ringo Lam's 1987 Chow Yun-fat-starring classic Prison on Fire and its sequel, there haven't been any for a while, and so Imprisoned: Survival Guide for Rich and Prodigal comes as a bit of a welcome throwback. Sticking pretty close to Lam's formula (the film even features Prison on Fire alumni Tommy Wong and William Ho), though there's nothing new to its tale of a spoiled cad learning hard lessons, it's told well enough and does hold the interest – perhaps more than expected, given that the script was co-written by Mark Wu of Lan Kwai Fong fame. The prison clichés are rolled out with a decent sense of pacing and fun, and there's a pleasing attention to detail when it comes to depicting the jailhouse economy and the many rules of its claustrophobic, macho society. After an interesting first half following Nelson's acclimatisation, the film gets more tense and dramatic with the appearance of Jack, and while the end result is never in any doubt, Christopher Sun successfully works in a few twists and a decent amount of action and threat, making the film feel more economic than its two hour running time might suggest.

The film's main problem, and one which might make it a bit of a turn-off for some viewers, is the fact that Nelson is an extremely unlikeable protagonist, being an arrogant, smug heel, breast-obsessed and given to treating women badly. It's hard to imagine many feeling sympathy for his plight, not least due to his hypocritical yearnings for his girlfriend May (Jessy Li, Undercover Duet), despite his many affairs and mistresses – the film's attitude towards women in general is best described as shabby. If anything, most viewers are likely to want Nelson to be subjected to far more gruelling ordeals than he is, and with Gregory Wong being a bit of a blank, there's no real emotional involvement in the plot or payoff at the end, the film's stab at a redemptive character arc never convincing.

Thankfully the supporting cast go some way to making up for this, Justin Cheung doing well in the antagonist role and turning in an amusingly over the top performance that makes him very enjoyable to watch. The many appearances from HK industry veterans also help, and it's hard not to get a kick out of seeing the likes of Lam Suet, Elvis Tsui, Wan Yeung Min, Phillip Keung and others together on screen again. Far more believable than their younger cellmates, their presence adds a definite grittiness to the film, helping to distract from their brashness and pseudo-swagger.

Though not exactly a great film, Imprisoned: Survival Guide for Rich and Prodigal is nevertheless an entertaining and perfectly acceptable genre film, boosted by the fact that there hasn't been another of its type for some time. Christopher Sun does a creditable job in the director's chair, and fans of Hong Kong schlock won't be disappointed.

by James Mudge - EasternKicks.com