Largely derivative of Hollywood gangster classics, The Last Tycoon centers on Cheng Da Qi (Chow Yun-Fat) and his evolution from innocent young provincial to experienced gangster honcho, the titular last tycoon of Shanghai.The bulk of the action occurs circa the Japanese invasion of Mainland China in 1937, but begins when a young Da Qi (Huang Xiaoming) gets separated from Ye Zhiqiu (Joyce Feng), the girl he loves, due to a crime he didn`t commit. He ends up in Shanghai and the rest, as they say, is education… at the hands of senior hoodlums.
The Last Tycoon is a love story wrapped in a war movie, inside a gangster fable, and that is its most apparent weakness. Director Wong Jin may have meant to center the plot on Da Qi, but the film`s legion of supporting cast members bloats the film and undermines its epic quality. There`s Da Qi`s master Shouting (Sammo Hung) – aptly named due to his choleric nature – Daqi`s faithful wife Ah Bao (Monica Mok), a guy who wields butterfly knives (Gao Hu) and whose only apparent raison d`Ã