With a title like The Conmen in Vegas it’s pretty assured that this movie will have some casino moments at the least. This movie was released in 1999 in Hong Kong and only in Cantonese, and was produced, directed and written by Wong Jing.
It is a direct sequel to The Conman, another Hong Kong production, and incorporates the same characters and actors. An interesting aspect to note is that a portion of this film was shot in Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. This is interesting because a fair few films have done this in the past, utilising large casinos to add some reality to a casino related scenes. Admittedly this most interesting to those who have visited said casino, for otherwise it’s more of just a fun fact.
The Conmen in Vegas Cast and Plot
Every movie is made up of characters and those characters require just portrayal through the screen. Along the same token those actors doing the portrayal well deserved recognition. This movie features some rather well known actors in Hong Kong. The lead roles are played by Andy Lau, Natalis Chan and Nick Cheung who adopt the characters King, Luk Chard and Dragon respectively. Andy Lau in particular has received huge support and acknowledgement throughout his acting career in Hong Kong.
As far as story line goes, The Conmen in Vegas does quite directly follow on from its prequel, The Conman, so those unfamiliar with the latter and keen to watch this one should probably first sit through that one. The storyline with this movie still follows King and Dragon, who have become conmen and aim to swindle a profitable casino owner. With the help of Luk Chard, Dragon’s cousin, they try and steal from the owner, Big Eyed Man. Unfortunately things don’t go all too well and Big Eyed Man kidnaps Dragon, demanding 30 million in return.
This forces King and Luk Chard to try and raise that money, and end up working with the Senior Chimes front, to capture a dangerous fugitive in Las Vegas and bring home back to China. This man’s name is Peter Chu and he is protected through the legal channels so these conmen were called in. In return for their service they’re promised 120 million, enough to pay the ransom on Dragon 4 times over. These expert gamblers then go across to Vegas, to where Peter Chu lives, and bring him back to China after a rather elaborate trap. They are rewarded and as a result able to free their friend Dragon.
Casinos and Casino Gaming in Film
The Conmen in Vegas used the casinos well in the film, exploiting the inherent excitement with the industry to amplify the action in some of the scenes. As has been mentioned before, this is tried and tested method of integrating casinos into a movie and definitely adds some realism to the moment. This industry seems to be quite an effective way to inject a little extra into the filming industry and to add a bit of pizzazz.