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First Shot
Movie

First Shot

1993 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

During a period of widespread police corruption, Ti Lung is a stubborn cop who takes on both the mob and the political establishment.

Overall Series Review

First Shot is a 1993 Hong Kong action-crime drama based on the real-life establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1974. The narrative focuses on the righteous police sergeant Wong Yat-chung (Ti Lung) and his small team's fight against systemic graft and organized crime in colonial Hong Kong. The story operates entirely on a universal meritocracy, where character is defined by a commitment to justice and moral fortitude against a purely evil, corrupt system. There is no political lecturing or modern intersectional lens applied to the conflict. The female lead is a professional solicitor and competent ally, not a 'Girl Boss' figure, in a predominantly male-driven action plot. The film's single brief inclusion of a gay bar scene is for an undercover sequence and light comedic effect, not political messaging or gender ideology. The core themes revolve around objective morality, loyalty, and the pursuit of institutional justice.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The film operates on Universal Meritocracy, where the conflict is explicitly defined as good, principled men fighting a corrupt system and mob. All characters, heroes and villains alike, are judged by their actions and integrity, not race or immutable characteristics. The casting reflects the historical setting of 1970s Hong Kong.

Oikophobia2/10

The film criticizes the endemic police corruption in the British colonial administration of Hong Kong, which ultimately leads to the establishment of the ICAC. The critique is aimed at systemic *corruption* and the breakdown of law and order, framing core institutions like law and justice as worthy of protection and reform, which aligns with Western classical liberal values, not civilizational self-hatred.

Feminism2/10

The main female character, a solicitor, is a competent professional who serves as a key logistical ally for the male hero's anti-corruption team, but the narrative focus and action sequences are heavily centered on the male characters. The lead hero's brief interaction with his family frames traditional masculinity as protective, which avoids the 'Girl Boss' or emasculation tropes.

LGBTQ+3/10

The film has a very minor, isolated scene in a gay bar used as a location for the heroes to go undercover to gather intelligence. The scene is noted by contemporary reviewers for being brief and potentially used for light, incidental comic relief, but it does not center alternative sexualities, deconstruct the nuclear family, or contain any political or gender ideology lecturing.

Anti-Theism1/10

The core of the movie is a clear moral struggle between justice/honesty (the hero) and crime/corruption (the villains), implicitly acknowledging an objective moral law. Religion or anti-theistic themes are not present in the narrative.