Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Calcada Da Igreja São Lazaro, Macau

Before the final shoot out, Ye identifies the gang boss in the square. Hallyday is waiting for her with her kids in a van supposedly parked just around the corner. In fact the van is parked along Calcada Da Igreja São Lazaro - a good 10/15 minute walk away. I guess this is the last Vengeance post until I can figure out some of he more difficult to identify places.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Rua Sul do Mercado de São Domingos, Macau

The finale of the film includes some formerly covered scenes along Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro before moving over into the small parallel lane that goes by the name of Rua Sul do Mercado de São Domingos. The building with the balconies in the background of the first grab is the Hotel Central, a local landmark still going strong in central Macau (although in dire need of some renovation both inside and out judging from some of the hotel reviews left online). 

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Largo da Sé, Macau

Back to Macau proper now for the build up to the finale. With his mates dead, Hallyday is helped by Michelle Ye to identify the triad boss so he can shoot him. The triad boss (Simon Yam) is having lunch in Largo da Sé, a rather pretty little square just off the main drag in Macau, surrounded by his bodyguards.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Macau Bus Stop C664 - Estrada de Cheoc Van, Coloane

Although I enjoyed this film, my familiarity with many of the locations made it hard for me to determine if the action was supposed to be taking part in Hong Kong or Macau - confusing because many of the supposedly Macau-set scenes were filmed in HK.

The only reason I know the last post is supposed to be set in Macau is because it ends with Anthony Wong and Co catching a bus to their final showdown from a bus stop in Cheoc Van on Coloane Island in Macau. In the grab below, Wong is supposedly looking back at the beach where he has left Hallyday in the care of Wong's girlfriend (played by Michelle Ye).

Anyway, for the exact location of this bus stop you can click on the location link at the bottom of the post.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - To Tau Village, Wu Kai Sha

After escaping the hit squad the team head back to what is supposed to be Macau but is actually the beach at To Tau village in Wu Kai Sha. John Woo fans will recognise the location as the very same one used in The Killer all those years ago.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mongkok

When the team's hideout is discovered and the triad squad attack them, Hallyday gets lost in the confusion and wanders around trying to remember what he is doing and who he was with. The location is Sai Yeung Choi Street South just outside the Hollywood Shopping Centre.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Tung Choi Street, Mongkok

Convalescing from their gun battle with the gang that killed Hallyday's family, the team hole up in a flat that appears to be somewhere along Tung Choi Street. Well, at least it is an image of that place used as an establishing shot when Hallyday takes a peek out of the apartment window. In reality it looks as though the shot was achieved by putting a camera on the walkway that runs above Mongkok Road.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Bride's Pool Road, Tai Po

From Sai Kung, our heroic assassins (for want of a better word) follow the hitmen to a BBQ site. On the way they drive along Bride's Pool Road (the road that links Tai Mei Tuk in Tai Po to Luk Keng by Starling Inlet). This road is a favourite for cyclists, car drivers and bikers (I've been down there several times myself on my trusty old Kawasaki Ninja). The exact spot we see in the top screen grab is not far past the Chung Pui campsite heading towards Luk Keng direction.

The second grab actually shows us heading back the other way (towards Tai Mei Tuk) just past the aforementioned campsite.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Sai Kung Town, Sai Kung

Once in HK, the team go looking for a man with an injured ear (Hallyday's daughter managed to shoot his ear off during the initial gun battle) and find a fisherman at the Sai Kung waterfront with a bandage over his left ear. They sit and wait for him and his buddy to finish work and head home.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

The team enter into Hong Kong illegally on a fishing boat as they start to track down the hit men responsible for the murders.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Former Kai Tak Airfield, Kowloon

One of the more surprising locations I've found in this film is a section of the old Kai Tak site that was the scrap yard where Anthony Wong's cousin kept all his guns and ammo. It's where they take Hallyday to give him a gun and some target practice only to find out he is a fairly good shot. It's also the same location where the three heroic hit men have their last stand against Simon Yam's triad henchmen as they shoot at each other whilst hiding behind big square stacks of paper. You can see the old runway in the centre left background of the two lower images.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Penha Hill, Macau

Hallyday's daughter and her family supposedly live in a big house on Penha Hill in Macau - we are given a rather nice establishing shot to set up this little detail. However, I can't find the house yet and it may take some time (because I think it was more likely filmed in HK) but until I can track it down, here is that nice shot with Penha Church sitting at the top of the hill.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Tap Seac Square, Macau

Hallyday follows the hit man (played by Gordon Lam) all the way from Western Street in HK to Tap Seac Square in Macau, quite an impressive feat I think you'll agree. The large columned building in the background is the Cultural Institute and the curved wall on the right belongs to the Central Library.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Western District Community Centre, Sai Ying Pun

After the hit, one of the assassins is put into a line up for Hallyday to identify, but he has other ideas and the man goes free. Hallyday intends to make him an offer and waits outside the police station for him to leave so he can follow. Although still supposedly in Macau, the "police station" is one we have seen before on the blog and, coincidentally, it was used as a police station then as well. Here's the reminder. The first screengrab is the view up Western Street. The second grab is at the end of the building along Third Street where Hallyday is waiting. Interestingly, it looks like the film makers tried to keep the illusion of it being in Macau by putting a fake Macau-style street sign on the wall. 

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Royal View Hotel, Ting Kau

The scene when the hitmen (led by Anthony Wong Chau-sang) follow their target to a hotel: the Royal View Hotel in Ting Kau. Of course in the film this is still supposed to be Macau. I'd never heard of this place until today and had no idea there was even a hotel there! It's located on the mainland side of the Ting Kau bridge that connects Tsing Yi with Tsuen Wan side.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, Macau

The next scene shows Johnny crossing Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro - the main drag in Macau lined by columned shophouse buildings. Actually, it pops up a couple of times in the film both here and during the finale as he pursues his enemies during the final stages of the shootout. The first pictures are from earlier in the film and show us looking west down the road towards the inner harbour area.

The second visit to the road is at the end of the film and Johnny is hit by a car as he chases the bad guys. The spot s actually just a few metres behind the one above (so probably filmed at the same time). The patterned columns in the background belong to the old landmark, the Hotel Central.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Rua de Cantão, Macau

As Hallyday stumbles about trying to find leads in his family's murder case, we see him outside the Hotel Fortuna along Rua de Cantão. He then crosses the road and heads down the nameless shopping lane opposite the hotel.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Island Tang Restaurant, Central

I don't usually do interiors because more often than not they turn out to be studio sets, however, I think the budget for this film didn't extend to expensive sets and instead real locations have been used including this rather swish looking restaurant - supposedly in Macau - where we are first introduced to Simon Yam's rather unhinged Triad boss character.

Courtesy of the acknowledgments at the end of the movie credits, we know that this place is in fact Island Tang restaurant that sits inside The Galleria at #9 Queen's Road Central. I've walked past this building on countless occasions but never ventured in - not really my type of place - but stopped a few times to watch the little hourly chime outside the front entrance. Anyway, if you want to visit this place properly, you can always go along and eat there. Here's the website.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Casino Lisboa, Macau

The eagle-eyed will have spotted a quick glimpse of the Lisboa casinos (both of them) in the last post, and soon the scene moves to a night time shot of the same area. Although the old Lisboa has a sort of appealing retro tack, the Grand Lisboa (in my opinion) is a massive blot on the Macau landscape. I just hate that thing.

Vengeance - Johnny Hallyday (2009) - Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho, Macau

The next film is Vengeance - a joint French/HK production directed by famed HK director, Johnnie To. It stars the French superstar, Johnny Hallyday (who just recently passed away in December 2017), as a former hitman who has come to Macau to exact revenge on the people that assassinated his daughter's family. It's a bit slow in places and slightly preposterous in others but overall a good story with lots of locations in both HK and Macau. It opens with a shot of a taxi driving over the Governador Nobre de Carvalho bridge towards the peninsula.