Similar to the organized crime syndicates like Triad and Yakuza, which operate in their neighboring countries, Taiwan’s Gatao functions by following some cardinal precepts—adherence to a strict hierarchy maintained by status quo, loyalty, and a distinct code—all of which helps the miscreants live in the delusion that they are not as degraded as the world thinks them to be. Director Joe Lee’s Gatao (2015) explored the inner workings of the Taiwanese underworld through an action-packed, violent spectacle of gang rivalry, friendship, family ties, and betrayal. While the movie didn’t break new ground when it comes to Asian action crime thrillers, it had a certain intensity of its own, which was recognized by the audience as well, resulting in the creation of the Gatao franchise, which includes two prequels and a sequel entry of the original movie. The first prequel, Gatao: The Last Stray, focused on Qing, a member of the Beiguan gang, and the recently released prequel, Gatao: Like Father Like Son, revolves around the life of Michael, son of Daiquotou gang leader, Master Ko Sang, chronicling the events before he assumed the position of his father. It should be mentioned that without being acquainted with the events and characters of Gatao (2015), it will be tough to make sense of the narrative.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Meng approach Michael?
Set several years before the first movie, Gatao: Like Father Like Son, begins with Meng, an ex-con, getting freed from prison and reuniting with his bosom friends, Bao and Ching, and his brother, Pan. As Meng returns to his brother’s place, where his deadbeat friends live as well, he feels a sense of guilt for being a burden on Pan and his pregnant wife. 7 Meng isn’t on the best terms with his younger brother, but he is extremely protective of him, and he sacrificed his academics and youth to support Pan’s education in the absence of their parents. At present, Meng plans on financially helping his brother, but being an ex-con, finding a job is especially tough for him. Bao and Ching decide to help their friend in their own way; the duo brings the packet of drugs they had stashed away. They decide to approach the so-called drug prince of the city, Michael from the Daiquotou gang, who has recently returned from the States and, using his men, has started selling drugs around the neighborhood—much to the dismay of his father and other gang leaders.
Michael is revealed to share an estranged relationship with his father, unlike his old school approach of respecting the ‘order’ of the jungle, maintaining peace with other leaders, and holding back from taking risks. Michael believes in using most of the opportunities they get and strengthening their gang even if it doesn’t sit well with other leaders. Also, in this prequel, Michael isn’t the composed, calculative gang leader whom viewers saw in Gatao. Having arrived recently from the States after a long while, Michael has been influenced by the crime scene back there and acts much more impulsively and hot-headedly more often. On one occasion, tricking his friend, Qing Feng, who is presently an underboss of the Dingzhuang gang, Michael instructs his subordinate Scorpion to launch an attack on Beicheng leader Master Hada to get back at him for insulting Michael’s mother. The situation is somehow handled by group underbosses. Especially due to the interference of Ren and Master Kuei of the Beiguan gang. The leaders respect Master Ko enough to shrug off the implications of this incident and spare his son Michael, but at the same time warn Master Ko that things will be different if Michael continues such antics.
Meng and his friends approach Michael to sell their drugs, but Michael decides to test them before doing any kind of deal with the trio. They are sent to rob Hada’s casino, and Meng manages to orchestrate the daring heist in the presence of Hada’s son Chun and Beiguan underboss Ren.
Why Did Master Hee Incriminate Michael?
Master Hee, an influential gang leader, comes into the picture, who appears to share a strong bond with Michael, as he had helped Master Ko to have Michael brought up in the States, away from the violent life in his homeland. Although that didn’t amount to much, given that after returning to Taiwan, Michael gravitated to family business anyway. In one of the meetings with other gang leaders, Master Hee proposes an urban redevelopment project that will seemingly be profitable for all of them but will need to realign their territories. Fearing public unrest, Master Kuei and Master Ko disapprove of this proposal for the time being.
On the other hand, Meng proves his mettle to Michael by bringing the robbed loot, and Michael insults his underling, Scorpion, by showing Meng and his friends’ bravery and wit as an example to be followed by him. Scorpion turns out to be a big-time scoundrel who follows Michael’s order to hand Meng over his due money, only to steal it from them moments later and inform Ren’s gang about the casino heist. Ren threatens the friend trio with their lives until one of them ends up revealing that the heist was done on Michael’s orders. Word gets out, rival gangs begin threatening local businesses under Daiquotou protection, and Master Ko once again gets confronted by rival gang leaders who threaten him with consequences for Michael’s actions.
Meanwhile, Meng and co. decide to pay a visit to Michael’s club and get involved in a brawl with Scorpion and his thugs. Things escalate in a worse direction when Scorpion sends his men to attack Pan and his pregnant wife as well, prompting Meng to seek help from Ren to protect his family. However, Ren respectfully declines to aid Meng’s vengeful desire, and Meng decides to make peace with Scorpion to keep his family from harm’s way. However, Scorpion can’t help but taunt Meng about his brother, prompting him to attack Scorpion in the heat of the moment and end up stabbed to death.
Bao, Ching, and Pan approach Ren in their desperate state and share their wish to get recruited to his gang to seek justice for Meng. Ren, taking pity on Meng, whom he couldn’t protect while adhering to his principles, agrees to take them in. Meanwhile, Scorpion’s actions ignite the feud between rival gangs as Chun decides to attack Michael for setting up the casino heist. A gang war seems inevitable as an enraged Michael reveals the recent developments to Master Hee, who secretly sends his men to have Hada’s tendon severed when the showdown finally begins.
During the conflict between Michael and Chun’s men, Beiguan and Dingzhuang get involved as well, with Ren beating Michael within an inch of his life but ends up sparing him when their common friend, Feng, stops him from taking drastic measures. However, Hada’s predicament is considered to be Michael’s undoing, and the rival leaders confront him and Master Ko, with the intention to eliminate Michael from the equation. Master Hee, the conniving crook, knowingly sowed the seed of discord by incriminating Michael for assaulting Hada so that Master Ko and Daiquotou get weakened, clearing up his way to get approval for the redevelopment project in the process. As shown in the final moments of the movie, Master Ko was aware of Master Hee’s deceit, but there was nothing he could do about it. Michael has already been declared a Gatao enemy, and unless he leaves the country for good, there is no saving him.
Why Did Michael Leave His Father’s Side?
Given the recent series of events and rising tension between gangs, Michael has to leave his father to ensure his own and the gang’s safety in the future. In the final moments of the movie, an emotional sequence plays out, as Michael helps his old man to put morphine in his veins, which might be an addiction Ko had developed to cope with the reality that he had failed as a father when Michael was young by diverting his attention to gangland stuff, or it can be an indication of his dwindling state of health. Separating Michael from his father was a strategic move by Master Hee; Michael’s demeanor and approach would have made his gang too strong to deal with. Additionally, his unwillingness to adhere to the so-called precepts made him a threat to the existing status quo. Michael leaves his father, and the next time he returns to Taiwan is following his father’s death, during the events of Gatao (2015)—to build on the legacy his old man had left him.
