Publicity
Stills of "Invisible Target"
Courtesy of Shaw
Genre:
Action/Thriller Director: Benny Chan Starring: Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan, Shawn
Yue, Andy On, Wu Jing RunTime: 2 hrs 9 mins Released By: Shaw & Innoform Media Rating: PG (Some Violence) Official Website: www.invisibletarget.com
The rise of Ronin Gang, a band of notorious robbers affected
the lives of three policemen drastically. Each of the three
policemen: Fang (starring Shawn Yue), Jing Hau (starring Jaycee
Chan) and Chen (starring Nicholas Tse) have their own stories
but are motivated to achieve a common goal: to bring Jiang
(starring Wu Jing), the leader of the Ronin Gang to justice.
Time
is running out as Jiang’s influence grew and the gang’s
ruthless acts are getting out hand. With Fang’s wit,
Jing Hau’s courage and Chen’s dexterity, the three
vowed to capture Jiang. However, it was also during the intense
period of tracking the Ronin Gang that the three learnt about
the presence of a prominent figure in the police force who
is in cahoots with Jiang… With all these against them,
they are even more determined to rid the evil doings of Jiang
and his accomplice…
Movie
Review:
I
should be ashamed of myself.
While
similar-aged stars like Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue are slogging
it out in action flicks, showcasing their manliest sides and
earning the love of fan girls everywhere, here I am, typing
furiously in front of my computer, trying to meet my deadline
for this review.
Heck,
even Jaycee Chan, whom I do not think too highly of, has joined
the club and is starring in Benny Chan’s latest action
thriller as a righteous policeman.
In this
129-minute movie, the three guys toil it out with Mainland
Chinese action star Wu Jing and his gang of bad guys, with
the one aim to bring them to justice. But behind each of these
good-lookers (yes, even Chan looks somewhat decent in this
picture), there is a new-age-sensitive man who has some inner
demons to fight. And conveniently, their common goal is to
bring down Wu’s motley crew of orphans.
Nothing
too exciting about the plot, we hear you say?
The whole
point to any Benny Chan (Divergence, New Police Story) movie
is the excitingly-choreographed action sequences, and you
won’t be missing it here. There are countless explosions,
people jumping off buildings, gun-shootouts and face-on fist
fights: It’s not only the Transformers and John McClane
who are making the cinemas noisy this summer blockbuster season.
The movie
also makes you laugh with its engaging humor and effective
bantering between the three leads. While viewers with a higher
intellectual quotient may scorn at the unabashed attempt at
injecting heart and soul into the characters, we’d say
there’s nothing wrong with that – we are watching
the movie for its action, remember?
There
is also a modest effort to pace the movie in such a way that
audiences won’t be left breathless and exhilarated with
the action sequences. You will be able to digest the movie
with its obvious segmenting between fast and slow scenes.
We
have seen Tse in action movies like Gen-X Cops (1999) and
Dragon Tiger Gare (2006) (No, Chen Kaige’s The Promise
doesn’t really count), and in his latest big screen
outing, he sports an unkempt goatee to play a tormented soul
to some good effect. Sporting a crew cut, Yue plays a quick-tempered
cop who lets his emotions get the better of him. The man who
impresses us most is Wu, who coolly spouts his lines in perfect
Chinese, at the same time kicks some serious butts out of
his co-stars.
Girls,
get ready to swoon.
Meanwhile,
the son of the great Jackie Chan does not fare so well in
some of the more scenes which were meant to be movingly touching.
Every time the chap screws his face to emote, we can’t
resist giggling. It does not help that he reminds us of his
Dad. The cliché lines he has to recite aren’t
too exciting either.
Other
than that, the popcorn movie is about action, explosions,
crashes, gunfights, and most importantly for me – how
to get away from my computer and look cool.
Movie
Rating:
(An explosive action thriller that has enough thrills
and spills to keep you at the edge of your seat)
