SYNOPSIS:
Three innocent young men, KANG (Liu Ye ), FUNG (Daniel
Wu) and XIAO HU (Tony Yang) who arrived in Shanghai in search
of better life. Instead, each is forced into a life of crime
and ends up taking a different path in life. Meanwhile, a
forbidden love between LULU (Shu Qi) and MARK is born.
Life takes a difficult turn when this forbidden love affair
is exposed. Friends turn against friends and brother against
brother. Is blood really thicker than water?
MOVIE REVIEW:
On paper, nothing seems to be wrong for this movie. The cast
list is exciting: heartthrob Daniel Wu (The Banquet), luscious
Shu Qi (Confession of Pain), brooding Liu Ye (Curse of the
Golden Flower), newcomer Tony Yang (Ming Ming), critically-acclaimed
Sun Honglei (Triangle) and cool Chang Chen (Three Times).
When was the last time audiences saw a group of actors like
this come together in one picture? The cinematography and
costume design are excitingly gorgeous, thanks to Michel Taburiaux
and Tim Yip (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). The concept
is the most exciting, a film set in 1930s Shanghai in the
reins of John Woo’s iconic Bullet in the Head (1990)
– this must be a Hong Kong cinema fan’s wet dream
come true.
But
alas, the 95-minute action drama failed top impress, or even
to excite.
Three
buddies (Liu, Yang and Wu) come to Shanghai to realize their
dreams of becoming powerful, only to find themselves entangled
in the broils of the dark and sinister undercover, in the
midst of a triad leader (Sun), his lover (Shu) and his trusted
aide (Chang).
The
male characters go about trying their best to look unruffled
in their prim and proper coats, while the female characters
go about trying their best to look pretty in the glittery
costumes. But the movie does not manage to thrill viewers,
because the pacing seems dreary and monotonous – even
the violence which earned it a NC16 rating does not make the
senses ecstatic.
However,
credit still goes to the actors for putting in the obvious
effort to make this flick work. Wu’s intense expressions
work for his emotional role, Liu’s showiness works for
his ambitious character, Yang’s goofiness makes him
affectionate, Sun’s reliable dynamism is spot-on, Chang
does his signature cool gestures, and Shu is, well, sultry
as usual.
Director
Alexis Tan’s debut feature may be an ambitious project,
getting Woo to come on board to play the producer role, but
the music video director’s efforts result in a pretty-looking
but soulless movie that may come across as trying too hard
to impress.
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
This Code 3 DVD contains a 22-minute TV Special,
where you see the cast and crew talk about the film and the
roles they play. Producer Woo comments that the while the
movie reminds him of the Godfather series and Shanghai Triad
films of the past, it is romantically unique in its own way.
Some of these interviews are repeated in a 19-minute
Interviews segment. Here, amongst other praises for
each other, Sun talks about how director Tan’s passion
for filmmaking has inspired him greatly. The Featurettes
section is where you can see a selection of six different
scenes from the movie. The 12-minute Behind-the-scenes
segment isn’t anything exciting, you just see the cast
rehearsing for their scenes, and how makeup artistes doll
up Shu into a pretty cabaret singer. There are also seven
Trailers for the movie, in different durations
– so you can relive the pretty images seven times. There
are no subtitles for the bonus features on this disc.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
While the disc’s visual transfer seems
somewhat grainy, it works well for the era the film is set
in. The audio soundtrack is presented in its original Mandarin
language.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by John Li
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