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HUMAN INVASION FROM OUTER SPACEPosted on 25 Aug 2012 |
SYNOPSIS: A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change...until the day he blows a rigged fight. Wanting to make an example of him, the Russian Mafia murders his family and banishes him from his life forever, leaving Luke to wander the streets of New York destitute, haunted by guilt, and tormented by the knowledge that he will always be watched, and anyone he develops a relationship with will also be killed. But when he witnesses a frightened twelve-year-old Chinese girl, Mei, being pursued by the same gangsters who killed his wife, Luke impulsively jumps to action...and straight into the heart of a deadly high-stakes war. Mei, he discovers, is no ordinary girl, but an orphaned math prodigy forced to work for the Triads as a "counter." He discovers she holds in her memory a priceless numerical code that the Triads, the Russian mob and a corrupt faction of the NYPD will kill for. Realizing he's the only person Mei can trust, Luke tears a swath through the city's brutal underworld to save an innocent girl's life...and perhaps even redeem his own.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Some audiences are put off by loopholes and illogical plotting in a movie. On the contrary, in a typical case of a Jason Statham’s title, it’s the more the merrier. Don’t believe me? Check out “Transporter” and “Crank”.
Botak Statham is back again in one of his umpteen action flicks, this time directed and written by a guy called Boaz Yakin, cool name I must say. Statham plays Luke Wright, a cage fighter whose family is killed by the Russian mob after he messed up a fixed match. The mob decides to let Luke live and suffer but whoever gets in touch with him will not see the living daylights again. See it starts to make no sense here, why would the mob spend 24/7 tracking a guy, don’t they have badder things to do? Anyway feeling despondent, Luke tried to kill himself by jumping on a train track. But when he sees a young girl, Mei (Catherine Chan) running away from the Russians that killed his family, Luke decides to save Mei from their evil clutches only to discover Mei possessed a secret combination of codes in her mind that could turn the mob and police force upside down.
Despite Yakin’s best attempt in coming with some flashy editing in the beginning, snazzy quick cuts and introducing some emotional layer to the character of Luke Wright, it’s still a Jason Statham’s movie end of the day. Not that it’s a bad thing. The no-holds-barred sparring sequences are impressive and using wide angles instead of close-ups swiftly deliver the ferocity and adrenalin. With principle photography taking place in New York City and be it on a train or a swanky restaurant, Statham proves he can single handedly takes on a village of mobsters with hardly a scratch.
For a snappy 94 minutes movie that has plenty of non-stop action, Yakin still manages to squeeze in more subplots as it goes. The Russian mobster, the Chinese triad, the corrupted police force and even the Mayor is involved in some point. And wait, there’s more, we learnt that Luke Wright is actually an ex-special agent sent undercover to the police force to wipe out the notorious criminals in the city but he left the force to be a cage fighter because he is against corruption. Damn, Yakin should tailor made a Superhero movie for Jason Statham or something.
So long as Statham continues to deliver the head counts on the screen, there will definitely be a market for movies liked “Safe” consider this one has way better production design, a lush cinematography and tough action design by 87Eleven outfit than an average B-movie. Perhaps having Kevin Spacey as one of their executive producers helps.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
NIL
AUDIO/VISUAL:
“Safe” visual transfer on this DVD is detailed and sharp yet retains the gritty feel of the movie. Unfortunately, the dynamic sound effects are constrained by the 2.0 soundtrack.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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ASK PETER JACKSONPosted on 17 Mar 2013 |
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MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN (1957 - 2012)Posted on 04 Sep 2012 |
Genre: Drama
Director: Olivier Marchal
Cast: Gérard Lanvin, Tchéky Karyo, Daniel Duval, Dimitri Storoge, Patrick Catalifo, François Levantal
RunTime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Golden Village
Official Website: http://les-lyonnais.gaumont.fr/
Screening Dates: 14 - 15, 16 - 18 September 2012 (Mini French Film Festival)
Synopsis: After growing up in a poor gypsy camp, Edmond Vidal, aka Momon, has retained a sense of family, unfailing loyalty and pride in his origins. Most of all, he has remained friends with Serge Suttel, with whom he first discovered prison life - for stealing cherries. The two of them inevitably got involved in organized crime. The team they formed, the Gang Des Lyonnais, made them the most notorious armed robbers of the early 1970s. Their irresistible rise ended in 1974 with a spectacular arrest. Today, as he nears 60, Momon would like to forget that part of his life. He has found peace by retiring from the "business". He tends to his wife Janou, who suffered so in the past, and to his children and grandchildren, all of whom have great respect for this man of simple and universal values, so clear-headed and full of kindness. But then Serge Suttel, who has disowned nothing of his past, comes back into the picture.
Movie Review:
“What is the price of loyalty?” asks former cop-turned-filmmaker Olivier Marchal in his latest crime thriller, loosely based on the real-life exploits of mobster Edmond Vidal (or more often referred to in the movie as Momon). For the uninitiated, Vidal and his gang were responsible for some of the most audacious heists in the Lyon region back in the 1970s – hence their moniker which is also the French title of this film. That should make for a riveting story – think Michael Mann’s ‘Public Enemies’ – but this at best solidly-mounted film ends up making less of an impression than you would expect it to.
Instead of telling the story in chronological order, Marchal – who also scripted the film with Edgar Marie from Vidal’s own book ‘Pour une poignee de cerises’ – begins in his character’s twilight years, as the sixty-something Vidal (Gerard Lanvin) is made to revisit his brutish ways when his longtime friend cum partner Serge (Tcheky Karyo) is arrested by the police. To bust Serge free, he hires a group of younger thugs whose unrestrained means appal even him; but that’s just the start of his troubles when he finds out that Serge may be mixed up in more serious business than he thought.
As he realises his follies in the days following Serge’s violent breakout, Marchal frequently flashes back to their younger days, chronicling the friendship sealed in blood, sweat and bullets. A gypsy accorded little status or respect by his peers, the young Momon is rescued in a typical schoolyard bullying scuffle by Serge – and a bond is formed when both teenagers are unjustly imprisoned for ten years after caught stealing a crate of cherries. In response, both sign up as lackeys upon their release to a crime boss whose criminal acts are used to finance the lefties in their political ambitions.
A more ambitious director might have explored the connection between crime and politics in the 1970s, but Marchal merely gives it a cursory mention. Likewise, Marchal glosses over the audacity of the Lyons’ formative years one heist after another leading up to their eventual arrest, and too little time is spent fleshing out the personalities of each of the individual characters – especially supporting acts Christo and a key player later on referred to as the Greek.
Marchal fares much better in the events of the present day, opting for a measured and character-driven approach to depict the price that their lives of crime have exacted on their families as well as on themselves – and the final twist reminiscent of a Greek tragedy is undeniably poignant. In particular, Marchal succeeds in questioning the subject of loyalty and honour among criminals, as the fiercely devoted Momon is forced to confront the realisation that someone in his tight-knit Lyons gang might have snitched to the police in their past heydays and betrayed Serge in present time.
The helmer of past gritty cop flicks like ‘36’ and ‘MR73’ also paints a realistic picture of the line between cops and mobsters, showing the lengths to which both are willing to go to get what they need to out of each other – and it is a sobering portrait how the same division of good and evil cannot be so neatly applied to one side or the other. For that too, Marchal has a great lead in Lanvin, his well-nuanced performance of a man torn between his own principles and that of the world in which he lives in always riveting. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t give as much space to the other characters, though veterans Karyo and Patrick Catalifo (as the detective on Serge’s tail) make the most of their limited roles.
With such an intriguing source material, it’s inevitable that one expects more out of Marchal’s ‘A Gang Story’ – but the film delivers only adequately, lacking the thrills and pizzazz that a more experienced helmer like Michael Mann could have brought. Fans of the genre will also recognise the references to other classics – in particular, the opening scene where Momon’s grandchild receives his first baptism in a church is reminiscent of a similar sequence in ‘The Godfather’. You won’t find a classic here though, just a relatively well-told drama of crime and consequence that is good enough to entertain while it lasts.
Movie Rating:
(Solid, but by no means remarkable, tale of French mob legend Edmond Vidal that could do well with more of its character’s pizzazz and edginess)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Daniel Cohen
Cast: Jean Reno, Michaël Youn, Raphaëlle Agogué, Julien Boisselier, Salomé Stévenin, Serge Larivière, Issa Doumbia, Bun-hay Mean, Pierre Vernier, Santiago Segura
RunTime: 1 hr 24 mins
Rating: TBA
Released By: Golden Village
Official Website: http://comme-un-chef.gaumont.fr/
Screening Dates: 13, 15 - 16, 17 and 19 September 2012 (Mini French Film Festival)
Synopsis: A veteran chef faces off against his restaurant group's new CEO, who wants to the establishment to lose a star from its rating in order to bring in a younger chef who specializes in molecular gastronomy.
Movie Review:
You don’t need the most discerning of palates to appreciate this soufflé-light French comedy set in the world of haute cuisine. In this country of stars – Michelin stars that is – food is not simply a means of sustenance, but one of the true pleasures in life – indeed, the former is often described in how subtly and expertly it brings out the tastes of the latter. And certainly screenwriters Daniel Cohen and Olivier Dazat understand this perfectly well, creating a delightful slice of entertainment that uses its culinary lessons to impart some about life itself.
Veteran French actor Jean Reno is an unlikely choice for a comedic role, but he is perfectly cast here as the renowned chef Alexander Lagarde facing a professional crisis. In spite of his fame – a restaurant in his name and his own live celebrity chef TV programme – the helmer of the three-star Cargo Lagarde is now regarded as a relic from a different era. Instead, Stanislaw (Julien Boisselier) banks the future of the restaurant on the pretentious Cyril Boss (James Gerard), whose newfangled technique of molecular gastronomy has Stanislaw fascinated.
It is precisely at this turning point in his life that Alexander meets young upstart Jacky (Michael Youn), a self-taught wannabe chef that is undoubtedly talented but much too finicky for his own good. He also happens to be Alexander’s biggest fan, and who proves to be more familiar with Alexander’s recipes than Alexander himself – yet in spite of his stubbornness, manages to earn enough of Alexander’s respect for him to appoint Jacky his second-in-command at Lagarde.
Some of the best moments of the film come from their ensuing interaction, as Alexander quickly realises that respect does not necessarily translate to deference. Not only does Jacky refuse to follow his instructions wholesale, he even modifies Alexander’s original recipes, claiming that they are a step up from what Alexander had intended. Reno and Youn have great chemistry with each other, their frequent verbal sparring delivered with verve, rhythm and spontaneity.
They are equally good when their characters work with – rather than against – each other, and a particularly enjoyable sequence has them disguised as Japanese dignitaries to try out Stanislaw’s cuisine at his own restaurant. Supporting characters also add a dash of zing to these two main acts, in particular three chefs at an old people’s home Jacky takes it upon himself to coach in the culinary arts as well as a supposed Spanish expert in molecular cuisine who proceeds to turn the kitchen into a mini chemistry lab.
But more than just humour, ‘The Chef’ is surprisingly packed with heart too. Both Alexander and Jacky have to confront their own domestic issues as well. For Alexander, it’s about trying to be less as an absentee father to his daughter; and for Jacky, it’s about making amends to his pregnant girlfriend Béatrice (Raphaëlle Agogué) after lying about his unpaid internship at Cargo Lagarde. Both will come to realise how family is that one key ingredient in life that is most important, and through that find inspiration for the new Spring menu on which hinges the future of their professional lives. Perfunctory though it may be, but these subplots no doubt enhance the feel-good experience of watching this film.
And really, that experience isn’t one you need a sophisticated palette to enjoy. Rather Cohen, who also directs the movie, keeps the mood light and frothy, the laughs sweet and sharp, and the characters lively and interesting – with the added plus of giving its audience a peek into the workings of the restaurant world. It is not only one of the most accessible French films we’ve seen this year, it’s quite simply one of the most enjoyable – though we’d advise you not to watch it on an empty stomach.
Movie Rating:
(Delightful soufflé-light entertainment that tickles and charms no matter your palette preference)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: Chanisa, 25 and single, meets Bass, a High school student on a bus. Fate plays a trick on them when, minutes after they met, they kiss for the first time, as both stick out their heads from the bus, to witness an accident by the road. After the fateful encounter, Bass is determined to win Chanisa’s heart, despite the significant age difference. Things get complicated when Chanisa’s first love, Ohm returns, getting her all confused and torn. Can a high-school student wins the heart of a working executive? Or will Chanisa chooses Ohm over her young suitor?
MOVIE REVIEW:
You might have heard of this premise before, an older woman falling in love with a younger man. Perhaps you might even have watched it months ago on the big screen in another Thai rom-com called “Fabulous 30” where a 32 year old woman has problems accepting a man eleven years her junior.
“First Kiss” takes the premise a little further. A 25 year old OL falling in love with a high-school boy, probably underage in today’s context. The story begins with Chanisa, a single lady who still pines for her high school sweetheart, Ohm who has left London years ago to further his studies. Just as the day Ohm happen to return to Bangkok to win back Chanisa’s heart, Chanisa had an encounter with a high-school boy named Bass on a public bus and they accidentally shared their first kiss. The awkward encounter slowly turns into love and Chanisa has to choose between Ohm who is still in a relationship with his ex-lover and the much younger Bass.
To be frank, if you have watched enough drama in your free time, you would have known how the proceeding of “First Kiss” goes. Girl falls in love with a boy who showers her with song and tender care despite their age difference. Girl unsure of their future and boy in turn reassures her. The couple later had a misunderstanding because of an ex-lover and subsequently the boy’s father steps in to stop the relationship. Everything is so predictable and hardly sprung any new surprises in the story department.
Fortunately, the two leads Kanuengnit Jakrasmithanon (Chanisa) and Pichasini Tanwiboon (Bass) are easy on the eyes and their chemistry sizzling enough to make you rooting for them. Kanuengnit is cute and Pichasini obviously is charming. The supporting cast which includes a feminine male playing Chanisa’s close colleague delivers some laugh-out-loud lines and a friend of Bass with less than flattering looks providing comic-relief, there’s clearly an appealing factor to keep things from going over formulaic.
While the plotting is generic, the best thing about the movie is the performance of the cast and if you are in a generous mood, some funny gags. Nothing else actually matters for this Thai rom-com.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD comes only with a Photo Gallery and Trailer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
“First Kiss” audio track is serviceable with a clear dialog track and easy on the ears, pop songs. Colours are natural and warm for the visual aspect.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Romance/Comedy
Director: Paween Purijitpanya, Adisorn Tresirikasem, Jira Maligool
Cast: Cris Horwang, Jirayu La-ongmanee, Nichkhun Horvejkul, Suquan Bulakul, Sunny Suwanmethanont, Suthatta Udomslip
Runtime: 2 hrs 23 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 6 September 2012
Synopsis: Beginning with "14" by Paween Purijitpanya (Director of Phobia 2), this is the love story of Puan (Jirayu La-ongmanee) and "Milk" (Sutatta Udomslip). Their love will never be the same once Puan changes his Facebook's status to "In A Relationship" and starts to incessantly post clips proclaiming his love towards Milk. For Puan, each and every moment and emotion for Milk is conveyed with each upload. There are so many comments from nosy people that the total views reach almost viral levels. Puan becomes very obsessed with this online world filled with strangers and as a result his girlfriend's love for him fades with every "Like" click on his Facebook's wall.
Next is "28" by Adisorn Tresirikasem (Director of BTS - Bangkok Traffic (Love) Story) - a story of how two former superstars who starred in a critically acclaimed film together deals with their emotions as their careers go downhill experiencing failure in finances and fame. All they have to hold on to is their one-hit-wonder movie. Now, the actress Mam (Cris Horwang), who is 28 years old, is struggling to get back in front of the camera again. The chance arrives when the studio announces plans to make a sequel to their hit movie. Both Mam and Jon (Sunny Suwanmethanont) will get a chance to be stars on the big screen again. However, John has long left the movie scene becoming a caretaker of aquatic animals in an aquarium. Mam will have to make her way to find John, who was once handsome, but is now a vulgar overweight man who drinks a lot of beer.
And the last story is "42.195" by award-winning Director Jira Maligool (Director of Mekhong Full Moon Party, and The Tin Mine) which conceptualizes the parallels of life and running a marathon. The human life's mileage is not much different from the kilometer sign that shows the distance of the marathon. The story is about "SHE" (Suquan Bulakul) a 42 years old newsreader whose life changes and transitions to a whole new chapter once she meets "HE" (Nichkhun 2PM), a young marathon runner who invites her to join the Bangkok Marathon race. Her life will never be the same again.
Movie Review:
Happy birthday, GMM Tai Hub! You turn seven this year, and we hope that we will get to celebrate your seventieth! From 2004, you’ve been bringing us some of the most crowd-pleasing Thai movies we’ve seen in recent years, and from time to time we find ourselves looking back fondly at the innocent charm of ‘Fan Chan’ (aka ‘My Girl’), the possibilities of everyday romance in ‘Bangkok Traffic Love Story’, the quirky love-in-a-foreign-land experience of ‘Hello Stranger’ and of course the hilarity of workplace romances in ‘ATM’.
It is in this vein of urban rom-coms that you’ve decided to celebrate your birthday with us, in the form of the anthology ‘Seven Something’, itself a celebration of love at different stages of life. The idea here is that a person’s life undergoes a significant change every seven years, and to illustrate the modern-day love and life challenges that people of different ages go through, you have selected three directors to craft three different stories with their own unique appeal. Inspired was your decision to arrange them in chronological sequence, such that from one story to the next, there is a growing sense of maturity to both the stories and their underlying themes.
First off is the high school romance ’14 Likes’ by horror director Paween Purijitpanya, better known for his work on ‘Phobia 2’. Despite being a newbie to the genre, Paween’s segment is easily the most accessible of the three. More than just a typical first love between teenagers Puan (Suckseed’s Jirayu La-ongmanee) and Milk (Sutatta Udomslip), it is a sharp reflection of the social nature of today’s dating scene where every thought, emotion, location and deed is shared and commented by friends and acquaintances. Puan’s the consummate social animal, and while Milk does indulge him whenever he wants to take a picture or video of them while on their dates, there comes a point when the more conservative Milk decides to take a firm stand on their privacy.
It’s not hard to see where Paween is going – how much of our lives do we share with others, and how much do we keep for ourselves? Such questions are especially pertinent for the younger generation born and bred on a diet of interconnected media devices, and Paween brings out the issues of the phenomenon of ‘social dating’ without moralising at all. Instead, he lets them emerge naturally through both plot and character – though he does employ a fair bit of stylistic visual devices to keep his viewer engaged.
‘14’ also boasts two utterly winsome performances by Jirayu and Sutatta, who share genuine chemistry with each other. They are sweet but never cloying, and despite their subsequent disagreements, you’ll root for the both of them to get back together. Noteworthy too is that this segment boasts a cute sequence drawn from ‘Fan Chan’ that has its child characters gossiping about a fellow classmate on their way to school, the same sequence used in this movie to illustrate schoolyard gossip as well – albeit with voices dubbed over by the characters here.
Left on a bittersweet note, we are led into ‘21/28’ from ‘BTS’ director Adisorn Tresirikasem. The premise here is just as simple – seven years after their box-office hit ‘Sea You’, one half of the reel turned real life celebrity couple Mam (Cris Horwang) tries to persuade her now former other half Jon (Sunny Suwanmethanont) to reunite on the sequel ‘Sea You 2’. Whereas ‘14’ took a crack at social media, ‘21/28’ sharply observes the youth-obsessed showbiz industry where producers are constantly on the lookout for fresh and more importantly young talent – so much so that in order for Mam to be cast as the lead once again, she is made to audition like any other young aspiring starlets.
Coming off ‘14’ ebullient pace, it does take a little while to get used to Adisorn’s measured and melodramatic pacing – filmed though it may have been in Siam Ocean World – especially when Adisorn reveals more of the couple’s turbulent romantic past through flashbacks. Admittedly, one wishes that the editing were more rigorous on this one, as some scenes (including one where Jon and Mam rehearse the script for the sequel and realise that the lines apply as much to their characters in the film as to themselves) drag on for too long. The payoff however is sweet, and in large part thanks to the affecting ending, you’ll be more forgiving towards the lax pacing.
Thankfully, ’42.195’ picks it up significantly – and aptly too – revolving around the May-September romance between a 42-year old newscaster (real-life veteran news anchor Sukquan Bulakul making her acting debut) and a 20-something year old avid marathon runner (Nichkhun Horvejkul from the South Korean boyband 2PM also making his acting debut). Their relationship begins when he knocks her down while running one day, and in the course of sending her back home, strikes up an easygoing friendship that grows into something more during the course of their daily jogging sessions together.
Jira Maligool is at the helm here, and the award-winning director isn’t one to shy away from more challenging material. With nuance and empathy, he captures the unlikely bond that develops between these two individuals. It’s only inevitable perhaps that disdain is the first reaction to their budding romance, but we guarantee you’ll soon have a change of heart as subsequent character revelations add much more depth to both leading protagonists. Unfortunately, Maligool does his film a disservice with a voiceover that comes off as smart-alecky by trying too hard to sound smart, knowing and humorous at the same time.
As is to be expected, the parallels between the perseverance needed to run a marathon and the same tenacity to go through life’s ups and downs is drawn – but what truly leaves an impression is the message of looking ahead yet not too far away. Yes, life can sometimes be like running a marathon, though an equally important lesson expressed through the sport is the ability to live life forwards while appreciating it backwards. Fans of Nichkhun will certainly be pleased with his performance, but we think the true star here is Sukquan whose portrayal of a middle-aged woman searching for new meaning and purpose in life is unexpectedly heartfelt and moving.
As with its previous films, GTH has demonstrated once again with this love anthology its ability to spin an interesting story and memorable characters with a simple but no less captivating concept. If ‘Seven Something’ is anything to go by, it shows that the next batch of rom-coms we see from GTH might in fact be willing to skew to more mature stories and themes and hence appeal to an older demographic. Yet the language of love is universal, cutting across age and generation – and we take this opportunity, on the occasion of your seventh birthday, to thank you for celebrating the gift of love in so many ways.
Movie Rating:
(If you love any of the GTH’s rom-coms ‘BTS’, ‘Hello Stranger’ or ‘ATM’, you’ll fall in love with this anthology of three stories each with their own unique appeal)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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IMPERFECT TO BE RE-RELEASED WITH PG13 RATING!Posted on 19 Sep 2012 |
SYNOPSIS: Hong Kong, the present day. Maverick fast-car enthusiast Chan Cheung and the cautious, about-to-retire Lo Fung are two plainclothes speed cops based at Kowloon East Police Station. After a chase in which a speeding car escapes, the young Chan Cheung is again berated by his superior, Chong for his hot-headedness and the pair are put on speed-radar duty. Meanwhile, Mainland criminal Jiang Xin, an expert driver has been summoned to Hong Kong by his boss, Tan Yi to extract his colleague, Huang Zhong from prison. Jiang Xin lets himself be chased and arrested by Chan Cheung on a highway one day; taken to prison, he arranges a jailbreak in which he and Huang Zhong escape by car. After the police lose them, Chan Cheung picks up their trail in Kwun Tong but is tricked by Jiang Xin and trapped in an narrow alleyway. The two Mainland criminals get away. Later Lo Fung seeing Chan Cheung's frustration at being bested by Jiang Xin takes a major decision. As the Mainlanders move towards their master plan, Chan Cheung gets further chances to take on Jiang Xin.
MOVIE REVIEW:
When it comes to a Milkyway Image Production, it’s always contained at least one of the following or on a good day, you have all three. One, it involves cops. Two, an ultra cool, slow-mo shootout and lastly, it stars either Anthony Wong or Lam Suet. Unfortunately today is not the day; still you have two of the above.
Soi Cheang reunites with his “Shamo” lead, Shawn Yue in this cops-and-robbers action thriller, “Motorway”. Yue plays Chan Cheung, a hot-headed plainclothes traffic cop whose role in the police force is catching illegal racers on the road. Pairing with a soon-to-be retired veteran, Lo Fung (Anthony Wong), the duo encountered an expert driver, Jiang Xin (Guo Xiaodong) from the Mainland who staged a daring jailbreak to rescue his buddy from prison. Frustrated at his inadequate racing skills, Chan soon realizes Lo and Jiang has a long history and Lo seems to possess the secret to beating Jiang’s strategies.
Far less complicated than his previous directorial gigs and played out like a straightforward racing action flick, Soi and his action choreographer Chin Ka Lok panned out a series of exhilarating cleverly choreographed sequences. Making good use of Hong Kong’s overcrowding cosmopolitan layout, the various car chases takes place from expressways to narrow alleys and a thrilling finale that takes place in a darkened multi-storey car park. Without the aid of fancy visual effects and ridiculous shaky cams, the car stunts are raw and believable to the point that even Shawn Yue himself admits in interviews that he almost loses his life.
While Lam Suet is surprisingly absence in this one, Anthony Wong compensates by bringing his stoic mixed with a mischievous wink performance to an otherwise one-dimensional role opposite Yue’s impulsive character. Other Milkway’s regulars such as Lam Ka Tung appears as Chan’s no-nonsense superior, Josie Ho as a fellow senior cop while Michelle Ye pops in as the wife of Lo bringing in soup, chitchat and smokes. Chinese actors Guo Xiaodong and Li Haitao may not be household names in this region but their job here is to be sinister and they played it well. To add more familiar names to the production, Barbie Hsu is thrown into the cast list acting all smart, pretty and driving a nice car.
Sparse storytelling aside, “Motorway” ends up to be a tight, smartly-executed action flick from Milkway. If you desperately carve for some Johnnie To’s usual machismo, then this title by Soi Cheang more than suffices while we awaits for To’s next offering.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Comes with a Theatrical Trailer.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Overall, “Motorway” appears pristine on this DVD. The dark levels during the night scenes are balanced and reproduced well while the sole Dolby Digital 2.0 Mandarin soundtrack unfortunately lacks the intensity and vibrancy of a 5.1 channel.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
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