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MORE TROLLS OF DIFFERENT MUSICAL VARIETY IN 'TROLLS WORLD TOUR'Posted on 23 Jun 2019 |
Genre: Comedy
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language and Drug Use)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 27 February 2020
Synopsis: From writer/director Guy Ritchie comes THE GENTLEMEN, a star-studded sophisticated action comedy. THE GENTLEMEN follows American expat Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) who built a highly profitable marijuana empire in London. When word gets out that he’s looking to cash out of the business forever it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him (featuring an all-star ensemble cast including Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant).
Movie Review:
Before he was off making such blockbuster fare as ‘Sherlock Holmes’, ‘King Arthur’ and last summer’s ‘Aladdin’, Guy Ritchie was busy writing and directing scruffy gangster flicks studded with colorful characters played by name actors. His latest shows that Ritchie has not lost any of those sensibilities, parlaying them into a rowdy, rambunctious and sometimes rude crime caper that makes for a great deal of chatty and bloody fun.
Anchoring the ensemble is Matthew McConaughey’s American expat Mickey Pearson, the kingpin of a successful marijuana empire who grows and distributes his own product from out of shipping containers placed on the country estates of down-on-their-luck aristocrats. Now happily married to his own ‘Cockney Cleopatra’ (Michelle Dockery), Mickey is looking to retire early and sell his business to another Yank named Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong).
Not surprisingly, getting out isn’t quite so simple, and among the complications are a ‘Chinaman’ nicknamed Dry Eye (Henry Golding), a group of scrappy tracksuit-wearing rappers/ boxers as well as their well-mannered boxing coach (Colin Farrell), and a sleazy tabloid journalist named Fletcher (Hugh Grant). In fact, the entire story is framed as a lengthy encounter between Fletcher and Mickey’s right-hand man Ray (Charlie Hunnam), with the former threatening to divulge his knowledge of their operation in the form of a screenplay.
It is meta all right, and Ritchie, who co-wrote the movie, is clearly having fun espousing his love for 35-millimeter celluloid and taking jabs at Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’; in fact, the movie-within-a-movie conceit even culminates with Fletcher presenting his screenplay to a Harvey Weinstein-like mogul of Miramax. Ritchie is also visibly having a field day with his usual bag of storytelling tricks such as rewinds and alternative narrative splinters, with such personalities as a vengeful editor (Eddie Marsan) of a tabloid called The Daily Print, a Chinatown gang boss named Lord George (Tony Wu) and a Vietnamese thug named Phuc (Jason Wong).
In typical Ritchie fashion, the humour is intentionally incorrect – not only are there racist jokes (like how Phuc sounds like an English-language profanity) and homoerotic hijinks (like how Fletcher cannot resist putting his hands on Ray’s thighs), there is also a bit about an indiscretion committed towards a farmyard animal (which thankfully isn’t shown in any graphic detail). Oh yes, Ritchie doesn’t care about your delicate sensibilities, but those who lap up his Cockney style will certainly enjoy the brash filmmaking on display.
There are also the performances to revel in, including an absolutely debonair McConaughey, a charmingly straight-laced Hunnam, a suitably brassy Golding, a hilariously indisposed Farrell and a pleasurably sleazy Grant. Each of the cast members have been specifically chosen for their respective parts, and every one plays their role to the hilt; if we had one gripe, it is that the only substantive female role here is that of Mickey’s wife, and even then it is admittedly still a minor character in the larger scheme of things.
Even though he’s moved into the blockbuster league, ‘The Gentlemen’ finds Ritchie clearly relishing the return to familiar ground. It is a throwback all right, a return to the sort of genre fare that made his name in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and one that fans of his garrulous gangster pictures like ‘Snatch’ and ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ will gleefully embrace. It doesn’t hurt of course that he has such a game cast willing to act naughty, talk dirty and shoot first, and as long as you’re in the mood for some foul-mouthed fun, we’re confident you’ll enjoy being in the company of these crooks.
Movie Rating:
(As foul, fun and fascinating as his earlier Brit gangster pictures, 'The Gentlemen' is a delightful return to familiar ground for Guy Ritchie)
Review by Gabriel Chong
SYNOPSIS: VICE explores the epic story about how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as Vice-President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Vice is Adam McKay’s follow-up to hissatire comedy hit, The Big Short. Comparison is inevitable though one deals with politics and the latter about the financial crisis of 2007. Employing the same formula and filled with tongue-in-cheek humour, Vice is unfortunately more of a dud than fun and the efforts of Christian Bale is thoroughly wasted in the leading role.
No stranger to shrinking his weight for his onscreen roles, Bale added 40 pounds to his frame in Viceto play former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney instead. The story written by McKay himself takes a scattershot look at the life and career of Cheney and most important of all, how he rises to become the most influential Vice-President in American history.
It’s not a prerequisite to possess knowledge of Dick Cheney as knowing McKay, he has no interest to showcase a serious biography about the character either. Vice is basically a series of brief sketches being stitched into a two hours feature. The movie even had a fake ending with crawling credits at the halfway mark. You got to admit though that’s a pretty funny move.
As painted by McKay, Dick Cheney comes across on the whole as a thoroughly boring and uncharismatic man. From working under then economic adviser Donald Rumsfled to running to be a representative for Wyoming to a running mate alongside George W. Bush, Cheney is more of a man that has hidden agendas, ambitions of his own rather than a passionate leader who cares for his country and fellow citizens.
Well, it could also be a one-sided political assassination attempt by McKay or just a purely silly fictional plot about a famous political figure. Either way it never makes for a satisfying watch. The list of cast members assembled however is godsend. Bale of course is amazing as Cheney so is Amy Adams as Lynn Cheney. Steve Carell convincingly stars as Rumsfled, Sam Rockwell without being over the top is solid as Bush and Tyler Perry is compelling as 4-star General Colin Powell. It’s really a waste that a supposedly edgy witty movie is mostly a drag to sit through.
In the end, we are hoping McKay is already working on his Donald Trump biography. That ought to be better.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD comes with a The Making of Vice which clocked at a whopping 35 minutes, The Music of Power is a deleted musical sequence, 17 minutes of Deleted Scenes and a Gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The visual looks aged and cheesy at points probably intended by the filmmakers. Otherwise it’s a fine viewing experience. Dialogue is heavy for this title and the Dolby Digital 5.1 is more than sufficient.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: Drama
Director: Derek Tsang
Cast: Zhou Dongyu, Jackson Yee, Yin Fang, Huang Jue, Zhou Ye, Zhang Yifan
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence)
Released By: Clover Films and Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 November 2019
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Nian is the subject of cruel bullying at high school when she meets Bei, a tough street kid. The two teenagers find a kindred spirit in each other that gradually rises above love, forming a world of their own. But the cocoon is crushed when they are being dragged into a teenage girl murder case as prime suspects. An emotional roller coaster that is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, the China coming-of-age movie offers thought-provoking insights into the intense competition faced by nearly 10 million teenagers every year who sit for the National College Entrance Examination and national issues of school bullying. If you are one amongst 10 million to secure a promising future with a topnotch college passport, would you kill to do it?
Movie Review:
Most coming of age movies make you feel good at the end of the film. This one definitely doesn’t. The heavy handed approach to tell a story may not go down well with everyone, but that doesn’t mean the filmmakers of this drama doesn’t have an important message to deliver. Instead, the social message is so timely, we are hoping that this can be screened for in schools for educators and students to have a better understanding of the social issue.
The film sets the tone from the start by telling you the seriousness of bullying. The film’s protagonist is Chen Nian (played perfectly by Zhou Dongyu), a high school student who is becoming increasingly stressed by the upcoming ‘gaokao’, an annual academic examination in China that is a prerequisite for entrance into higher education institutions at the undergraduate level. Things become worse with her desk mate’s sudden suicide, which greatly traumatises the poor girl. She is then subjected to bullying by her classmates, especially from a trio of popular girls who do very unkind things to her.
If you think this is going to be funny like Mean Girls, wait till you see how cruel the bullies can get.
Chen Nian then crosses paths with Xiao Bei (played with gusto by Jackson Yee), a street smart dude who commits petty crimes, and the two form an unlikely bond that sees him becoming her protector and boyfriend. She moves into his run down apartment, tries to concentrate on preparing for the important test and dreams of having a better life once she gets enrolled into a prestigious university.
The film changes tone in the second half and becomes a murder mystery when one of the bullies is found dead at a construction site. Things become more dramatic and you are left guessing who committed the murder, and the intentions behind the act.
After helming the critically acclaimed Soul Mate (2016) which also stars Zhou, Derek Tseng returns with this second film which explores a social issue without sugar coating anything. Presented in an artistically edgy style, the dark allies and underbellies of Chen Nian and Xiao Bei’s world are places you don’t want to venture into. The grittiness of the film may not go down well with mainstream audiences who prefer this genre of movies which are brimming with positive energy.
Stretching over two hours, the 136 minute film may not be a piece of work that is easy to sit through. However, it provokes the audience into pondering about the severity of social issues, and whether there is anything we can do about it. Zhou and Yee’s intense performances will keep you constantly engaged, as you wonder how one can go through such painfully romantic teenage years.
After blocking the film from the 2019 Berlinale and subsequently preventing a late June theatrical release, Chinahas finally greenlit the film in late October. No official details were shared publicly, but we are guessing that the problems explored in the film are so real, the authorities had some problems showing them to the world. The film now ends with a series of messages about what has been done to address bullying, and we hope the measures are really put in place to deter these terrible acts.
Movie Rating:
(A dark but important coming-of-age story that is anything but feel-good)
Review by John Li
It’s been a long, long time since we put a soundtrack on repeat. Thanks to this album, we are loving how music plays a crucial role in movies again.
Titled after John’s 1972 tune “Rocketman”, the movie chronicles the Elton John’s early days as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music, his addiction to alcohol, sex and drugs, as well as how he stepped out of the darkness to become the well-loved celebrity he is.
And the soundtrack does a brilliant job of telling the story by documenting John’s career highs and lows through some of the legend’s most beloved tunes. What’s even more amazing is that Taron Egerton, who plays John in the film, croons the songs himself,
Is that more impressive than a lip synching Rami Malek who plays Freddie Mercury and won an Oscar? You decide.
Kicking off the 72 minute album is “The Bitch Is Back”, an apt opening that is given a Broadway treatment. Through the following tracks “I Want Love”, “Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting” and “Thank You For All Your Loving”, we hear how a young boy is yearning for his parents’ love. The film’s supporting cast Sebastian Rich, Kit Connor, Gemma Jones and Bryce Dallas Howard lend their vocals to the songs as well.
The album truly takes off with “Your Song”, a lovely ballad that may bring tears to your eyes. Even if you do not know John’s repertoire inside out, you would have heard songs like “Crocodile Rock”, “Tiny Dancer” and “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (regardless of whether they were covers or originals performed by the musician himself).
If you have watched the film, songs like “Rocket Man”, "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" and “Goodbye Yellow Road” (Jamie Bell delivers an affecting performance here) are melancholic tunes that will tug at your heartstrings. Tagerton, who voiced Johnny the Gorilla in the animated movie Sing (2016), had performed “I’m Still Standing” in that movie’s finale, something which he also does in this film. A nice touch, we say.
John sings a duet with Egerton on “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”, a song written specially for the movie. It is heartening John himself has shown strong support for this film, and has praised actor Egerton’s singing on the soundtrack. It truly gives this album extraordinary listening experience.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (7) Your Song
Review by John Li
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'FROZEN II' FINDS ELSA ON A QUEST TO SAVE HER KINGDOMPosted on 12 Jun 2019 |
SYNOPSIS: In this thrilling Western, a young boy, Rio (Jake Schur), is forced to go on the run across the American Southwest in a desperate attempt to save his sister (Leila George) from his villainous uncle (Chris Pratt). Along the way, he encounters Sheriff Pat Garrett (Ethan Hawke), on the hunt for the infamous outlaw Billy the Kid (Dane DeHaan). Rio finds himself increasingly entwined in the lives of these two legendary figures as the cat and mouse game of Billy the Kid’s final year of life plays out. Ultimately Rio is forced to choose which type of man he is going to become, the outlaw or the man of valor, and will use this self-realization in a final act to save his family.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Instead of making another Western about the infamous outlaw, Billy the Kid, director and co-writer Vincent D’Onofrio (Netflix’s Daredevil, Jurassic World) crafted a slow-pacing story about truth and respect largely told through the eyes of a 14-year-old kid, Rio (newcomer Jake Schur) who is on the run after killing his abusive father.
On the way to the home of his mother’s friend, Rio stumbles upon the hideout of Billy the Kid (Dane DeHaan) and his gang.Lured by the charismatic Billy, Rio looks up to him as if he is his surrogate brother not knowing that Billy is actually manipulating the young man. At the same time, Billy is captured by the sheriff of Lincoln County, Pat Garret (Ethan Hawke). Rio soon finds himself trapped inbetween the good and the bad and he must make the final decision of sticking with the correct side at the end of the day.
The Kid feels more like a coming-of-age drama rather than a gritty Western as the screenplay struggles with its characterization and narrative. Simply put, it’s a Western that talks too much and too little on the gunplay. The promising prologue and subsequent proceedings established several interesting characters and motive but clearly, none of the setup actually kicks into high gear by the time the movie hits the one hour plus mark.
The standout factor is the casting of Chris Pratt, yes Star Lord who plays the sadistic uncle of Rio. Almost unrecognizable with lots of facial hair, Pratt is genuinely creepy as he joins his The Magnificent Seven co-stars though it’s kind of a pity that his role is reduced to an extended cameo. Hawke and DeHaan provides most of the scenery-chewing and Schur is a potentially a solid young actor to look out for.
Even with D’Onofrio’s best attempt not to tell a generic, formulaic Western, The Kid takes itself too seriously to be truly entertaining despite a high level of testosterone level. Technicalities are impressive and that applies to the entire cast performance as well but ultimately it’s an unmemorable Western.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Making The Kid is a brief 9 minutes making-of feature
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD provides a serviceable Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which features solid audio, ambient and gunfiring effects. Visual quality is commendable for a DVD although certain low light situations are on the weak side.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
Genre: CG Animation
Director: Thurop Van Orman
Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones, Bill Hader, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Eugenio Derbez, Danny McBride, Peter Dinklage
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: Sony Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 5 September 2019
Synopsis: A hilarious all-star cast of new and returning talent are brought together as the flightless birds and scheming green pigs take their beef to the next level.
Movie Review:
The video game may no longer be as popular as it used to be at the start of this decade, but ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ proves that the brand can still live on in feature-length animation form. Like the first movie, the sequel is yet another riotous, often frenetic, exercise in slapstick silliness, but even more than the first movie, its non-stop barrage of jokes hit the comedic bulls-eye.
The threat is no longer green porcine, egg-stealing invaders; instead, our titular flightless protagonists, as well as their former worst enemies, find themselves staring at a new threat from a third island. On this frosty volcano named Eagle Island, a brilliant but embittered eagle named Zeta (voiced by Leslie Jones) has invented a powerful cannon to shoot massive balls of ice at both Bird and Piggy Islands. The motive? Because she is tired of living on a frozen island and would like a tropical vacation.
You can probably imagine that it will take a while before our irritable but insecure hero Red (Jason Sudeikis) can accept a truce with the leader of the pigs, Leonard (Bill Hader), in order for them to work together. In fact, mission success doesn’t rest with the two of them alone, but rather with how well they can work together with the rest of their team, assembled ‘Ocean’s Eleven’-style, that includes the speed demon Chuck (Josh Gad), the explosives expert Bomb (Danny McBride), and the plucky engineer Silver (Rachel Bloom).
Red doesn’t take too well to teamwork – not only does he cling on to his status as the saviour of Bird Island like a security blanket for his underlying sense of worth, he has been acting on his own volition all this while, and cannot quite defer to someone who could be more qualified than he is; that someone, in this case, so happens to be Silver, whose mathematical problem-solving abilities quickly establishes her as the brains of the outfit. But as much as Red may dislike Silver, it isn’t hard to guess that the pair will become lovebirds by the time they manage to save the day.
It is no spoiler that they eventually do; what makes the inevitable worthwhile is the journey packed with madcap set-pieces, puns and needle-drops. The highlights include an utterly hilarious sequence of bathroom hijinks when the group tries to steal an eagle’s ID card at a urinal while disguised in a rickety eagle costume; a random breakdance battle to the tune of ‘Axel F’ between the group still in disguise and the rest of the guards, that ends with the latter grooving to ‘Baby Shark’; and a whole subplot with whales, a boa constrictor and even outer space as a trio of baby-talking hatchlings try to retrieve three of their runaway unhatched siblings.
With full credit to director Thurup Van Orman, who is making his leap to directing after lots of success in TV, there is plenty of wacky fun to be had, even if you can tell the humour (scripted by Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell and Jonathan E. Stewart) is at times go-for-broke. To be sure, it isn’t just the kids who will be entertained; in fact, there are puns like ‘Crazy Rich Avians’, nods to everything from ‘Back to the Future’ to ‘Dawson’s Creek’, and needle-drops like David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ that will keep the adults engaged and entertained.
That the source material is a game whose object was to launch small round birds at green pigs using slingshots proves how far the filmmakers have come in terms of their character design and world-building. Thanks to the exemplary voice cast too, including the likes of Tiffany Haddish and Awkwafina in trusty sidekick roles, the jokes are delivered spot-on with cheek and verve. It is exuberant all right, and even cuckoo-crazy from time to time, but the outrageousness is all part of the fun which ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ aims and often delivers with aplomb. Forget logic, physics and most of all restraint, and you’ll find yourself laughing loud and silly.
Movie Rating:
(As ridiculous as it is wild and wacky, this fast and frenetically-paced sequel is a riotous flight of manic set-pieces, lovable puns and appealing needle-drops)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Lars Klevberg
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, Gabriel Bateman, Tim Matheson, David Lewis, Beatrice Kitsos, Trent Redekop, Mark Hamill
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: M18 (Violence and Gore)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 11 July 2019
Synopsis: A contemporary re-imagining of the 1988 horror classic, Child's Play follows Karen (Aubrey Plaza), a single mother who gifts her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) a Buddi doll, unaware of its more sinister nature.
Movie Review:
If you’re a fan of the Don Mancini series which continues to live on in direct-to-video sequels, chances are that you won’t much like this reboot that Mancini himself has denounced. Whereas the former revelled in campy fun and scares, this new ‘Child’s Play’ by Norwegian director Lars Klevberg and screenwriter Tyler Burton Smith feels utterly mechanical in its treatment of what is essentially a killer doll. Oh yes, other than being gory, there is hardly any fun to be had with this update, which perhaps deliberately chooses not to follow its cousins down the path of self-aware humour and ends up all the more poorer for it.
Frankly, we were disappointed the moment we saw this Internet-of-Things era version of Chucky. Instead of the battery-operated doll which was possessed via voodoo by the soul of a deranged psycho, Chucky is here an animatronic ‘Buddi’ that is supposed to be both its owner’s best buddy (get it?) and an Amazon Alexa-like gadget able to assist in your day-to-day tasks by controlling your home’s smart devices. There is no psycho here too, but rather the workings of a disgruntled employee at a sweatshop in Vietnam, who after being reprimanded and fired by his supervisor, decides to programme a chip without the usual violence-inhibiting functions for one of the ‘Buddi’ dolls, hence resulting in its proclivity for aggression.
Indeed, the conceit here is that Chucky learns his murderous tendencies, than inherits them, by watching such slasher movies as ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2’. As wry as that may be, it is far less compelling than the original – not only does it lack the personality of say the misogynistic killer whose murderous soul now inhabits the innocent-looking doll, this updated premise finds itself bereft of a reason why the doll would even call itself Chucky, simply dismissing it as something utterly random. It doesn’t help that the design of the ‘smart’ next-gen doll here hardly looks as adorable as the old Chucky, a key quality in emphasising the dichotomy between how he looks and how he behaves.
As with the original, Chucky finds his way into the hands of a widowed single mum, who then gifts it to her young son. Mom here is reconceived as Karen (Audrey Plaza), who works at a department store selling them Buddi dolls and is dating a cheating husband Shane (David Lewis). On the other hand, Andy (Gabriel Bateman) is an introverted kid with a hearing disability, who doesn’t get along at all with Sean and has a pet cat with a testy temperament that will (literally) be the death of it. Andy too befriends two kids on the block – Falyn (Beatrice Kitsos) and Pugg (Ty Consiglio) – who will come to his aid when the time calls for it, as well as a friendly African-American cop named Mike (Brian Tyree Henry) living next door with his mom.
Not surprisingly, each of these characters will take turns to have their fateful encounter with Chucky, whose raison d'être for murder evolves from its overprotectiveness of Andy to an overwhelming possessiveness over him. That relationship between Andy and Chucky has always been a pivotal dynamic in the film, given how it will come down to whether Andy manages to overcome his feelings of affection for his toy in order to save his loved ones, but that is somewhat muted here. Even as Andy’s reclusive nature sets him up nicely to develop a bond with his Buddi, we are never really convinced how much Andy really cherishes his animatronic companion, and therefore his eventual sense of resolve to stop Chucky once and for all.
If there is one thing which Klevberg’s version trumps over Mancini’s original, it is the gruesomeness of the murders, which includes death by tiller, death by mechanical buzzsaw and death by vicious stabbing. Oh yes, the violence is R-rated all right, and these scenes are staged such as to appeal to the sadistic crowd likely to cheer on the more inventively macabre they get. Granted that the ‘Child’s Play’ franchise had always played to these pleasures, but at least with the original and its sequels, the killings had the cover of being the work of a deranged individual who was anything but normal, an excuse which this reboot lacks.
Unless therefore you live vicariously through onscreen gore, there is little reason to check out this update of ‘Child’s Play’. Even for millennials who had not grown up with the original Chucky, the Mancini series is probably a better introduction to the infamous character than the reboot. Ultimately, it would have been better if the film had embraced its twisted origins, and gone for the same playful self-awareness which is the franchise’s very cult appeal. By draining that, and turning it into a slick slasher movie, it is just no longer as fun or as cruelly entertaining as it should be. Not everything updated to digital is better than its analog predecessor, and this modernised version of ‘Child’s Play’ is proof of that.
Movie Rating:
(Lacking the playful self-awareness of the original and its sequels, this reboot trades personality for slick displays of violence and gore, and is all the poorer for it)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Action/Crime
Director: Jazz Boon
Cast: Louis Koo, Nick Cheung, Francis Ng, Jiang Peiyao, Joe Ma, Huang Zhizhong, Zhang Yichi, Benjamin Yuen, Joel Chan
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence)
Released By: Clover Films & Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 8 August 2019
Synopsis: A frightening car crash in downtown Hong Kong sparks a war between the local police and the international criminal organizations. Superintendent Yip (Francis Ng) and Inspector Ching (Nick Cheung) from the Criminal Intelligence Bureau (Counter Terrorism) has arrested a female hacker named Yiu involved in the accident. But the two police officers are suspected by Superintendent Cheng (Louis Koo) of the Security Wing. Cheng requests the Commissioner of Police to forbid the two to take part in the investigation. Meanwhile, vital clues led them to the far foreign soil of Myanmar and Spain. Cheng and Ching work together but not hard enough to handle their conflicting ideas. While Yip just can’t trust neither one of them, he himself is being watched by the Commissioner who doubts if Yip is covering up evidences of crimes. The Commissioner believes that there have been moles in their midst and thus, a deep probe into a mysterious gang is needed. While everyone in the Police Force might be a rat, and investigation has gone astray by Yiu’s statements, heads of the department are completely clueless about who is good or evil.
Movie Review:
2016’s ‘Line Walker’ was intended as closure for fans of the TVB drama of the same name, but thankfully, ‘Line Walker 2’ doesn’t simply intend to be an epilogue of the subsequent TVB follow-up. Oh yes, together with screenwriter Cat Kwan, director Jazz Boon has decided to fashion a whole new story around similar themes of brotherhood, dual identities and loyalty, while retaining the original film’s star-studded cast of Nick Cheung, Louis Koo and Francis Ng. And indeed, this sequel is all the better for being associated with its predecessor only in name, for it is a much more compelling, poignant and thrilling film in its own right.
Here, Ng and Cheung play Superintendent Yip and Inspector Ching from the counter-terrorism branch of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau, who are assigned to investigate a suspected terrorist incident in Tsim Sha Tsui where a car had mowed down pedestrians in broad daylight and the driver had slashed his own throat thereafter. Their investigation leads them to independent journalist Yiu (Jiang Peiyao), who had called the police hotline before the incident warning of its imminence. Not only does both Yip and Ching manage to track Yiu down, they save her in the nick of time from a masked assassin looking to kidnap her.
Unfortunately, their subsequent interrogation is cut short by the sudden appearance of Superintendent Cheng (Louis Koo) from the Security Wing, who says he has the authority of the Commissioner of Police (Joe Ma) to take over jurisdiction of the case. That is however not before Yiu reveals that, in chasing a human trafficking story, she and her colleague had stumbled upon a powerful terrorist group which kidnaps children, trains them to be field agents and has used these agents to infiltrate police organisations around the world, including right there in Hong Kong.
That either Yip, Cheng or Ching could very well be working for the said terrorist group is teased unequivocally right from that point on; in particular, one of these three would have been a boy named Tsai in the opening prologue, who had been living in an orphanage in a village in Philippines back in 1987 before he was kidnapped by operatives from the group. That same prologue also establishes one of the trio would be Tsai’s best friend Ah Dee, who had been the target of the kidnappers before Tsai stepped in to save him and was taken instead. Further complicating their relationship is the fact that Yip had been mentor to Cheng and Ching, and even if the latter two do not trust each other, Yip is willing to vouch for them both.
Without giving anything away, let’s just say that who each of these characters are will be revealed midway through the film. As those familiar with the ‘Line Walker’ series will tell you, their identities are by no means synonymous with their loyalties, and indeed the last third explores just where their convictions lie. There is also a strong emphasis on brotherhood, not only between Yip and Cheng/ Ching for having mentored them, but also between Tsai and Ah Dee despite being separated for many years now. Their game of cat-and-mouse with one another, as well as with the larger terrorist group, will take them from Hong Kong to Myanmar and Spain, and the finale in fact unfolds in two locations at the same time.
Kudos to veteran TVB writer Kwan, who having honed her screenwriting skills in similar series such as ‘Lives of Omission’ (better known for ‘Laughing Gor’), constructs a sufficiently twisty narrative that doesn’t end up tying itself in unnecessary knots. It is also to her credit that the characters here are not lost amidst the swift plotting, and that each of the three key roles is defined not just by who they are but also what they believe in and are prepared to defend. All of this unfolds at a brisk clip within a very economical runtime of slightly over one-and-a-half hours, which makes for a thoroughly gripping watch from start to finish.
As with the previous film, ‘Line Walker 2’ enlists famed choreographer Chin Ka-lok as its action director, and there are at least two elaborate set-pieces here to shout about. One of these unfolds along the busy streets of Yangon in and around the iconic Shwedagon pagoda, and is absolutely exhilarating for its sheer display of firepower; the other takes place amidst the annual bull running festival in Spain, and besides the usual shootouts, stages a remarkable high-speed car chase along its streets with rampaging bulls. Ka-lok’s style emphasises authenticity, and the realism, clearly evident, only makes the spectacle even more astounding.
In the same vein, Ka-lok tailors his stunts to his performers, giving Cheung the chance to wow with a one-on-one close-quarter fight aboard a moving bus, as well as both Cheung and Koo to impress with their gunplay amidst an intense firefight in the middle of a busy thoroughfare. But of course, the real draw is watching Ng, Koo and Cheung bounce off one another with the chemistry of seasoned pros that know just how to complement each other; deserving of special mention is Koo, who in only his third film this year, has grown from strength to strength as an actor tackling multi-layered roles like this one here.
Just because of the sheer star power on display, ‘Line Walker 2’ is one of the must-see Hong Kong films this year. Like we said, Ng, Koo and Cheung each bring gravitas to their respective characters, and are simply magnetic to watch next to one another. In every other respect, the production values are strong and even outstanding, right from the very top with its confident directing and scripting, to the action choreography, and to its attention to locale-specific details. It is by far one of the better action thrillers out of Hong Kong in recent years, and we dare say enough to make us hope for another sequel in due course.
Movie Rating:
(Far better than its predecessor, this in-name only sequel retains the chemistry of its heavyweight cast for a gripping, even exhilarating, story of brotherhood, dual identities and loyalty)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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