A great and thrilling concept stuffed into a melodramatic package.
Johnnie To is a name that most people associate with great films, but I on the other hand can't quite 100% agree. I always find his films, while action packed, often poorly written and filled with melodrama. This film is no different.
A big gripe was the writing. There's this doctor character thrown whose storyline is quite prominent. It doesn't have much of a payoff, so it's strong presence seems odd. Then there's the silly moments. A paralyzed man falling down the stairs and being able to walk, a gun jamming not once but numerous times over and over just for the sake of drama. Even someone cocking a gun in the middle of emptying a clip. C'mon Johnnie, you make films with guns all the time! Learn how they work!
The main action set piece is a disappointment too. It's a long, one take (aided by trick editing and CGI) pf a gunfight. In theory it sounds amazing, and it does touch on greatness, but there's two big flaws in it. The musical choice is terrible. An unfitting song with unfitting lyrics. The 2nd flaw is that everyone looks like they're doing that "pretend slowmo run" that people do when they're fooling around. It's terribly laughable and sucks the drama out of the scene completely.
I wanted to be thrilled by this, but by the lackluster ending I was left disappointed.
Johnnie To is a name that most people associate with great films, but I on the other hand can't quite 100% agree. I always find his films, while action packed, often poorly written and filled with melodrama. This film is no different.
A big gripe was the writing. There's this doctor character thrown whose storyline is quite prominent. It doesn't have much of a payoff, so it's strong presence seems odd. Then there's the silly moments. A paralyzed man falling down the stairs and being able to walk, a gun jamming not once but numerous times over and over just for the sake of drama. Even someone cocking a gun in the middle of emptying a clip. C'mon Johnnie, you make films with guns all the time! Learn how they work!
The main action set piece is a disappointment too. It's a long, one take (aided by trick editing and CGI) pf a gunfight. In theory it sounds amazing, and it does touch on greatness, but there's two big flaws in it. The musical choice is terrible. An unfitting song with unfitting lyrics. The 2nd flaw is that everyone looks like they're doing that "pretend slowmo run" that people do when they're fooling around. It's terribly laughable and sucks the drama out of the scene completely.
I wanted to be thrilled by this, but by the lackluster ending I was left disappointed.