It has a good story, great visuals and a nice enough soundtrack. The actors did a fantastic job and it was not just the camera tricks but also the success of the emotional moments, for instance when Fujiwara is too shy to take off his shirt at the beach because of his bruises and is Natsuki being understanding and trying to cheer him up that made it a good viewing experience.
I have been longing for a film with just love in it and this one gave me exactly what I was looking for. Great leads, great chemistry and a story we loved so well in Comrades: A Love Story. Even if you don’t like musicals (and I don’t really care for them), this one will give at least visual satisfaction.
This suspense drama with few scare tactics surprised me in its thoughtful, sure handed direction, putting us into the director’s world but at the same time being aware of the social message he conveys. There is nothing new here but the decent camera work and make up deserves praise as well as the two lovely leads, Shu Qi and Karena Lam. It leaves things dangling, hinting at something and never following it up but it didn’t really hurt it for me. I hope Cheang Po Soi directs more films.
A good script and solid cast can work wonders and this humble film is yet another proof of that.
Nice weapons, decent sword action and even if Tsui magic is fading a bit, it is still strong enough to make one eager to watch this more than once.
Triad rivalry films when done this good feel like the old shoe your foot is comfortable in. To has a knack for displaying characters and I love how he mastered the lighting over the years. I can’t say this will be among my most favorite To films but it deserves to be in everyone’s top ten lists even if the HK output had not been this meager in 2005.
Enjoyable with decent action and even for Michael Wong’s horrible in a good way performance. I had fun with this and the action scenes were nice enough.
The only reason this is not above House of Fury is because the visuals were inferior. This is a good comedy despite the fact that its message is hammered in our heads from time to time (maybe that was intentional, to add to the comedy).
The reason this cop drama with three major action scenes is here because of the action scenes. Even though they are not at the caliber of the well known HK martial art action films (meaning don’t expect Jackie, Jet or Bruce quality) they were good to watch and Sammo really not only aged well but also shows his acting chops with relish.
I liked the story and the cast. It is also not really a “head in the clouds” type of film (like the Korean film Jenny and Juno which has the same story) but shows the hard life in a sweet way.
