Genre: Action / Thriller
Running Length: 1:43
Cast: Julian Cheung, Francis Ng, Charmaine Sheh, Louis Cheung, Kent Cheng, Sam Lee
Director: Herman Yau
Screenplay: Erica Lee, Li Sheng
What's this movie about?
A Zika epidemic breaks out in Malaysia and rapidly spreads across the region. A local Malaysian pharmaceutical company claims to have a new but unapproved medicine which could cure the infected patients. In the race for time to get this medicine out, a Hong Kong journalist hot on this case and the eldest son of the pharma company are found dead. It's up to a Malaysian police (Julian Cheung) and a HK police officer (Francis Ng) to investigate and uncover the truth.
Highlights!
Lowlights
In summary
As much as I would like HK films to continue doing what they do best; cops-versus-robber, I am rooting for them to produce successful character-driven action thriller movies worthy of Hollywood standards (or even Korean or Japanese) to spark a revival for its film industry. Unfortunately, THE LEAKERS isn't one of them.
RATING: 5/10
What's this movie about?
A Zika epidemic breaks out in Malaysia and rapidly spreads across the region. A local Malaysian pharmaceutical company claims to have a new but unapproved medicine which could cure the infected patients. In the race for time to get this medicine out, a Hong Kong journalist hot on this case and the eldest son of the pharma company are found dead. It's up to a Malaysian police (Julian Cheung) and a HK police officer (Francis Ng) to investigate and uncover the truth.
Highlights!
- Shot in Penang! Most of this film was shot in Malaysia and that was the main reason I went to check out this film. There's just something patriotic seeing your country used as the backdrop for an 'internationally' released film.
- Francis Ng's performance. To be fair Julian Cheung's performance ain't half bad (his command on the Bahasa Melayu language is "boleh tahan"). But he is easily out-shined here by Ng's nuanced performance where his character uses humour to mask the pain and disappointment he was going through in his domestic life. There is this scene where he had to break a difficult news to a hospitalized patient - wow, that was some serious acting from Francis.
Lowlights
- An overly convoluted plot. Credit should be given to the film's writers for crafting an ambitious narrative (instead of the staple cops-versus-robbers plot) but the end product ended up somewhat short.
- Boring action sequences. I used to love HK action but lately it has been just uninspiring. Cold War 2 got my hopes up a little on this front but the action in this film seems to confirm its downward trend.
In summary
As much as I would like HK films to continue doing what they do best; cops-versus-robber, I am rooting for them to produce successful character-driven action thriller movies worthy of Hollywood standards (or even Korean or Japanese) to spark a revival for its film industry. Unfortunately, THE LEAKERS isn't one of them.
RATING: 5/10
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