PROJECT GUTENBERG, 無雙 (Malaysia, 04 Oct 2018)

Genre: Thriller / Action

Running Length: 2:11

Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Aaron Kwok, Zhang Jingchu, Catherine Chau, Liu Kai-chi, Joyce Feng, David Wang, Alien Sun, Deno Cheung, Justin Cheung

Director: Felix Chong

Screenplay: Felix Chong

What's this movie about?

In PROJECT GUTENBERG, the Hong Kong police is hunting down a mysterious group of counterfeiters led by a mastermind with a code-name "Painter" (Chow). No one has seen him before. 

In order to unmask and track down Painter, the police interrogates a timid Lee Man (Kwok), a former gang member of Painter. Lee was imprisoned in Thailand. He was employed by Painter for his talent of copying paintings to a T. 

And thus begins the Usual Suspects-type of flashback where Lee reveals his time with the gang and the meticulous details of their counterfeiting operations.

Highlights!

Despite the rubbish Chow Yun-Fat has been putting out since his return to Hong Kong, he is extremely watchable here. He channels some of his most iconic screen presence here as a suave gentleman criminal who is capable of bursting out in sudden scary temper tantrums. When he is in the latter mode, Chow's Painter is rash and violent. He is convincingly menacing here. 

The ensemble cast is very capably supported by veteran Liu Kai-chi.  

What I like is also a very detailed exposition on how greenbacks are counterfeited. In fact, it's almost documentary-like with close-ups and hidden details on the US hundred dollar bill.

There are a few homage-to-the 90s action set pieces. It's always nice to see Mr Chow fires up two guns (and two machine guns, hell yeah!) while leaping in slo-mo - eventhough I personally think he's too old for this.    

Lowlights

Aaron Kwok - he is always overacting and he does it here again. He is not a terrible actor but throughout the movie, I was thinking who could have better played his role to give Chow a run for his money.

Overall, this movie is over-bloated and could have benefited from some trimming.  

In summary

Coming from the writer of the modern HK classic Infernal Affairs and starring the legendary Chow Yun-Fat, I had high hopes for Felix Chong's PROJECT GUTENBERG to catch another lightning in a bottle but alas, it's more of a case of 'lightning never strikes the same place twice'. 

Don't get me wrong, everything about the movie was original, entertaining and even educational...until the very last act. 

The last 15 minutes of the movie is a baffling choice coming from someone as capable as Felix. Some viewers would call it, "Brilliant!" but ultimately, it's very much dependent on whether one has seen this other classic movie. 

My reaction was, "Appreciation, not imitation, is the sincerest form of flattery".

RATING: 7/10

COLD WAR 2 (2016)

Genre: Thriller / Action
Running Length: 1:54
Cast: Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Chow Yun-Fat, Charlie Young, Eddie Peng
Director: Longman Leung, Sunny Luk
Screenplay: Jack Ng, Longman Leung, Sunny Luk

Although COLD WAR 2 is not cut from the same cloth as the classic Infernal Affairs (and its sequel), it's a much more engaging outing than its predecessor. This sequel literally picks up where Part 1 left off with a tense rescue drama. And it pretty much maintains its high energy throughout the film.

When the film came to a close, I couldn't help but feel really satisfied until I started thinking more about it. And the more I thought about it, the faster my satisfaction for this film diminished. As opposed to Infernal Affairs, it had a reverse effect. The reason for the comparison is because both films deal with the internal strife and conflict between management and operations in a bureaucratic organization. Both are first a political thriller, then only action.

That said, Infernal Affairs strongly relied on the acting caliber of its leads and superior editing eg. pauses and silence to allow the actors (and the audience) to process and react to a situation, while the Cold War saga uses non-stop camera work and over dramatic soundtrack to convey hammer home a point. I was continually engaged with what's on screen not because of its narrative but because of its unnecessary multiple cuts for a simple action. I had to pay attention to keep track of what's happening. And the soundtrack... oh boy, it doesn't seem to stop throughout the film; a slow track to convey a certain emotion and a loud booming one to emphasize anger and tension.

And if you thought that the first one was serious, this sequel takes it up a few notches. Everyone in this movie is either brooding or stressed up. It just takes itself way too seriously. And the frustrating part is when the movie ends, it doesn't resolve anything but just to reveal that these on-screen characters are pawns of a greater scheme of things. And speaking of the final scene...really??

That said, I still enjoyed Cold War 2. One of the action sequence in a highway tunnel was so heart-stopping it kept me on the edge of my seat (credit to action choreographer Chin Ka Lock). Tony Leung still steals the show with his powerhouse performance, but I must say Aaron Kwok's performance has surprisingly improved too.

Rating: 7.5/10