CHLOE (2010)

RATING: 3/5

When comes to erotic thriller, Atom Egoyan isn't particularly among the favorable candidates spring into mind. In fact, his movies are always cerebral and clinical, regardless what kind of genre he was given to be accomplished of. Movies that touches on the explicit issue of sex, love, obsession and nudity are actually nothing new for Egoyan in which he has previously helmed genre of such in 1994's EXOTICA and 2005's WHERE THE TRUTH LIES. In his latest movie here, his Americanized reinvisioning of 2003's French-language NATHALIE (which re-titled as CHLOE) is an exciting erotic thriller blessed with provocative themes of insecurities, sex and obsession and coupled with a line of top-flight casts. It's also a sleekly-mounted picture so lurid and beautiful you just can't simply take your eyes off the screen. Those are just part of the glossy style that plays so well on its surface that it's quite sad that same cannot be said for the overall of this movie. CHLOE is the kind of movie that could have been better, but Atom Egoyan and Erin Cressida Wilson's adapted screenplay manage only to reach a half-baked point and stays there.

When music professor husband David (Liam Nesson) misses his night flight back home, his gynecologist wife Catherine (Julianne Moore) is very upset of him for not making it for the surprise birthday party she had been organized for quite some time. The following morning, she discovers a text message sent to David by one of his students that proves he was lying about why he was late after all. She starts to suspect David must have been having an affair and she wants to find out about it. And so, she ends up hiring a sultry young call girl named Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) to pick on to David and report back to her how he responds. As Catherine and Chloe constantly meet each other, Chloe keeps telling stories about him that grows more explicit at each meeting. Such stories has ultimately devastated Catherine so much she begins to believe that her husband no longer the person he used to be, and soon finds herself unexpectedly drawn deeper to Chloe -- an obsession that proves to be more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Beneath its half-baked script lies some thought-provoking topics that keeps the movie all the more intriguing to watch for. Among them are how Catherine becomes insecure and delusional that she keeps thinking she's no longer desirable enough for her husband she has suspected all the while. The movie's biggest highlight is of course the brief but intense lesbian scene between her and Chloe, which is no doubt one of the most explicit sex scenes ever filmed (at least for mainstream releases) in recent memory.

The cast is equally top-notch. Amanda Seyfried, who is known for making a successful career in comedies, delivers a tour de force bravura performance as the mysterious call girl with hidden agenda. Not only she is compulsively watchable for all her sultriness and occasional glimpse of nudity, she also believable and sympathetic. As good as she is, her character remains a cipher that Egoyan doesn't seem to dig deep to make her someone we can understand better. It's a minor nitpicking in an otherwise superb role Seyfried tackled with alluring grace. Julianne Moore is similarly impressive as the emotionally-insecure Catherine, while Liam Neeson makes best of his limited screen time playing an effective performance that could have been a thankless role.

Technical credits are first-rate here. In addition to Egoyan's sumptuous direction, cinematographer Paul Sarossy captures a well-shot, moodily icy texture to its Toronto surroundings while Mychael Danna's sneaky music score suitably accompanied the lurid atmosphere of the movie.

READ MORE - CHLOE (2010)

KNIGHT AND DAY (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

Once upon a time, a Hollywood summer movie tentpole would not be complete without delivering an event picture that featured a pair or a couple of A-list superstars. There are also the time when a superstar alone can open a movie. But by today's standard and the increasingly picky and sophisticated audiences, such gimmick is no longer a trend whatsoever. Which is why, it's a refreshing delight to see the once-trendy gimmick made a comeback in KNIGHT AND DAY, which paired two major movie stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Not only that, the movie has all the right ingredients of a potential summer hit as well -- spectacular action, gorgeous locations and a crowd-pleasing genre of action-comedy-romance hybrid thrown into the mix. Well, that is at least for the first half of the movie before everything is bogged down with overlong expositions and terribly hackneyed (not to mention equally lazy) payoff.

Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) has his eyes particularly on June Havens (Cameron Diaz) the moment he spots her in a busy airport. While Roy has a secret agenda of his own, June is preparing to board a flight back home for her sister, April's (Maggie Grace) wedding. In a series of fixed coincidences, they bump into each other for a few times before both of them getting on the same plane. It is ironic that the plane has only few passengers onboard but nevertheless they quickly get to know each other. When June excused herself to go to the bathroom, who is in turn actually planning her next move, Roy is besieged by the other passengers, flight attendants and pilots, killing all of them in a slick fashion. With everyone else dead, Roy has no choice but to crash-land the plane in a cornfield. It was certainly a freaked-out night for June and Roy has done a favor by drugging her into sleep. June wakes up the next morning in her own bed in Boston, wondering what has happened earlier. Too bad that's not the last time she will ever see Roy, and it doesn't take long before they meet each other again -- this time in a highway chase -- which also involved some pursuits by mysterious federal agents lead by Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard). And again, Roy manages to save June from total harm. From there, she has unwittingly involved in a globe-trotting adventure that takes her far away from home which includes journey to Austria, France and Spain. Amidst all the confusion and danger, June starts to fall in love with Roy and also gradually learns that Roy is actually protecting a valuable new energy source invented by Simon Feck (Paul Dano) from falling at the wrong hands.

The first half of the movie is no doubt a spectacular entertainment that blessed with Patrick O'Neill's snappy screenplay and James Mangold's smooth direction. This is especially fun when things doesn't reveal much of the characters' motivations and the surprises alone is just compulsively watchable. The action is also top-notch and well-staged, at least for the first half, especially in the earlier scenes involving the fight sequence inside the airplane; the crash-landing scene down into the cornfield; and a spectacular car chase at the highway. Both Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are absolute delight to watch for, as they ooze enough charisma and sex appeal that they are certainly having a whole lot of fun playing their roles without taking things too seriously.

KNIGHT AND DAY could have been a wholesome summer hit, if not for its second half which grows weaker and lazily-constructed at each passing minutes. It is as if everything from there is done in a rushed job. All of the sudden, O'Neill lively script gradually turns sour and loses steam with little enthusiasm. Even Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz overstay their welcome long before the movie is over. The action is also less exciting from what that has came before, and worst, they are over-reliant on CGI -- evidently in the climatic finale involving a motorcycle chase during the running of the bulls.

Not a perfect popcorn flick one might expect in the first place, but at least this half-baked effort remains a a worthwhile summer entertainment.

READ MORE - KNIGHT AND DAY (2010)

JONAH HEX (2010)

RATING: 0/5

At the first glance, JONAH HEX looks like something of a unique comic-book movie. Based on the cult DC comics of the same name, the movie's mix of old-fashioned fashion with additional supernatural twist is no doubt puts a fascinating spin on the genre. But too bad the movie is a train wreck from minute one. Heck, JONAH HEX was one of the most troubled productions ever seen in recent memory. Extreme writing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, of CRANK fame, are originally slated to direct the movie but retained their screenwriting credits and chose to left the production due to "creative differences". Since then, the movie has underwent to several last-minute reshoots, with some tinkering by I AM LEGEND director Francis Lawrence. No doubt it's a bloated mess of epic proportions that what's left is a movie so bland and terribly uninspired it's very embarrassing to witness this as one of the worst comic-book adaptations ever made.

Set around the Civil War, we first learn that Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin), a dedicated Confederate soldier who is captured by the vengeful Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich) for responsible of killing his outlaw son. Turnbull made Hex watches his family is burned alive and brands him with a huge scar across the side of his face before disappearing into the night. Hex is then subsequently taken in by Native Americans, who bring him back from near death and granted him with the supernatural power to talk to the dead. But before Hex can exact his vengeance, he learns that Turnbull has already died and goes on becoming a bounty hunter where he travels the countryside. Every now and then, he will stop by to see Lilah (Megan Fox), a prostitute with a heart of gold and the only person she feels sympathy for the disfigured loner. Then Turnbull reappears out of nowhere to steal vital components to a mega-cannon from the U.S. government and the big heist on the train attack immediately put President Grant (Aidan Quinn) into full attention. He orders Lieutenant Grass (Will Arnett) to bring Hex in to take Turnbull down because he strongly believes that Hex is the country's only hope to stop the country's first "terrorist".

Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are hardly known for their subtlety in term of crafting a decent screenplay, which is as evident as their go-for-broke, extreme cinema of CRANK and CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE. But there's nothing extreme here whatsoever and instead, it's a terribly cliched script that goes as lazy as possible. The opening prologue is way too brief to explain the origin of what made Jonah Hex into a vigilante anti-hero and no amount of emotion are invested in Jonah's quest to kill Turnbull for slaying his family.

Despite its scant 80-minutes length, the movie remains a time waster which doesn't even know how to ape a least guilty-pleasure entertainment of any kind. Director Jimmy Hayward, whose sole directing credit comes from last year's HORTON HEARS A WHO!, was a lightweight filmmaker who is obviously a work-for-hire with little love of comic-book mythology whatsoever. He has no sense of pacing and style when comes to deliver engaging set pieces other than relying on random cuts and poorly-edited action sequences that is neither worthwhile or enjoyable.

The cast fares worst as well, with Josh Brolin is terribly wasted as Jonah Hex. Though he has the gruff look this side of Clint Eastwood, his supposedly cool-as-ice character is washed away by unremarkable dialogues and wooden acting. That also goes with John Malkovich, who hams it up in one of his worst bad-guy performances he ever handled in his career. Last but not least is the equally wasted Megan Fox, who is nothing more than looking sexy in a tight little corset.

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CROSSING HENNESSY (2010)

RATING: 2/5

Judging from its breezy trailer, Ivy Ho's CROSSING HENNESSY is easily seen as a romantic comedy that sees stars Jacky Cheung and Tang Wei falling in love for each other. But thanks to its misleading marketing campaign, the movie is more of an unconventional dramedy that focuses on a slice-of-life quirky melodrama between a small scale of characters in Hong Kong's Hennessy Road. Its non-commercial approach is something unique of the norm, but unfortunately Ivy Ho's surprisingly lackluster direction, bizarre mix of hugely odd and mundane undertone, and languid storyline that doesn't quite find a proper footing -- makes this would-be otherwise decent little movie a huge disappointment.

Loy (Jacky Cheung) is a forty-something underachiever who spends most of his time slacking around and likes to sleep a lot. He still lives with his widowed mother (Paw Hee-Ching) and helps run the family's air-conditioner business. His mother has increasingly fed up of watching him fooling around and desperately wants him to get married as soon as possible. And so she sets up a date with Oi Lin (Tang Wei), who helps her uncle selling toilets and bathroom appliances down the Hennessy Road. But the problem is, both of them doesn't exactly wanted to meet each other. On the other hand, Oi Lin already has a boyfriend, Xu (Andy On) who is about to be released from prison. Adding the complication is Loy's ex-girlfriend, Mina Siu (Maggie Cheung Ho-Yee) who reappears in his life and somewhat misses their moment being together. On the other side of the story, Loy's mother is facing a problem of her own when she learns her sister (Mimi Chu) is somewhat falling for Uncle Ching (Danny Lee).

The good thing about this movie is its believable and unglamorous characters in an authentic setting. There is nothing fairy tale-like at all as Ivy Ho paints a day-to-day picturesque life of Hong Kong's Hennessy Road and how the local people goes on with their equally mundane life on and off. The cast are also especially pleasant to watch for. Seasoned veterans including Paw Hee-Ching's lively performance as an obsessive mother with sassy attitude; Mimi Chu's poignant role as a lifelong spinster, and it's nice to see the long-missed Danny Lee in a subdued, yet charming performance. Other supporting actor, notably Andy On is surprisingly credible as a hot-tempered guy who likes to solve every of his problem through anger and violence.

Except for Jacky Cheung, who supposed to be the main highlight of the cast, is very disappointing here. The biggest problem about his appearance that he is rather miscast as the forty-something underachiever who behaves like an overgrown child. Try as hard as he may, he doesn't look convincing enough to pull off such demanding role and most of the time he ends up looking more pathetic to watch for.

Of all the cast, it is Tang Wei who made the biggest impact here. One of her biggest achievements here is that she speaks her own Cantonese dialogue without the typical aid of sloppy audio dubbing often plagued in local productions, and she does so with equal success. Her laid-back attitude and girl-next-door attitude is certainly very delightful to watch for, and whose porcelain beauty is so pleasing you can't afford to take your eyes off her. This is no doubt a memorably fine performance for her that she proves to be no fluke after her hugely controversial turn in 2007's LUST, CAUTION.

Ivy Ho's screenplay is heavily uneven, with especially romance to be seen between Loy and Oi Lin. While there are worthwhile moments of such toward the end, especially in an unconventional but sweet ending where they finally rekindled their mutual relationships together in a coffee shop but too bad there are just too late and too little to be justify as a coherent whole. The story isn't really funny either, with some of them looks very forced. Odd scenes like the one involving all those painfully unfunny dream sequences of Loy's deceased father (Lowell Lo) and a mysterious Indian man (Gill Mohindepaul Singh) are awkwardly displayed and seemingly out of place.

Jacky Cheung's jazzy tune, Lucky in Love, which played in the end credit is no doubt breezy enough to complement the laid-back nature of this movie. Except that everything else are mostly half-baked.

READ MORE - CROSSING HENNESSY (2010)

THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

Banking on the current "it" martial-art genre of Wing Chun, which is evident on the hugely successful IP MAN (2008) and this year's IP MAN 2 (2010), it's not surprising that more filmmakers wanted to jump in the bandwagon as well. Such case is Herman Yau's THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN, a prequel that explores the early life of Ip Man as a teenager before he became the master we're all familiar with Donnie Yen's memorable portrayal. Despite the prequel is not headlined with top martial-art superstar like Donnie Yen in IP MAN movies, the movie is fairly entertaining if not overly familiar that aped too much on Wilson Yip's equally formulaic templates.

We first learn that the young Ip Man (played by real-life kungfu champ Dennis To) is trained by his master Chan Wah-Shun (Sammo Hung, in a cameo appearance) ever since he was a kid before his eventual death. Ip Man continues to learn Wing Chun from his senior, Ng Chung-Sok (Yuen Biao) who is now Chan Wah-Shun's immediate replacement. Ip Man is then leaving Foshan to study in Hong Kong's St. Stephen's College. While playing in a hockey tournament, he is subsequently bullied and humiliated by foreigners, in which they love to look down Chinese people like him. He steps up for a challenge against one of the cocky foreigners and beats him down in a matter of minutes. He is gradually earned respect from a small community in Hong Kong. But it is not until he meets a medicine practitioner named Leung Bik (real-life Wing Chun master, Ip Chun) who is actually the son of Leung Jan, Chan Wah-Shun's teacher. Apparently both Leung Bik and Chan Wah-Shun are rivals back then because both of them adapt a different style of Wing Chun. In an ensuing short duel between Ip Man and Leung Bik in the medical hall, Ip Man is soon learn that there are more adaptable style of Wing Chun than he ever imagined. Four years later, Ip Man returns to Foshan in which he is subsequently falling in love with Cheung Wing-Shing (Huang Yi), the daughter of the vice-mayor Cheung Ho-Tin (Lam Suet). Her father is particularly disliked of Cheung Wing-Shing hanging out with a fighter like Ip Man whom he think they have no future together. Added to the complication is Ip Man's fellow disciple, Lee Mei-Wai (Rose Chan) who also happened to hold a secret crush for him ever since they were kids. That's not all, Ip Man's stepbrother, Ip Tin-Chi (Fan Siu-Wong) loves Lee Mei-Wai and apparently he's a Japanese spy-in-disguise.

With too many stories overlapping one after another, it's quite disappointing that Erica Li's screenplay is glaringly heavy-handed. The biggest weakness in this movie isn't just its enormous predictability but also the fact that the story focuses too much on unnecessarily overlong subplot involving romantic complications between Ip Man, Cheung Wing-Shing, Lee Mei-Wai and Ip Tin-Chi. That romantic angle itself is simply suffocated the flow of the overall movie it bogged down the pace into a near standstill. Adding to the injury is the movie's second-half that focuses on the all-too-familiar Japanese occupation which is by now, very cliched.

The cast are adequate at best. Veterans by the likes of Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao are efficient in their roles, but too bad the main actors are lackluster. Dennis To is particularly the biggest weakness of them all. While he bears obvious resemblance to Donnie Yen, his performance is far wooden he's quite a bore to watch for. Except that he manages to excel in his martial-art prowess that he is no doubt a new martial-art star to be watched for in the future.

Herman Yau's direction is surprisingly pedestrian and it's sad he have to fall victim with the same old templates the two IP MAN movies have preceded earlier. Still, the movie remains a fairly engaging entertainment, thanks to its well-choreographed action sequence. Such memorable scenes including Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao's blindfolded duel and of course, the short duel between Dennis To and Ip Chun are among the highlights of the movie. These are all done with more authenticity but not until the over-the-top ending in which glaring wireworks are used to enhance the fighting sequence between Ip Man and a small army of Japanese villains, lead by Yumi (Bernice Liu).

While the movie is not as sensational as those two IP MAN movies, THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN does stands on its own as a worthy addition of sorts.

READ MORE - THE LEGEND IS BORN: IP MAN (2010)

BLACK RANSOM (2010)

RATING: 1/5

There are two words best described for writer/producer Wong Jing and director Keung Kwok-Man's latest cop thriller, BLACK RANSOM: painfully routine. Pretty much like their 2007's BULLET AND BRAIN, the movie is both awfully generic and awkwardly offbeat with all those annoying Wong Jing's comedy trademark thrown into the mix.

Mann (Simon Yam) is a veteran cop who once a top marksman but now has fallen on tough times since the death of his wife at the hands of the triads. He is currently leading a small team, consisting of Spring (Vincent Wong) and tough-guy fighter Rocky (Xing Yu) in which they are assigned to investigate a kidnapping case of a notorious triad member Tang Qing (Parkman Wong). Aided by their new superintendent Koo (Fala Chen), they soon learn that the mastermind behind the kidnapping involved an ex-cop named Sam (Michael Miu). Apparently he holds ransom against Tang Qing has something to do with his dark past. To make things complicated, Sam is also suffered a dilemma between two girls of his love: his current partner-in-crime, Can (Qu Ying) and his ex, Eva (Liu Yang). Added to the complication is Ice (Kenny Wong), a triad boss who is later revealed for responsible of causing Sam's brother died in a hit-and-run accident.

It's a huge shame that given an impressive cast headlined by veterans Simon Yam and Michael Miu, Wong Jing and Keung Kwok-Man doesn't bother to make an effort to craft an effective piece of entertainment. Sure, there are moment of worthwhile action set-piece, notably in the middle part involving a daylight crossfire between the cops and the bad guys in the street (except for the CGI bullet-time effect that is particularly a turn-off here). Unfortunately, the action is surprisingly kept to a minimum and instead wasting too many times setting a lot of build-up and unnecessary subplots that gradually dragged the movie down. It's easy to say that just about everything in this movie is as lazy as it goes. Not even the equally lazy finale involving a supposedly tense face-off between Xing Yu and Andy On in a duel that is overly-choreographed with laughable wireworks.

As for the cast, Simon Yam goes subdued here and doesn't showcase much of his acting prowess to channel into an effective role. Instead, his Zen-like character in which he is able to read the mind of criminals is borderline laughable. Michael Miu fares slightly better here, but too bad the filmmakers doesn't make full use of a would-be memorable confrontation between him and Simon Yam, which could have made the movie all the more compelling effort. Likewise, as in a movie produced by Wong Jing, the girls here are easy on the eyes particularly for Fala Chen and Liu Yang while there are no surprise these girls are extremely underused other than focusing on their mere beauty.

BLACK RANSOM is a huge, missed opportunity that could have been better. What a waste of effort.

READ MORE - BLACK RANSOM (2010)

THE KARATE KID (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

At the first glance, a remake of the original THE KARATE KID (1984) is wholly unnecessary but you can't blame of Hollywood for lacking of fresh ideas nowadays. But surprisingly, this 2010 remake manages to hold on its own. Not only that, it's also a decidedly faithful remake with a few minor differences aside (the teen characters have now reduced to preteens and the setting has been changed from California to Beijing). The rest is more of the same: a formulaic underdog story that director Harald Zwart and screenwriter Christopher Murphy and Robert Mark Kamen follows closely to the genre convention without bringing anything new to the table. The result is thankfully decent enough, except that the movie is unbelievably overlong (which is clocking at 140 minutes!).

Preteen Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves from Detroit to Beijing, China with his mother (Taraji P. Henson) after she lands a new job. Not surprisingly, he feels awkward and unhappy in his new surrounding especially facing a whole different culture that he have tough time trying to adapt properly. Things get worse when he ends up being bullied and beaten up by a mean-looking Chinese kid named Cheng (Wang Zhenwei) in the public park after making a big mistake of picking on the sweet, violin-playing classmate Meiying (Han Wenwen). Since then, Dre grows scared as Cheng and his fellow classmates like to bully him each time they crosses path. But this is not until Dre finally seeks help from his apartment building's janitor, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) to teach him how to self-defense. Mr. Han, a lonely guy with a dark past who doesn't speaks much, is reluctant at first but subsequently agrees to do so, shortly after he make a promise with Cheng's ruthless karate teacher, Master Li (Yu Rongguang) for an upcoming tournament that will have Dre squaring off against Cheng. At the beginning, Dre have tough time trying to adapt with the way of Mr. Han's strict learning skill but gradually understands the motive behind it and also unexpectedly forms a solid friendship with him as well.

Despite all the enormous predictability, the movie is largely saved from a line of better-than-average cast. Jaden Smith is no doubt a superstar-in-the-making. Although he is still a preteen, he is both absorbing and sympathetic as Dre Parker who has the same attitude and charisma the way his famous father, Will Smith has. Jackie Chan, on the other hand, is a surprise revelation. He's never known as an actor with dramatic chops, not at least in the Hollywood he's been working here since RUSH HOUR (1998), but he manages to pull off an engaging performance as a man with a wisdom full of grace, simplicity and authority. This is no doubt his most matured screen turn he ever had in his longtime career. While he is reduced to a more supporting part who doesn't really fights a lot as one might have hoped for, at least there is a memorable highlight where he is first squaring off against a bunch of bullies lead by Cheng with his graceful kungfu skills without punching any of them. The rest of the supporting actors are equally credible, even for what would have been a thankless role for Taraji P. Henson as Dre's overly-concerned mother.

The other good thing about this movie, is cinematographer Roger Pratt and director Harald Zwart's keen attention to detail of day-to-day life in China. Unlike most Hollywood movies which always showcased China as skeletal as possible, they manage to capture the true essence of what China really looks and feels like -- ranging from the exotic to the commonplace of the community.

As decent as the movie manages to pull off handsomely, it's still a highly-flawed entertainment that Harald Zwart could have take notice. An unnecessarily overlong subplot involving a puppy love between Dre and Meiying takes too much time to develop the whole scenario, while it remains skeptical of the filmmakers' odd choice to name this movie as THE KARATE KID whereas the main premise doesn't focus on karate, but instead as kungfu (back then, the movie is actually called as THE KUNGFU KID before the studio finally settled for the brand name). Another glaring problem is the casting of Jaden Smith himself. Though as good as he is in the acting department, one might feel odd of thinking a street-smart kid like him doesn't qualify enough to be a underdog. Perhaps he is too cute or a little too confident for such role, but that's just minor nitpicking. Lastly, the would-be engaging finale in the tournament where Dre is squaring off a bunch of opponents before finally settling down against Cheng, isn't as exciting as one might hoped for. Surprisingly, the finale is more like an afterthought and this is where the filmmakers should have put more effort.

READ MORE - THE KARATE KID (2010)

TRIPLE TAP (2010)

RATING: 2.5/5

After the cinematic misfire of the highly-ambitious but bloated gangster drama SHINJUKU INCIDENT (2009), it's fair to say that Derek Yee's TRIPLE TAP looks promising enough worth checking out for. After all, TRIPLE TAP is actually a sequel of sorts to DOUBLE TAP (2000), in which he produced the movie and the one that starred the late Leslie Cheung. No doubt DOUBLE TAP was one of the best Hong Kong's action movies of the decade and it's no surprise that expectation is very high for TRIPLE TAP. What's more, it's also featured two of among today's hottest actors working today in the form of Louis Koo and Daniel Wu as the leads. But thanks to misleading marketing campaign and subsequent trailers that suggesting TRIPLE TAP follows the similar path of DOUBLE TAP proves to be an entirely different story altogether. Instead of an enjoyable movie that leans toward all the more action-packed vibe, TRIPLE TAP is a highly-complex, psychological thriller focusing on the battle of wits where word speaks louder than action.

The movie starts out promisingly with a tense showdown between a successful investment banker named Ken Kwan (Louis Koo) and a by-the-book police detective, Jerry Chong (Daniel Wu), at an amateur shooting competition where they first meet as friendly adversaries. To Jerry's surprise, he finds out Ken manages to beat his all-time record who mastered the shooting technique, not twice but three time so lightning fast in exactly the same spot. After the competition, Ken is on his way somewhere when he stumbles upon an armored truck heist at the underpass. During the heist, Ken reacts by gunning down four of the masked robbers after an unfortunate traffic cop (Andrew Lin) is being shot. However, the last robber (Chapman To) manages to escape. Ken's reckless action for shooting down the criminal may have been against the law, but his act of bravery and especially for saving the live of a traffic cop immediately made him a media attention. Still, he is facing criminal charges for illegal uses of firearm. At first, Jerry has his own share of doubts over Ken's involvement in the shooting incident but Ken is fortunate enough to be proven not guilty during the court trial and being set free. Jerry remains skeptical because he believes Ken has a hidden agenda lying somewhere in between. On the other side, Ken is facing pressure of his own as he is seeing both women of his love -- one is Anna Shaw (Li Bingbing), her superior who often keeps a watchful eye of his ever-growing career in the investment banking firm, and another is a sweet-looking nurse named Ting (Charlene Choi). Soon enough, the missing robber is coming back to stalk Ken and this is where the suspicion has subsequently escalating to the point that Jerry begins to believe Ken might be the mastermind behind the armored truck heist after all.

Despite a promising start, which includes the armored truck heist sequence that is nevertheless packed an engaging wallop, the movie is frequently undermined by its weighty issue of deep psychological evaluation. It's a kind of rare these days that a highly-commercial Hong Kong movie like TRIPLE TAP which uses such genre that commonly seen in Hollywood counterparts. No doubt it deserved somewhat a praise for attempting something out of the usual norm of a typical Hong Kong crime thriller. Except it's too bad that the plot, written by Chun Tin-Nam, Lau Ho-Leung and Derek Yee, is heavy-handed that ultimately drags the movie a lot. It's also painfully slow-moving, especially the movie isn't engaging enough as one might hoped for. It doesn't help either when the movie deals with too many subplots regarding about Ken's relationship difficulties between Shaw and Ting.

The supposedly top-notch cast are somewhat mixed bag, with Louis Koo trying too hard to channel a multifaceted character. Too bad he's not as versatile as the late Leslie Cheung in the first movie. Instead most of the time Koo is looking wooden and surprisingly lackluster, especially given the fact he has been doing so good in a complex role for last year's ACCIDENT. Daniel Wu, on the other hand, is credible if nothing much to shout about as the straight-arrow cop. The rest of the supporting actors are sadly undermined, especially good actors like Li Bingbing and Alex Fong, who returns as Miu Chi-Shun, the burnt-out cop who appeared in the first movie.

Perhaps the biggest fault is Derek Yee's overly-ambitious direction for combining DOUBLE TAP and last year's OVERHEARD (in which he also produced) to craft a layered plot that not only involved with the art of shooting pattern but also a story about corporate chicanery. But for a title that goes as obvious as TRIPLE TAP, one might logically expected the movie to be more relevant with the subject matter about shooting and usage of firearm. Sadly that particularly relevant topic only deals at the beginning and the finale. And speaking of the finale, the one-on-one duel between Ken and Jerry outside the hospital is somewhat disappointing, in which the payoff is too short and too little to justify as the entire whole.

TRIPLE TAP isn't a burning sensation as the high anticipation have suggested in the first place but remain decent enough to be watched for.

READ MORE - TRIPLE TAP (2010)

ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW (2009)

RATING: 3/5

Based on writer-director Alex Law's own childhood memories, ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW is a good old-fashioned, slice-of-life melodrama that is rarely seen in Hong Kong cinema these days. On the bright side, this kind of long-forgotten genre is a refreshing comeback of sorts. The good news is, this movie is throughout engaging and heartwarming that successfully replicating the bygone era of the 1960s Hong Kong lifestyle. It's just too bad it falls short of higher expectation of this would-be masterpiece of a cinematic experience: the movie is too cliched, melodramatic, borderline saccharine and at times preachy for its own good.

Told in the child's perspective of a goofy eight-year-old boy nicknamed Big Ears (Buzz Chung), he lives with his strict shoemaker father, Mr Law (Simon Yam), his street-smart mother, Mrs Law (Sandra Ng), and his 16-year-old brother, Desmond (Aarif Lee), a role model of his and athletic student who adores The Monkees. Big Ears has always dream of becoming an astronaut (in which he is frequently seen running around with a glass bubble in his head) and of course, eating a whole order of double-yolk moon cakes. Throughout the movie, we sees him narrating the ongoing story of how his hardworking parents has been working day, running their little shoe store on a small neighborhood street in Shamsuipo. Much of their earnings are spent for their sons' school fees. In the meantime, Desmond has been doing great at school while pursuing his first love with the wealthy and sweet-looking Flora (Evelyn Choi). Of course, it is also not forgotten that 1960s was among the turbulent era of bad economy, corruption and typhoon that subsequently affected the life of the Law family. Worst still, it doesn't take long before Desmond is unexpectedly suffered from terminal illness and the Laws have tough time trying to cope with their ongoing difficulties.

Alex Law's universal theme of family, love, hope and determination is beautifully captured here with earnest sentimentality. In addition to that, the movie's part of the success comes from its authentic local flavor that evokes the nostalgic memories -- the kind that audiences can identify with. Not forgetting also is Charlie Lam's soft-focused cinematography that effectively captured the 1960s Hong Kong and Alex Law's meticulous details over everything from its old setting right down to its costume with superb clarity.

But of course, ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW remains best seen for its excellent cast. Simon Yam is particularly top-notch in his perfectly subdued role as a cranky father whose emotion speaks a thousand word, while Sandra Ng in her usual witty self but heartfelt performance as the optimistic-minded mother. Still, two relative newcomers manage to steal much of the limelight from these two veterans. Singer Aarif Lee, who is somewhat bears resemblance of Wang Lee Hom, is engaging and sympathetic. Buzz Chung is another striking revelation -- a child prodigy who is a natural in front of the camera -- and the kind of gifted actor who is destined for better future ahead.

The downside of the movie is Law's somewhat ignorance to convey the more political issues of the era that could have strengthen the overall drama. ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW is not as great as one might hoped for, but as far as today's Hong Kong cinema goes, it's a kind of movie fairly deserved a standing ovation.

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CRAZY HEART (2009)

RATING: 2.5/5

In this Scott Cooper's directing debut, CRAZY HEART, the movie centers on a 57-year-old alcoholic and onetime legendary country singer/songwriter Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) who is now in a career slump touring hundreds of miles a day in his beat-up truck to play numerous gigs in bowling alleys and bars with a different set of local musicians every night. When he is not performing, he spends most of his time getting drunk with cheap whiskey. But things about to change when he agrees for an interview with struggling young music writer and single mom Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Nevertheless they become friends and eventually falling for each other. And then comes an opportunity for Blake with an offer from his manager (James Keane) to have him open a big show for Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), a onetime member of Bad's backup band who's now grooming into a country superstar.

The premise of this movie is certainly nothing new or particularly refreshing at all. Not surprisingly, Scott Cooper's adapted screenplay (which is based on Thomas Cobb's downbeat novel) is terribly shopworn and feels more like a disposable, made-for-cable Hallmark melodrama.

Thankfully the movie is largely saved by none others than Jeff Bridges, with one of his finest performances ever seen in his long-time acting career. He gives Bad Blake a rough charm and grizzled revelations that made him so natural to watch for. Not only that, he is also simply amazing in his vocal ability. Thanks to T. Bone Burnett, who is one of the movie's producers, Bridges sings a number of country songs like a seasoned pro you might be mistaken him as a singer after all. All the tunes are catchy, quotable and poignant that the whole soundtrack itself made this movie all the worthwhile. The rest of the supporting performances, including Maggie Gyllenhaal and Colin Farrell play their respective parts equally well while Robert Duvall gives a perfectly low-key performance as Blake's old friend, Wayne.

On top of that is Barry Markowitz's perfectly atmospheric cinematography which captures the splendor of southwestern landscape of this movie.

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