Stars Andy Lau, Tony Yang, Shu Qi, Zhang Jingchu with Jean Reno and Eric Tsang Directed by Stephan Fung The heist film is often a fun and entertaining time in the cinema (really looking forward to Logan Lucky at this time), especially when it’s done right. I’ve enjoyed fares such as How To Steal A Million (1966), Who’s Minding the Mint? (1967), The Italian Job (1969 and 2003), Refifi (1955) even the likes of Now You See Me (2013), Fast Five (2011) and Mission: Impossible (1996) or Once a Thief (1991, NOT the 1996 TV movie) which this movie is based on. Like in the John Woo flick, a bunch of thieves pull off a heist as a form of revenge, although the catch in that one was that Chow Yun-Fatt’s character was in a wheelchair and still trying to pull off a heist. Here, the leader is Zhang (Andy Lan) who was betrayed and sent to prison for stealing a piece of a three-part treasure. Coming out five years later, he’s got French cop Pierre (Jean Reno) on his case while he picks up where he left off and goes after the two remaining pieces of the treasure, Zhang’s technical cohort is Po (Tony Yang), there’s a transport guy who sometimes turns up when convenient, and a new member, Red (Shu Qi), an obvious wild card. Their boss is Kong, played by Eric Tsang. This being a China/Hong Kong flick, the technical aspects of the heist are way off the improbability charts, and yet, ridiculously fun (spider-bots, fingerprint-copying corset). The action and direction are good enough to not rely on too much CGI effects, even when they’re obvious. The use of real locations is a nice treat too. Andy Lau generally breezes through the movie with ease, playing off his co-stars with aplomb, getting fairly good chemistry with Jean Reno. He carries the movie with easy charm as you’d expect from Hong Kong’s hardest working performer (4 movies this year so far, with 6 in the last year alone, including an appearance in the Jackie Chan adventure, Railroad Tigers, and a role in The Great Wall opposite Matt Damon). Shu Qi might be the other internationally recognised star (The Transporter (2002), Journey to the West (2013), The Assassin (2015) among many more) and she continues to never be the damsel and holding her own against her male teammates. While it is lacking in terms of fisticuffs, the action comes more from the chases, with a spectacular set-pieces through the streets of Marseilles. There isn’t much complexity to the plot and the streamlined story serves to entertain without much ado about anything else. It’s not quite up there with the John Woo flick, but it does the job to keep one entertained. Most of these romps usually are since you're technically rooting for the bad guys. Rating: ***1/2 / 5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support.
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