SYNOPSIS:
The rise of Ronin Gang, a band of notorious robbers
affected the lives of three policemen drastically. Each of
the three policemen: Fang, Jing Hau and Chen have their own
stories but are motivated to achieve a common goal: to bring
Jiang (starring Wu Jing), the leader of the Ronin Gang to
justice. However, it was also during the intense period of
tracking the Ronin Gang that the three learnt about the presence
of a prominent figure in the police force who is in cahoots
with Jiang…
MOVIE REVIEW:
Benny Chan has a track record of directing action-filled movies
ever since he hit gold with “EU Strike Force”
back in 1996. This is followed by a directing stint on the
Jackie Chan’s flick, “Who Am I” which propelled
his career further. Subsequently, the Western audience start
to take notice of him when he took on the Jackie Chan produced
“Gen-X Cops” series and the rest they say is history.
In
recent years, Benny has tried shifting his gears to action
drama with mixed results. (“Heroic Duo” in 2003
and “Divergence” in 2005). In between, he did
managed to collaborate with Jackie Chan again on “New
Police Story” and last year “Rob-B-Hood”.
Both with better box-office records and rave reviews.
And
so how did he perform this time round in the year 2007? Did
he sink once again without the presence of Jackie Chan?
The
verdict? It’s a nine out of ten or a four out of five.
“Invisible
Target” marks Benny Chan’s glorious return to
his all-out action-packed police drama genre. Nicholas Tse,
Shawn Yue and Jaycee Chan plays three cops equipped with their
own personal agenda who are out to nab a bunch of notorious
robbers led by Wu Jing (“Fatal Contact”). The
energy of the ‘yang’ definitely outshone the ‘ying’
here simply because there isn’t any time allowance for
awkward romance (even the running time clocks in at 2 hours)
and throwaway supporting roles.
The
script touches a lot on brotherhood and bonding between the
trio, from how they are strangers to joining hands to nail
the crooks. To the action fans out there, “Invisible
Target” is a free-flow action buffet courtesy of JC
Stuntman team. Nicholas Tse must be credited for performing
all the hair-raising stunts. 1) He jumps from a bus stop,
hit by a double-decker bus, picked himself up, run on top
of 2 cars and continue chasing after the target. 2) He pursued
Wu Jing over several rooftops and fell onto a tree and hit
himself against a container. 3) He fell and spiral backwards
on a staircase. Obviously, there are safety cables used but
obviously certain amount of guts and danger must be present
to execute them. Kudos to Tse!
While
Nicholas Tse is risking his life, Shawn and Jaycee each have
their fair share of action stunts as well. Watch out for the
finale whereby the trio gangs up to fight the mighty Wu Jing.
Not forgetting there is some subtle humor when the grandma
of Jaycee’s character stumbles onto the trio rubbing
ointment on the bare bodies of one another.
Despite
some flaws (which movie doesn’t) for example some overdone
preachy dialogue towards the end, “Invisible Target”
remains one of the best Benny Chan’s action flicks in
a long while. It’s the same feeling I get when I first
watched “EU Strike Force” almost ten years ago.
Warning:
“Invisible Target” contains non-stop action sets,
smells heavily of brotherhood and friendship. Deodorant optional.
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
It’s a pity that this DVD version only comes with a
measly trailer and a photo gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Nothing
beats watching kick-ass action on DVD format and this DVD
transfer doesn’t disappoint. There’s no visible
artifacts or dirt present to distract your viewing pleasure.
This
DVD comes with a sole Mandarin soundtrack, those expecting
the original Cantonese track got to look elsewhere. Overall,
the dialogue is rich and the sound of shattering glass might
just alarm your faint-hearted neighbour.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review
by Linus Tee
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