Genre: Crime/Thriller
Director: Law Chi-Leung
Cast: Rene Liu, Karena Lam, Cheung Chi Lam, Cheung Siu Fai, Ella Koon, Guo Tao
RunTime: 1 hr 41 mins
Rating: PG

Synopsis:

3 kidnapping case, the fate of two women entangled staggered. Three years ago, Lin Xiao Yang's brother was kidnapped and handling of the kidnapping case is when the inspectors Hewan true, However, due to some unexpected factors that Lam's brother eventually met death;

Three years later, Yuen really took over a rich son of a kidnapping, she thought that all of the control in our own hands, Outsmarting the rescue with the culprits, the process has Linchaiyangcu triggering another kidnapping case, the kidnappers is not only the deployment of sophisticated, successfully eluded police tracking and monitoring, but also know how to really wan psychological manipulation, all are to prevail, she thrown into confusion ...

At this moment of graceful Xiaoyang was really like, like, step by step, has refused the kidnappers entered the trap, They failed the psychological tug-of-war is difficult to distinguish combatants in the competition...

Movie Review:

How far will you go to save the one you love? That is a question no one can fully answer until he/she is thrust into the situation.

Many kidnapping movies have been made in this vein but surprisingly, Kidnap manages to present a fresh and exciting take on this premise, thanks to a mesmerizing performance by Rene Liu and an assured hand by director Law Chi-Leung.

Starting off on a gallop, Kidnap thrusts its audience into the midst of a kidnapping exchange gone wrong all within the first five minutes. Neatly photographed and tightly edited, these opening minutes are tense and gripping, a fine example of director Law at the top of his game.

Indeed before he veered into teen cutesy comedy territory with the Isabella Leong vehicle Bug Me Not!, director Law Chi-Leung made the slick Double Tap (starring the late Leslie Cheung), the atmospheric chiller Inner Senses (the final Leslie Cheung movie) and the gripping thriller Koma. Here director Law is back with his Inner Senses and Koma star Karena Lam, who can count her films with Law as some of her better performances.

No stranger to action thrillers, director Law continues to show his flair at building tension and excitement in Kidnap’s many action sequences. In this movie, he is aided capably by cinematographer Chan Chi Ying’s tight shots, as well as Tommy Wai’s pulse-pounding score. The result is proof that you don’t need a big budget to create taut thrilling scenes on screen.

But Kidnap is no mere action thriller. As things take a abrupt personal turn for Inspector Ho, the earlier breakneck pace of the movie also slows to a more amiable trot. This allows director Law to build up the characters, especially Ho and Lam. While the two are on opposite sides of the law, the question that they face is essentially the same. It is that posed at the beginning of this review. Lam has answered it by risking a kidnapping attempt but it is the reaction of the dedicated cop and loving mother Ho that adds an air of unpredictability to the proceedings. For Ho, both these roles have been at odds with each other (as the commitment to her job has deprived her of valuable time with her son) but faced with a life and death situation, this dilemma becomes even more pronounced.

It is this personal conflict that elevates Kidnap above the run of the mill action movie. In the hands of a lesser actress, Ho’s role could have easily been caricature. But Rene Liu is perfectly cast as Ho. She makes the vulnerability of Ho real and believable. Especially through some of the more unlikely coincidences in the script, it is her acting which anchors the movie and gives it a lot of heart.

Next to Liu, director Law’s regular Karena Lam’s role appears less developed and also less interesting. Nonetheless, Lam grasps her character quite aptly, making a convincing transformation from victim to perpetrator, at the core always a victim of circumstance, whether is it because of a kidnapped brother or a sick husband.

Truly there is much to enjoy about Kidnap. An interesting script, excellent performances and a confident direction by director Law makes this one of the better Hong Kong action movies by far.

Movie Rating:

Review by Gabriel Chong