"Eye in the sky" is the best movie from Hong Kong since "Infernal Affairs". No wonder, it is directed by Johnny To's favourite script writer. Good actors (Leung Kar Fei and perhaps the best Simon Yam ever), intelligent story and great pace. I bet Hollywood will remake it. Even if they have no chance to do it in such a great way.
share[deleted]
I'm sorry, but I completely disagree. I watched it as one of the HKIFF opening films last night and was completely disappointed. Yes, the editing was slick, and cinematography on-par with other good quality HK crime films, but the story completely fizzles out in the last 20 minutes of the film. Simon Yam's character has his moments, and it almost could have become near-great if we didn't get that "heaven helped us... and the sky is clear" twist (I won't elaborate to save from revealing the plot). Furthermore, Kate Tsui shouldn't have been cast as the lead... maybe in a few years when she is a more seasoned actor, but her character is played almost as if she's of the mental age of a 12 year old -- the film could have worked, but it doesn't work well.
Furthermore, Simon Yam told the audience he put on weight for the role, which seems hardly the case, you can see from his fake paunch in the movie that he simply wore a fat-suit... actors all seem to think they can score more points with the audience if they either put on weight or lost some pounds for the role, which he didn't even do.
[deleted]
OK, you're opinion. I like the way he told his story so straight in 85 minutes. With believebal characters, good (or great) actors, short and intense action scenes... And I have to confess: I have not seen all HK-movies since IA. So it is nonsense to call it THE BEST. But I think it is very, very good.
Point two: At the Berlin Festival the director told that Simon put on some weight. But he did not know if it was for the movie. And he said that Simon's new pound were not enough for the film makers. So they gave him that fat-gurdle.
I like the way he told his story so straight in 85 minutes. With believebal characters, good (or great) actors, short and intense action scenesThat's also your opinion, but the devices they choose to turn around all the build-up to Simon Yam's death, and then suddenly just ignore it with that top shot of Kate Tsui, followed by the sky clearing up--"Simon IS NOT DEAD!" twist is just too much of a cop-out to tie-up with the title of the movie. Furthermore, Kate Tsui was miscast as the lead - at this point of her career, and I'm judging by the work I've seen, she can't act to save her life. share
Puh. It's hard to argue with you. But it is good to see that there are still people here you can argue with.
I'm still fascinated by the way the camera followed the gangsters as well as the cops. Not new but well done.
Would you agree that it is an interesting debut by the director?
Would you agree that it is an interesting debut by the director?
Very interesting facts. But i still like it.
Hey, it seems that you are a real fan. Can you give me some good tipps of new (and good!) movies from HK? I'Am a fan since the early 90ies. But here in Germany where I live it is not easy to get news.
I saw "Protégé" but was disappointed. Perhaps because I love Derek Yee Tung-Shing's "One night in Monkkok". But I'm sure there are still great flics produced in Honkkong.
I was also disappointed at PROTEGE -- it was pretentious like TRAFFIC was, and all the hype about revealing never-before-shown information about Thailand's drug trade was nothing but pulled-punches hype... the art-direction was well-done, and that was about it -- I hated the ending, it almost looked like it was meant to be a public service announcement you'd see on tv.
I can't think of anything innovative coming out of HK in the past 6 months -- too many films are being made to aim for international distribution, while they should be focusing on making good films for the local market first -- looking back at the golden age of HK films from the 1980's to the early 1990's, it was their aim to target local audiences that made the films so unique... yet that all seems to be missing nowadays.
I'm hoping MING MING will be decent, but the trailer makes me think it's a version of LA FEMME NIKITA.
ONE NIGHT IN MONGKOK was good.
there's lots of talent in Hong Kong owing their experienced actors, writers, and directors who honed their craft from tv in the past 10 years -- but it's the producers and investors who're screwing things up for them... Keep your eye on Yau and the likes of Edmond Pang... they have a lot of potential, but just need the right producers to work with.
Thank you very much. I will have an eye on them. And I will not give up to search for more good movies. I hope I won't be disappointed by To's "Exiled". It's going to be released in Germany next week.
shareExiled rocks. To's best work in my eyes. Anthony Wong really steps it up a few notches, and the rest of the cast is pretty great as well. Francis Ng, Lam Suet, and super-cool Roy Cheung and Richie Ren also give great performances. And the shootouts are some of the most wicked of all-time.
You should love it if you like To's other work.
"the devices they choose to turn around all the build-up to Simon Yam's death, and then suddenly just ignore it with that top shot of Kate Tsui, followed by the sky clearing up--"Simon IS NOT DEAD!" twist is just too much of a cop-out to tie-up with the title of the movie."
I liked the movie a lot until then. It was definitely a cop-out. Yet overall it was still an exciting movie. Just wish they had a better tie at the end. Could have been a great movie.
i've just seen it(in hongkong), as the premeire took place today here. i love it, 90min non-stop storyline that keep you focus on what's going on, what happen next, things like that. kate tsui, in her debut film, is doing well. May be her acting is not that mature enough, but she is doing fine.
but i think one of the drawbacks of the film is that it focus to much on the plot, it is the plot that keep the movie going, not the character, that's why i'll call it a good film, but not a great film. there could be so much to be done about the development of all the chacacters, simon yam, tony leung, kate tsui, yet yau decide it would be better to let the plot goes.
p.s. i am a chinese in hongkong, born here, grow here. i have to admit that eye in the sky is one of the best film this year. at least the script is good, believable, not many flaws, compared to other hongkong movie produced this year.
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
disappointed. actually I didn't know what to expect from a film directed by a "great screenwriter". the following "review" is directly related to the plot don't read on if you haven't seen the film and plan on doing so.
this movie started out okay. the opening sequence is quite long and yes, as intended it keeps you guessing. then you find out what it's all about, not too bad. it gets a little smart with all the tacts about surveillance and how to track down people, etc. so you get some decent build-up and a fairly enticing story. then it drags when they fail to bust "hollow man" or whatever they called him. they then forget the whole case because they happen to lose the one dude. they move on to some other stupid case like they've been brainwashed and the bunch of robbers are able to pull off the robbery just like that (they barely need the three other guys who got shot). the film still holds a bit of my attention despite these unbelievable twists. but what was set up nicely in the beginning of the film about the whole trade in espionage all go down the drain and what you are left with is following, following, chasing, and trying to spot a guy within a crowd. beyond this point, the film falls flat. everything falls apart and we get a cliche-filled happy conclusion to the film. the last scene with the "new" Kate is laughable. she dresses better than before because she is more experienced, she has a big smile on her face because she is more confident. what is this? but as experienced and confident as she is, she still needs to keep her eyes on her target almost constantly. if i walk down the street and see someone like this, i would definitely be curious.
5/10
I agree, lots and lots of following. They pretend to be smart and "insider" about the surveillance aspects, but really they just follow people down the street watching them. A huge percentage of the screen time is taken up with walking and looking. I thought it was particularly bad the first time they were watching for "fatman" and they had so many teams out on the street. It was late at night in some city district and literally 9 out of 10 people were surveillance people! The guy would have thought "wow, lots of people out tonight! I wonder why those three people in the van are just sitting there looking around with large, non-tinted windows on a quiet street. That's not suspicious".
But I'm too harsh, it was an OK movie for the most part, I didn't hate it.
[deleted]