Rescatando a Mr. Wu

I regard this film is somewhat a remake or tribute to Akira Kurosawa's Tengoku to Jigoku (Heaven and Hell) - a detective story of a kidnap that depicts the detectives, the kidnapper and the kidnapped (though for the former it is the father of the kidnapped that is the main character).

With both being shot in semi-documentary styles (the film is actually based on a true story in China) and focused on the investigation procedure, it is the kidnapper in both that steal the show. Ruthless, relentless and with hatred for the society, both are ready to do anything for money. Lau, who played the victim in the present film, even with good acting and a script tailored-made for him, actually overshadowed by the kidnapper.

With the case slowly reviewed, the evils of present-day 21st century China are also reviewed. The use of apple as the main source /key for solving the case is a nice human touch to a very depressing and inhumanistic story and make the key message more in line with the Chinese official (i.e. criminal listen you rip what you sow) or the cause and effect Buddhist philosophy.

All in all, despite its conventional tone, it is a good film with a good acting, good script and good cinematography all round and a positive message for the folks of a socialist society that turn more materialistic and capitalistic day by day.

(2015) Saving Mr Wu/ Jie jiu Wu xian sheng (In Chinese with English subtitles) THRILLER

Co-written, edited, chief producer (whatever that means) and directed by Sheng Ding. Based on actual events involving a Chinese movie star Mr. Wu (Andy Lau), being kidnapped and then ransomed by four criminals posed as police officers for a sum of money, within a spawn of 20 hours. The person in charge of Mr. Wu's recovery is Chief Xing (Liu Ye) with viewers get to see how some of the police procedures work, but also the emotional turmoil as well. Despite the running time of an hour and 46 minutes, the movie drags.

The bandits are brilliant, the others are ordinary. There are loopholes in the plot from the beginning. But the timeline and the plot are all right. It doesn't look messy and boring.

Andy Lau's Mr. Wu gets kidnapped by some criminals and the police will try to find him before the bad guys kills him. Will they find the place where he is being kept at before time runs out? Will he be able to free himself?

The story of "Saving Mr. Wu" is simple enough. Rich guy gets kidnapped, and the police will try to save him, while the criminals try to get the money, and who knows, maybe get rid of him instead of releasing him. The plot is simple enough, but the movie keeps jumping back and forth in time, non-stop, to make things more interesting. It never becomes confusing, though, which is a point in favor of the direction and the plot. Everything that happens is pretty easy to follow and the tension is kept almost thorough the movie.

The look is dark and gritty (a little bit too much), the direction is good and never goes for flash and shocks, and the acting is good, with Lau being as good as ever. However, the movie lacks punch and grit, it goes for the safe, and lacks something to make it stand from the pack. It is easy to watch, and entertaining enough, but the story could have offered way much more.

"Ding sets the sights on rendering the film a cinema vérité patina with frenetic editing, veridical setting and whip-panning immediacy, but the police procedural seems sloppy and too efficient, though Liu Ye is laudable as a diligent police vice captain who knows his stuff. Hemmed in by a noble fidelity to the facts, the game of cops and robbers is one-sidedly expedited, the thrill of the chase is deficient, and suffixing a fictive eleventh's hour rescue can only do a disservice to the dictates of fidelity, we all know the denouement, why bother?"

read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.