Gun chung

You have to completely suspend disbelief to enjoy this movie. If you enjoy watching things that make no sense whatsoever then this is a movie for you, other than that stay clear of it.

A Young woman joins the police surveillance unit and begins to track a gang of robbers and their mysterious leader. Good, but really great (which some are hailing it) police procedural. More suspense then action this tale of cops and cameras watching everything we do. You'll really have to forgive the lack of detail. I did watch the movie, finishing it an hour ago, but at the same time as soon as it was over my attitude was "okay whats next?". I think part of the problem is that you can pretty much guess how its going to go. You know the early confrontation will be played out later with a different result and you know that a couple of cliché turns will inevitably come to pass. I liked it but its such an unremarkable film that I can't really recommend it. If you do happen upon it give it a try but don't bother searching it out.

I'm finding that I like the Milkyway Image movies where Johnnie To is just a producer more than the ones where he is the director, though Breaking News was pretty good. Eye in the Sky starts off with Kate Tsui on a training mission to see if she is good enough to become a cop in a special surveillance unit. She has to study Simon Yam and be able to give every detail of what he did during the day. And just like every Milkyway movie I have seen, they connect a certain scene at the start of the movie with one that happens towards the end. So she gets the job, but just barely. Simon Yam thinks she has potential, so he decides to let her on the force. Tony Leung Ka Fei plays the leader of a gang of bank robbers. He sets everything up, and the rest of the guys do the roberies. So now of course this is where Kate Tsui and Simon Yam come in and try to catch him.

This is a pretty standard story, but well done. I enjoyed the movie a lot. Kate Tsui does a decent enough job in her role, Simon Yam is good just like he usually is, and Tony Leung gives a magnificent performance. I thought the last couple of scenes were kind of disappointing, but the scene towards the end with Tony Leung and Kate Tsui in the restauarant, and the scene where Simon Yam struggles to finish his joke makes up for it.

If you are looking for a good cop movie that has a couple of well done sudden violent moments, then there is a good chance you will like this. If you are looking for an action packed or highly stylized movie, look elsewhere.

And one more note. This movie is a tight 90 minutes (actually more like 85 if you don't include the beginning and opening credits), which is one of the many reasons why I liked it. And it doesn't feel like it should have been longer. Movies to me are just getting too long these days.

If you're into crime movies full of hand - held camera zoom - ins and outs at giddying speed, rapid - fire editing, seeing a Hong Kong shot through the old, tired, steel - grey filters (where weirdly everyone looks as if they're dressing for a trip to Alaska), characters almost always using hilarious pseudonyms to address one another, a plot line that involves stake - out after long drawn out stakeout, shallow characterisations and all baked in a muzak quality soundtrack, Eye in the Sky may just be the tonic for you.

But for this disappointed punter, I have to to label it a complete dud and agree with one of the other reviewers in this forum, who says that it's a 90 minute film that seems to run for 3 hours. Yep, it's that boring. Case in point. Take the occasional action scenario from the film, such as that set on the freeway. It should be regulation viewing for all aspiring directors to demonstrate on how not to stage action set pieces. Besides seemingly, just throwing the cameras hopefully in the air, whilst again zooming in and out at frightening speed, one then proceeds to completely break up this rare action, by cutting away to, yes, another stake - out. Mind - numbing stuff!

The storyline is supposed to be seen (spasmodically anyway) through the eyes of rookie female cop Piggy (yes Piggy, not Peggy as cited on IMDB and feel free to cringe like I did). But there is no growth or development of Piggy throughout the movie's running time. She's pretty much appears the same lame rookie at the conclusion, as she appeared at the start. And I won't even go into the dead end climax, where she alternates between following a "Mr Big" and rolling around a pavement in the rain crying. Seriously! It's that sort of film. Intermittantly funny, but not meant to be! Be warned.

"Eye in the Sky" (aka "Gun chung") runs at about and hour and a half, but the movie is directed by Nai-Hoi Yan in a way that it seems like the movie was three hours long. While the concept idea and story was good, this slow pace was a severe anchor weighing the movie down.

The movie does have some familiar faces on the cast list, including two of Hong Kong cinema bigger names; Simon Yam and Tony Ka Fai Leung. But for us familiar with Hong Kong cinema, then Suet Lam is also a familiar face and name. I wasn't particularly familiar with Kate Tsui, but she was rather impressive in this 2007 action thriller.

The story is about a young woman (Kate Tsui) starring int he CIB special division of the Hong Kong police department. Under the training of her superior (Simon Yam) they are playing a cat-and-mouse chase against a particularly professional gang of thieves.

There are many interesting aspects to the story in "Eye in the Sky", and the characters are detailed and have depth and fleshed out personalities. And the acting talents were doing good jobs with their roles. Just a shame that the pace of the movie was so dreadfully slow.

I will say that "Eye in the Sky" is a movie that appeals only to those whom are fan of the Hong Kong cinema. Otherwise you might find more enjoyment in another action thriller.