Tokyo Raiders

I watched this cuz Tony Leung. The opening sequence is particularly delightful if you have played all the Yakuza video games. I wonder if it had some influence on them.

I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed all the characters, I thought the plot and dialogue was pretty good, and the action sequences were fun.

There was something off about the pacing but it was still very enjoyable.

`Tokyo Raiders' starts off fast and furious. Before we are on a first name basis with one of the main characters, he is embroiled in a fight scene the can only be described as Jet Li meets James Bond meets MacGyver.

`Tokyo Raiders' moves at an incredibly fast pace, Fight and Chase, Fight and Chase, and I found myself fighting and chasing the ever elusive plot. I saw the version dubbed into English, and perhaps that's the only fault of the movie. I never fully got a grasp of who each character was, what their name was, as well as the purpose for their actions. Introductions to the characters are never properly given, and soon the plot twists so much you don't know who's who, who's Chinese, who's Japanese, who's working for which mob boss, and who's actually a good guy. This might be part of the film's mystique, or just really bad English dubbing. In any event I didn't really care. The martial arts fight scenes are plentiful in this film, and they are brilliantly done. The actors themselves are very skilled in the martial arts, and the director really enjoys playing with slow motion and rotating camera angles. The effect is absolute brilliance: a truly new art form made up of technical merit and intelligence in both filmmaking and martial arts skill.

This movie has been called a comedy. It's not so much a comedy as it is a comedy of errors. I liken it to `Lock Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels' as both involve some frantically hysterical antics that happen when average Joes get mixed up in the seedy mob underworld. Both films move at a mile a minute as well. Have I mentioned this film moves fast yet?

The artfully done martial arts more than makes up for any confusion caused by the speed of the plot and the poor English dubbing. If you thought `Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels' needed some Kung Fu added to it, this movie might just be your soulmate. . 7/9 Stars

Jingle Ma has once again failed to deliver the enticement action/thriller fans crave for. With tactics and themes similar to the exquisite works of John Woo and Ang Lee, Ma's latest (and derivative) project is just another bland action film waiting to be criticised. Like his previous flops, "Fly Me To Polaris", "Drunken Fist 2" and "Rumble in the Bronx", Tokyo Raiders has no real plot which will catch the attention of the audience. Bride waits at altar, groom fails to show up, bride finds help to find the groom, bride becomes tangled in a web of deceit and violence, etc, etc. Very boring, very un-original. However, the failure of the film does not rest entirely on Jingle Ma himself, most of the cast are near terrible themselves. Hong Kong showpony, Kelly Chen tries her best to make an impression to the audience; to portray herself as a distressed bride who only wants her fiancee back.....and to earn the sympathy of them. Personally, I feel more sorry for the groom, Takehashi, for being engaged to someone as dull as Macy (Chen). The Japanese cast were just as terrible, with Nakamura Toru and Abe Hiroshi showing bland and un-convincing acting skills. In my own opinion, only the excellence of Tony Leung Chiu Wai saved the film from further canning.

This film is best avoided......at all costs.

I have watched a lot of HK and martial arts movies, and this is one of the best I've seen. There's a good story behind it, it twists and turns all the time. Lots of cool gadgets, the fighting is really good. Lots of humour in it, I laughed quite alot. If you gonna see this see it subbed and not dubbed. I have seen both versions and when I saw it subbed it was much funnier. I didn't really know so much about Tony Leung before this movie, but now I really like him. He was very very cool in this movie. See it now!

Rating 10/10 (can I give it a 11?)

I was very surprised to find a pleasant, funny and humourous movie packed with Action all way through.

The women are to die for and the acting outstanding. The director deserves a big pat on the back for the movie, the movie effects are excellent and well produced. I highly recommend this movie for anybody who likes a good down to earth movie (well almost ..!) OK so it is a bit out there, but outstanding all the same.