IMDb RATING
6.8/10
5.5K
YOUR RATING
Hong Kong police are hunting a counterfeiting gang led by a mastermind code-named "Painter". In order to crack this true identity, the police recruit gang member Lee Man to unmask "Painter's... Read allHong Kong police are hunting a counterfeiting gang led by a mastermind code-named "Painter". In order to crack this true identity, the police recruit gang member Lee Man to unmask "Painter's" secret identity.Hong Kong police are hunting a counterfeiting gang led by a mastermind code-named "Painter". In order to crack this true identity, the police recruit gang member Lee Man to unmask "Painter's" secret identity.
- Awards
- 27 wins & 34 nominations total
Wenjuan Feng
- Ng Sau Ching
- (as Joyce Wenjuan Feng)
David Yaoqing Wang
- Lee Wing Chit
- (as Yao-Ching Wang)
Paulyn Sun
- Ms. Wah
- (as Sun Jiajun)
Chung-Chi Cheung
- Bobby
- (as Deon Cheung)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Obviously, the basic structure of the whole story comes from Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects" in 1995, but the focus of the former is the shock when the puzzle was revealed. The focus of this film is to expose the characters.
Therefore, if the audience does not overstate the specific behavior of the scriptwriter in the process of writing the script, the two films actually have their own wonderful points.
In addition, the surface story of the Hong Kong-style crime film really maintains the entertainment effect in the first half of the film, and Chow Yun-fat's highly romantic performance is actually a kind of figurative externalization of the character, which can be understood as an extension of the theme of the story.
The plot is copied from the 1995 thriller The Usual Suspects, which though I don't think is a good movie. The pace, screenplay and execution are actually worse than those in The Usual Suspects, which make the film even more problematic.
If you are expecting something epic or new with this film look elsewhere. The plot is very familiar and has been used many times by other films.
Though it is entertaining throughout the 2hrs, it lacks that spark of originality which brings the film down to becoming very predictable. Chow Yun Fat leads this film with a very enjoyable performance although him alone can't prop up this entire film.
The ending of the film brings down the whole presentation with a cheap and unsatisfying way of concluding the movie. It feels as though the audience spent 2hrs for nothing, you'll know what I mean after you've watched the film. There were no clever hints that helped build up to that sort of conclusion. They can honestly do better without that specific choice of an ending.
Though it is entertaining throughout the 2hrs, it lacks that spark of originality which brings the film down to becoming very predictable. Chow Yun Fat leads this film with a very enjoyable performance although him alone can't prop up this entire film.
The ending of the film brings down the whole presentation with a cheap and unsatisfying way of concluding the movie. It feels as though the audience spent 2hrs for nothing, you'll know what I mean after you've watched the film. There were no clever hints that helped build up to that sort of conclusion. They can honestly do better without that specific choice of an ending.
Several dark lines and reverses are arranged quite well. Even at the beginning of the movie, you can guess the main puzzles like me, and there are still many clues to attract the audience to watch.
Most of the actors' performances are in place. The gunfire and action parts, quite a bit of the romanticism of Hong Kong films in the 1980s and 1990s, are somewhat not logical enough.
Overall, in Chinese movies, it is already quite a good production.
This turned out better than I expected actually. Although some reviewers had mentioned that it's a copy of 1995's "The Usual Suspects" but nevertheless it's still a great plot. Almost everything in this movie is worth complimenting. Great cinematography effects, the music, the acting, etc. Except that the movie was indeed a bit slow at some scenes. Go and watch it in cinema, the film is worth seeing.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Phi Vụ Tiền Giả
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $188,116,796
- Runtime
- 2h 10m(130 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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