Huo guo ying xiong (2016) Reviews

• Was Pleasantly Surprised

  joelegero2016-04-17

  As a white Canadian with absolutely no history of watching Chinese cinema (outside of the Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Bruce Lee flavour) I actually saw this movie on a lark to kill time in between meetings. I was very happy I did. The main characters were likable, the camera work was well done, the story had both serious and light moments and the action sequences are fantastic. I had a few problems as far as figuring out the passage of time (The story feels like it plays out over a week, but it feels like that is a little too long given the scenario presented) but it doesn't really hurt the film. I was surprised to see no reviews on this page, as I feel that this film does deserve to be seen. Seek it out!

• Decent Thriller

  boblipton2016-04-23

  A bank robbery starts to go awry when a cop tells the getaway driver he can't park there. While one of the robbers is looking through the vault, he finds a hole in the floor leading to the main plot of the movie. This professionally rendered movie hits all the correct points in its twisting, muddled tale of some mid-twenties who have been hanging together for what has come to seem like too long. All of the main actors are handsome, personable and have learned their roles very well. However, the tale as offered is a bit too hackneyed to make me think this is more than another decent movie. Even the happy idea of mixing several types of stories together confuses matters and makes the revelation of character seem simultaneously rushed and contrived. Despite some good set-piece sequences, this is no more than a competent work, ideal for an empty afternoon.

• Plenty of nice ideas, the sum of it too chaotic and too far-fetched, yet decent entertainment and no waste of time

  JvH482017-02-27

  A lot of nice ideas, but effectively working out chaotically, bringing together many unusual plots and also a few statistically impossible turns of events, too many for my taste. It has much more Action elements in it than Thriller (as incorrectly labeled by IMDb and the LIFF website, but that is not the filmmaker's fault). Maybe my problem is that it was difficult to recognize the various protagonists (you know, all Chinese look alike, as they say). Moreover, the introductory scene with the bank robbery is confusing, introducing the hole in the vault's floor much too early. Again moreover, it is strange that none of the bank employees have ever noticed its existence and its potential for intruders. The proper place for that robbery scene is much farther in the script, but not too far as this scene foreshadows the real one, looking very much like it yet differing in some crucial details. All in all, despite its faults, I see it as "disposable" entertainment. No reason for nitpicking about it too much. It will keep your attention from start to finish, despite of the confusion about some things that you see happening.

• Mediocrity

  yoggwork2019-02-19

  Mediocrity, the feeling is that life makes comedies into feature films. While trying to get rid of the mode of crazy comedy, we can not help showing the plot by overlapping the multi-line narrative by chance. This sense of contradiction in the bones cannot be reconciled at all.