Motorway - 車手

Motorway (車手) is an 2012 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Shawn Yue and Anthony Wong. The supporting cast includes Barbie Hsu, Josie Ho, Gordon Lam, and Michelle Ye.

Shawn Yue plays Cheung, a young cop that likes to drive fast with a vengeance. Anthony Wong plays Lo, a cop that's about to retire. Lo and Cheung make the most unlikely pair, but they both like to drive and know cars. A diamond makes its way to HK and two bad guys go after it. But one of the guys is in jail. The other guy, who's an expert driver, bust the guy out of jail and kills some cops along the way. A citywide manhunt starts and the cops chase and chase these two men. Cheung seems to have luck and tails the the get away driver, but doesn't have luck. On a mountain top range not unlike something out of an Initial D comic, a deadly chase happens. The driver always seems to be a step ahead and take a bunch of cops out. Lo decides to pursue after so many cars are left disabled. Will Cheung and Lo be able to stop these two maniacs from getting the diamond?



This movie was sort of a throw back to the late 90s and early 00s HK films. Very gritty, matter of fact, and straight to the story. Character development is left to a minimum. You figure it out along the way. A chase/heist all put into one, you have tension, suspense, and you feel for the cops. Barbie Hsu's turn as an doctor was just to get some eye candy into the film. It's too bad Michelle Ye is transitioning into more "older" women roles. Ye plays Lo's wife and has short hair. I am sad since Ye is one of my favorite HK actresses and is still quite stunning!

I would highly recommend this film for HK enthusiast. If you're not familiar with HK style, you might not like the lack of character development and purpose of the film.

BTW - the English translation of the title is a bit off. The Zhong Wen version translates to "driver".

Vengeance - 復仇

Vengeance (復仇) is 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Johnny Hallyday, Anthony Wong, Gordon Lam, Lam Suet and Simon Yam. The movie also features a supporting cast of Michelle Ye, Felix Wong and Maggie Siu. A large portion of the film was in English due to scenes with Hallyday.

A family of four is gunned down by hitmen as the movie starts. The wife is of French decent and her father comes to Hong Kong from Paris. The daughter asked her father, Francis, to take revenge. Francis start looking around Macau but doesn't get anywhere. Dejected, Francis head back to his hotel. On his way back, he bumps into 3 hitmen right after a job. Francis than looks for these 3 to help him find his killers. The three hitmen than methodically located the hitmen that gunned down the family. But there a twist to the story. Hitmen hold no grudge against their victims. Someone hired them and Francis is no after the one who hired the hitmen.

The movie plays at a very similiar pace a Exiled. However, due to Hallyday in the lead, the movie doesn't flow so well. Hallyday seemed very one dimensional and didn't express his feelings through his face. If you watch enough Hk films, the face is 90% of the acting most time. In this case, it was like 1% of the acting. The hitmen however were the interesting part of the film. You knew they were bad to the bone and could take on any comers. I would have rather seen a film focused on the hitmen than the father out for revenge.

Accident - 意外

Accident (意外) is a 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The film stars Louis Koo and Richie Ren. The film also features the supporting cast of Michelle Ye and Monica Mok.

The movie is about a group of 4 accident artist. They make their living staging deaths. They stage them so they look like accidents. Louis Koo plays Brian, the head of the group. Brian is an OCD type and very meticulous. But he thinks "people" are out to get him. Brian's group takes on a case where a son is looking to stage the death of his elderly father. On the same night of the staged death, one of the group members is accidentally killed. To add to the dilemma, Brian's flat is broken into. After this, we see Brian go into a stage of paranoia.

The movie was pretty good. I liked the exploration of the "accident" assassins. The movie was rather slow paced and the story did unfold at a snails pace. But it was for a reason. Another well made film from the Milkyway group.

The First 7th Night - 頭七

The First 7th Night (頭七) is a 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Gordon Lam, Julian Cheung, and Michelle Ye. Supporting cast include Eddie Cheung and Tony Ho.

The movie is about Julian Cheung asking Gordon Lam to lead him to Sun and Moon Village. No other taxi driver seem to know the way. As they start for the village, Julian and Gordon start to talk about the restaurant that burned down in town. Gordon tells his version of the story and Julian than tells his version of the story. Both are very different.

I can't go further or I will spoil the movie for you. It was an interesting twist to the ghost and spirits movies that come out of the Chinese market. Because of many traditions, ghost and spirits are usually associated with it. Unlike the US horror market where there really is no rhyme or reason to the horror.

If you like spooky thrillers, you won't want to miss this one. It may make your Halloween spookier!

The Sniper - 神鎗手

The Sniper (神鎗手) is s 2009 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Richie Ren, Edison Chen, and Huang Xiaoming. The movie is about a Hong Kong police sniper team.

Richie Ren as Hartman is the captain and top shooter of the sniper team of the Hong Kong police department. Edison Chen as OJ is a new recruit to the marksmen squad and is out to be the top shooter. Huang Xiaoming as Lincoln is the villain and is out for revenge.

Hartman bumps into OJ during a sting and is impressed with OJ. OJ is invited to the sniper team and immediately excels and becomes the top of the class. Hartman is the captain and top shooter of the group. Lincoln is a former member of the group but made a mistake that landed him prison for 4 years. Now that he's out, Lincoln is set on revenge. Taking revenge on those that him deems caused his downfall.

Its an exciting film and the main storyline revolves around Hartman and Lincoln. OJ's part is quite minimized. I'll guess that the movie would have included more OJ back story if there wasn't a Edison photo scandal. This movie was set for a May 2008 release, but sent to 2009.