R E V I E W :   Tokyo Raiders

Reviewed 12/14/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Universe / 2000 / 101 minutes
Directed by Jingle Ma
Written by Susan Chan and Felix Chong

Director Jingle Ma has accumulated extensive experience as a cinematographer. Perhaps his first notable effort was for Corey Yuen Kwai's Fong Sai Yuk in 1993. Other noted credits include Boys Are Easy, Drunken Master II, and Comrades, Almost a Love Story. His work with Jackie Chan evidently helped him land a job as director in 1998 with the often derided "new HK action" Hot War. The ultra-romantic Fly Me to Polaris came out in August 1999 and was much better received.

Tokyo Raiders was a Chinese New Year's hit early this year (the second highest-grossing domestic film released in Hong Kong), although it has its share of detractors. The director's follow-up, Summer Holiday, was not as well received.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

The opening moments set the tone as Tony Cheung Chiu Wai defends himself gracefully (and improbably) against a gang of tough guys. The inspired, stylish, and somewhat silly way the scene is filmed clearly indicates the intentions of those involved.

We are next introduced to Kelly Chen, who has been left at the altar by her absent boyfriend, Toru Nakamura, a Japanese businessman. She travels to Tokyo in search of him, accompanied by Elkin Cheng, an interior designer intent on collecting the unpaid bills on what was to be the newlyweds' apartment. After arriving in Tokyo, they meet up with Tony Leung, a private eye, and his four lovely associates (Cecilia Cheung, Kumiko Endo, Maiyu Ozawa, Minami Sirakawa). A Mob boss (Hiroshi Abe) also gets involved. The plot keeps barreling along with expected twists and turns.

The film moves at a brisk pace and maintains a light touch thanks to director Jingle Ma. The script by Susan Chan and Felix Chong includes plenty of action, leaves a little time for romance, and adds a generous serving of humor. The cinematography, credited to Jingle Ma and Chan Chi Ying is bright and sharply rendered with a constantly changing and colorful backgrounds. The martial arts action, choreographed by Sit Chun Wai, is photographed in a stop-and-start manner, which may irritate purists but seemed to fit well with the overall tone of the film. Special mention should also be made of the original music by Peter Kam, which was sprightly and made good use of Latin influences (flamenco guitars and so forth). The romantic songs used were a bit sugary for my taste, but thankfully kept fairly brief.

The film is rated as Category IIB. A lot of fighting ensues, but only one or two explicit and extremely brief bits, so it seems like this could just as easily received a Category IIA.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

An outstanding transfer. The colors are sharp and clear, the blacks are very deep, the fleshtones are natural. No noticeable imperfections in the source print. Another great job by Universe!

The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is excellent and the explosions sound like explosions. Audio tracks are provided in Cantonese and Mandarin. The removable white subtitles are excellent! Very few mistakes, very easy to read due to a nice large font, provided in English as well as traditional and simplified Chinese.

There are 12 chapter markings but the chapter menu is useless -- it's a streetside view of Tokyo and certain signs are highlighted to reflect the chapter selection without any indication of what the scene is about. Even though it looks attractive, the main menu structure itself is a bit too tricky for its own good. Stars' files are provided for Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Ekin Cheng, Kelly Chen, and Cecilia Cheung. The film's theatrical trailer is included, as are trailers for 2000 A.D., The Blood Rules, and Dial D for Demons. A nice bonus is the 20-minute "making of" feature, which has interviews with the stars, the director, and other production members (no English sub-titles are provided to identify them although the interviews are sub-titled), behind-the-scenes footage, and musical montages.

Buy, rent, or pass?

A fun joy ride, easily digestible in one viewing and worth at least a rental. Unless you absolutely hate this kind of "new HK action" picture, I think it's worth a purchase and will stand up to repeated viewings.

 

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