| A review of Invisible Target |
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| Culture | |
| Tuesday, 03 August 2010 | |
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Although first came out in Hong Kong three years ago, Invisible Target remains an all time favourite action film, thanks to its extremely realistic fighting scenes. To maximise the thrill for his audience, director Benny Chan decided to film the main explosion scenes in Hong Kong’s financial centre, an idea that had no precedent. A long period of negotiation with Hong Kong’s officials subsequently followed, but the crews’ hard work won them trust in the end to take up this challenge.
The story begins with a criminal gang attacking an armoured truck carrying $100 million of cash, which stopped at a traffic junction in front of a jewellery shop. A girl, who was the fiancé of detective Chan Chun (Nicholas Tse), was killed as she was shopping for her wedding ring inside the shop. Six months later, the same gang injured a group of policeman led by Inspector Fong Yik-wei (Shawn Yue) in an unrelated incident. Both officers vowed revenge on the criminal gang.
In a subsequent encounter when the gang, led by Tien Yeng-seng (Wu Jing), came to rescue a captive, the incident six months ago was mentioned. Chan Chun displayed extreme courage and heroism by directly asking Tien Yeng-seng if his gang is the one that robbed the armoured truck. It took the gang by surprise as that the cops had already put down their guns and were in no position to speak. He repeated his question again and again and provoked the gang by accusing them as “having no guts to admit it”. His steadiness in the scene won him just as much respect from the gang and the audience as his fighting skills.
Meanwhile, the third cop Wai King-ho (Jaycee Chan, son of Jackie Chan) is introduced as a contrast. He is first seen in his role as a traffic patrol officer, writing a speed ticket completely ignoring threats uttered by the car owner. He subsequently rescued a homeless man who has fallen unconscious, whose poor state attracted no sympathy from anyone else. Wai King-ho created much comic relief to the seriousness of the two former cops, but his sense of justice and ability to put his duty as a police before his personal emotions invited an even sharper contrast.
The paths of the three cops crossed because Wai King-ho’s older brother Wai King-tat has been missing for an extended period and is suspected of having joined the criminal gang. Knowing his brother, Wai King-ho is deeply hurt by such accusation and persuades himself that his brother has been sent on a mission as an undercover. Chan Chun and Fong Yik-wei were not convinced, however. In a conversation with Wai King-ho, Chen Chun swiftly poured a cup of milk into a glass of coloured drink as a metaphor that the once pure cop has no retreat after mixing with criminals. In the same scene, a pub riot led to the incompetent Wai King-ho’s persistent attempt to champion justice as a police officer, and the two older cops came to his aid.
The incident created a strong brotherhood bond between the three, although Chan Chun and Fong Yik-wei’s view about Wai King-tat did not change, until a subsequent encounter with one of the criminals, who admitted of killing Wai King-tat, the undercover cop. Wai King-ho finally let out a howling cry, uncovering his love for his brother, helplessness and grievance of being accused as the brother of a criminal all along. Having showed that he has just as good a personal reason to take revenge on the gang, he displayed extreme professional conduct as a cop by choosing to arrest the killer of his brother rather than shoot him when he finally had the opportunity to.
The villains were also more developed than usual. When they captured the cops, Tien Yeng-seng admitted his respect for them and said that they could have been friends if not on different sides of the divide. Chan Chun denied, pointing out the obvious difference between police and cops. But Tien Yeng-seng put up a convincing argument telling them the story of losing his close brothers, who were killed by cops. Knowing Chan Chun and Fong Yik-wei’s revenge motives, the line between good and evil became blurred. It was the ultimate righteousness of Wai King-ho that reinforced the difference. His incredible sense of justice cost him more than he could afford, but changed the two older cops forever.
Not only did Invisible Target continue the famous tradition of Hong Kong action films, it also integrated much Hollywood technology, especially for the explosion scene in the last fight. Filmed in an abandoned building in Guangdong, it combined top digital technology with well rehearsed fist fight to achieve the final effect.
An entertaining action film combined with subplots of strong human interest, Invisible Target will remain a classic in its field.
Cecily Liu
Invisible Target (2007)
Directed by: Benny Chan Produced by: Benny Chan Written by: Benny Chan, Rams Ling, Melody Lui Starring: Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan,Shawn Yue, Wu Jing Music by: Anthony Chue Cinematography: Ko Chiu-Lam Editing by: Yau Chi Wai Released in UK: 02 August, 2010 (DVD) Running time 125 minutes Language: Cantonese Subtitle: English |
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