MOVIE REVIEW - SPL: Sha Po Long (2005)

Director: Wilson Yip
Starring: Simon Yam, Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Wu Jing

SPL is about a squad of Hong Kong police officers heade up by Chan (Simon Yam) who are attempting to bring down crime boss Wing Po (Sammo Hung). Chen is a couple days away from retiring and has to bring his replacement, Ma (Donnie Yen), upto speed on what he has to do once he is gone. But before this can take place they come across some evidence that could potential frame Po and bring him down.

What takes place onscreen in the brisk 90 minute run time is quite possibly one of the best HK action movies in a long time. From the opening sequence which sets the emmotional tone for the film. Yip's direction style is gripping, clever and very watchable. The use of music is just right and the sound is excellent. The performances are uniformally excellent, especially Sammo Hung.

What really brings the bar even higher is the Donnie Yen choereographed fight sequences. Yes they are are violent and harsh but all the more realistic. Yen's two main fight scenes, the first an alley fight against Wu Jing and the second a UFC-style takedown brawl with Sammo, are breathtaking.

This all leads upto to an ending that Hollywood just couldn't and wouldn't touch. Ever. Just to say watching this film reminded me of see Woo's The Killer for the first time almost ten years ago. Although not quite as good as the glory days, it has been so long that is well worth the wait. This all reminds me of what made me fall in love with HK cinema in the first place.

9/10

CAPSULE REVIEWS - Just a couple for now.

16 BLOCKS
In a break from his normal heroic cops Bruce Willis plays a burnt out, alcohlic wreak of a cop. A man who seems to no longer care for the job that is until he has to escort a witness (Mos Def) a total of 16 blocks to his court date. But of course it doesn't go smoothly as somebody doesn't want this witness testifying. What could have come across as familiar and formulaic is pushed beyond by the terrific performances of the leads and the usual excellent directing of Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon). 7.5/10

RUNNING SCARED
A gun used in the killing of cop goes missing and in the course of one night it is the source of much stress for a petty-criminal (Paul Walker) as his life is on the line if he doesn't find it before the cops do. This a gritty, twisting, violent comic book noir with deep fairy tales undertones and it reeks of over the top style. Also the underrated Paul Walker is absolutely stellar. 8/10

TRANSPORTER 2
Being a lover of the original movie I was really looking forward to the sequel and more adventures of the erstwhile Transporter (Jason Statham). Well I guess that set me up for more of a disappointment as I feel the director, writers and Statham himself had the need to out do the first movie. And in an attempt to set the they pushed the bar way too far and out into the next room. As there is a fine line between over-the-top plausible and over-the-top ridiculous and unfortunately this movie falls mainly in the latter category. 5/10

LOST - The Movie??

Damon Lindelof has been recently said that he is worried that the producers and studio execs will drag the show out and he is making his feelings pretty clear on the matter now.

He said "We'd love to end the show after four year, five years tops and do a movie."


I'm very glad that he is willing to battle the studio over how long the show can run. I'm hoping he'll stick to his guns and we won't see an X-files-esque burn out on writing, overcomplicated plot and ridiculous conclussions.