|
 ordon
Chan's 2000 A.D. doesn't represent your average Hong
Kong film production. For one, one of its writers is a
fellow name Stu Zicherman, a non-Chinese name as you'll ever
find. Zicherman shares screenplay credit with Chan, who
adopted Zicherman's English screenplay into Chinese. Perhaps
it's because of this western influence that 2000 A.D.
rarely looks like your standard Hong Kong action film. And
maybe it's because of this influence that 2000 A.D.
is such a good film.
The movie's star
is top-billed Aaron Kwok, who plays Peter Li, a 20-something
computer programmer who, along with his best friend Benny
(Daniel Wu) and Benny's sister, Janet (Gigi Choi) runs a
start-up computer gaming company. The trio has seen little
profit and is under the threat of going under when Peter's
brother Greg (Ray Lui) appears out of the blue to bail his
little brother out. Greg is an American computer programmer
with a secret -- although what that secret is isn't exactly
clear. Before anyone knows it, the CIA, the Hong Kong
Police, and even a Singapore secret agent have all converged
on Hong Kong to find Greg and a computer program that can
destroy any computer database on the planet.
2000 A.D. is a slow-mover for
its first 30 minutes. The movie is content to provide
background information on its characters, thereby ensuring
that the audience will care and empathize with its hero and
his plight. Trouble rears its ugly head when Greg, while in
Hong Kong police custody, is gunned down by a rogue faction
of the CIA, led by the manipulative and country-and-western
fan Kelvin (Hoi Lin).
Having witnessed the brutal slaughter
of his brother and a half dozen Hong Kong cops, Peter is
determined to not only clear his brother's name for the
theft of the computer program, but also get the bad guys.
Not everything is clear, and Peter doesn't know whom to
trust besides Benny and Janet. Adding to the mix is Salina
(Phyllis Quek), Greg's fiancée, who is also more than she
seems.
The strength of 2000 A.D. is
director Gordon Chan's excellent direction. The movie starts
off with a bang -- quite literally, as a plane is blown out
of the sky -- but quickly slows down. Chan's deliberate
direction allows the actors to show some acting chops, and
unlike many Hong Kong productions, every actor within
2000 A.D. seems to have adopted Western-style acting --
re: no stylized theatrical overacting. The credit for the
naturalistic acting goes to Chan, who has shown similar
directorial command in past films such as Jet Li's
Fist of Legend and other works.
The script by Zicherman and Chan weaves
an elaborate and complicated plot, and until the halfway
mark, we, along with Peter and his friends, are completely
in the dark as to what the hell is going on and who is on
whose side.
Another plus for 2000 A.D. is
its many gunfights. As directed by Chan, the gunfights are
hellish and bloody and completely realistic. Cars are spider
webbed and bullets chop into bodies and it all looks like it
hurts -- a lot. Chan and his SFX team have created some of
the best gunfights I've seen in a long time. Machineguns
rattle off and bodies fall, windshield glass explodes and
cars overturn. It's all incredibly filmed and choreographed,
and you can't help but be at the edge of your seat during
the length of the violence.
Another of 2000 A.D.'s strength
is its seriousness. While the whole concept of a computer
program that can destroy every computer in the world is
ludicrous at best, the movie takes itself and its subject
very seriously. This means characters aren't goofing off and
making fart jokes hours after a bloody gunfight where dozens
of men are killed. (I make this comment simply because I am
still amazed at the complete lack of common sense that
permeates many Hong Kong films, especially after my viewing
of the ridiculously stupid
Gen-Y Cops.)
This isn't to say 2000 A.D. is a
perfect movie. It has its share of flaws, one of which is
Gigi Choi as Janet. The actress is the weakest thespian of
the group and is the only actor who runs the risk of
overacting, but thankfully Chan reins her in before she goes
completely over the edge.
So ignore the ridiculous "computer
program" plot and enjoy the film for its terrific acting,
action scenes, and some of the most hellish gunfights
captured on film since Michael Mann's thriller
Heat. |
