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 ne of the traits of Hong Kong action films that
set them apart from their Hollywood counterparts is an attempt to imbue a
sense of deep emotional conviction to the main characters, some sort of
latent internal conflict that eventually boils over and leaves the
characters with a sense of self doubt and forces them to re-examine their
lives. The favorite central characters of Hong Kong action films are the
pairing of a professional killer with his/her arch nemesis on the police
force. Thus it follows that the assassin will eventually question the
meaning of his/her chosen profession and the cop will begin to doubt his
ability to perform his job. When executed properly, this can result in a
very powerful film (John Woo's "The
Killer" and "A
Better Tomorrow" were two such films).
Unfortunately, for every good
film, there are 20 bad ones (such as the "A Better Tomorrow"
sequels) that reduce the formula to nothing more than forced melodrama.
"Beyond Hypothermia" falls somewhere in-between. Slickly produced
by genre legend Johnnie To and directed by John Woo understudy Patrick
Leung, "Beyond Hypothermia" is a gritty, violent and visually
flashy, but still very much a by-the-numbers action flick. Heavily
derivative of Luc Besson's "La
Femme Nikita," "Beyond Hypothermia" puts a minor twist on
the aforementioned formula by giving us a cat and mouse game between pretty
female assassin Shu Li Han (Chien-lien Wu from "Eat,
Drink, Man, Woman") and the vengeful bodyguard of one of her
targets.
An orphan refugee from Cambodia, Shu Li Han lives in
a small room surrounded by just enough personal belongings to sustain her
for three months. Groomed to be an assassin since she was a child by her
mysterious and iron-fisted foster aunt/handler (played by a dour Shirley
Wong), Shu spends her off time waxing poetic about her lack of a personal
life due to the demands of her profession. No friends, no acquaintances,
not even a photograph, since these things provide a link to her that
can be exploited by her enemies and rivals. These feelings finally
overcome Shu, and she embarks on a clumsy romance with a neighborhood
noodle vendor (Lau Ching Wan, "Running
Out of Time"). Predictably, Shu's attempts to leave 'the life'
and start anew backfires as the vengeful bodyguard closes in for the kill.
Shot within a nihilistic vacuum, the film starts out
with a very stylish opening hit in an icehouse, but the mid-section plods
along mainly due to the poorly written interaction between Shu and Law
Ching Wan's noodle vendor. They start innocently enough, but it seems that
the writers were attempting to make the relationship seem child-like to
highlight Shu's social ineptitude. It comes off as just plain silly as the
two have no chemistry, mainly due to Lau Ching Wan's poorly developed
character. This same type of fractured romance was handled far better in
"Full-time
Killer".
We get all the usual ultimatums, betrayals and
melodramatic dying declarations that we've come to expect from b-grade
Hong Kong actioners. They also throw in some unnecessary lesbian and
incestuous undertones between Shu and her aunt. The only real bit of
clever writing is the film's title, which not only addresses a curious
biological trait of Shu's, but is also a cheeky reference to her
occupation as a cold-blooded killer. For her part, Wu does a good job as
the conflicted assassin, effectively expressing her inner turmoil and
handling firearms convincingly. Han is also effective as the
revenge-minded bodyguard, and manages to avoid taking the character into
the realm of caricature.
The movie picks up considerably whenever the action
takes center stage. John Woo's influence is evident, with Leung's camera
swooping around the battlefield as bullets and bodies fly willy-nilly.
Leung does exercise a welcome degree of restraint, discreetly using slow
motion, fast forward, super zooms, close-ups and moving crane shots to
compliment the action without overwhelming it. The final sequence, a
savage demolition derby set to gunfire, is particularly well done.
Unfortunately, there isn't enough action to keep the film moving, even at
a short 82-minute runtime.
"Beyond Hypothermia" is an admirable
attempt to inject emotional gravitas into a well-worn genre, but it
ultimately trips over its own half-baked script. While it has style to
spare, a strong lead actress, and spills plenty of blood, the laughable
character interaction and uneven pace keep the film from being more than
another mediocre Hong Kong action film.
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