|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
was anxious to see "Running on Karma". No, it's not the idea of seeing
yet another Johnnie To movie in 2003, since this is Johnnie To Lite we're
dealing with, not Johnnie To Heavy. The latter is the man behind "The
Mission" and "PTU",
and the former is responsible for "Full-Time
Killer" and "Wu
Yen". It's simply the return of Cecilia Cheung that draws me. Not that
the talented Ms. Cheung hasn't been around since the South Korean film "Failan"
(possibly her best work to date), but this is the first film I've run across
where she is not wearing a period costume and a man name Wong Jing is nowhere in
sight. And although Jing has made steps out of my doghouse with the surprisingly
entertaining "Colour
of the Truth", he still has a long way to go.
"Running
on Karma" is a strange little movie, let's get that out of the way first.
Andy Lau ("Running Out of
Time") stars as an unnamed man who used to be a Shaolin monk before a
tragic event drove him into the cities. Lau's "Big Guy" is a
muscle-bound man of Arnold Schwarzenegger proportions, which means Lau gets to
wear a "muscle suit" for the entire film. In the city, Big Guy runs
across police Detective Li (Cecilia Cheung), who is actually not very good at
the whole cop thing. Through a couple of strange cases involving strange
criminals, the two form a strange bond that surpasses trivial romance.
For
the Big Guy, it's Li's life that is important. The Big Guy shows up whenever Li
is in trouble, determined to save her the way he was unable to save a female
friend from his Shaolin days. Li herself is an erratic creature, and once the
Big Guy informs her that she's destined to die, Li starts acting even more
erratic. The whole thing resolves itself with a Third Act that turns
"Karma" into a strange variation of "The Blair Witch
Project", complete with camcorder and a missing hiker.
I
am personally at odds with "Karma". It's definitely not your usual
Hong Kong film, as it seems to move to its own off-kilter beats. The film
travels the path of destiny and fate and even dives into existentialism and all
that other New Age mumble jumbo. Then again, it's a well-acted movie, and Lau
gives a somber and affable performance, as his Big Guy attempts to do the right
things for reasons he himself can't quite comprehend. And yet, by film's end
there just doesn't seem to be a unifying coherence to "Karma", and
perhaps that is its charm. Or not.
The
above is a bit of a surprise because the film opens strong, with a police
investigation into a brutal murder committed by an Indian master of martial
arts. Li's investigation into the killing is what brings her into contact with
the Big Guy, who is himself a master of martial arts. The film's first 40
minutes are its strongest, as the film combines romance with mystery and wild
action. (There's even a scene where a woman gets her arm blown off by a shotgun
blast!) And oh yes, there's even a burglar who can climb walls like Spiderman
and is covered in grease so the cops can't hold onto him.
Unfortunately
all the cop stuff and action gets tossed out the window in favor of sequences
that would be more comfortable in a Tom Tykwer movie. In fact, much of
"Karma's" Third Act feels heavily inspired by Tykwer's "The
Princess and the Warrior"; and there's even some of the dreamy vibe of
his "Heaven"
thrown in. Also, the film has a disjointed feel throughout, and its habit of
jumping from two vastly differently locations without explanation, and its use
of non-linear narrative, further exacerbates the confusion. It's not that the
film's structure is so difficult one can't figure it out. But as a film,
"Karma" could have been edited better, and displayed a better
understanding of time and space.
Of
course none of the above takes away from the movie's winning first half. It's a
pleasure to watch an unpredictable Cecilia Cheung work opposite an assured Andy
Lau. Even Lau's fake "muscles" don't get in the way, even if the
reasons for those muscles -- other than for comical effect -- still eludes me.
It's no surprise that the film's notion of karma and cause and effect works much
better in the first half; actually, everything works much better in the first
half. With a tighter script and more focus, the second half might have been able
to sustain the first half. As it stands, "Karma" starts strong, but
seems to lose its way at around the 50-minute mark.
|
