Customer Reviews

Eye in the Sky

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who loves respected Hong Kong director Johnny To's intense and emotional thrillers should not miss "Eye in the Sky." The film has a simple but strong story, a stylish photography, talent players (veterans and a newcomer) and most of all gripping actions that do not rely on hectic car chase or loud shoot-outs.

The story follows a surveillance unit of the Hong Kong police, who has to find the hideout of the criminals responsible for the recent jewelry shop robbery. The only clue they got is "Fat Man" (Lam Suet) and together with a handful of well-trained members of the unit, a veteran officer Sergeant Wong Man Chin (Simon Yam) and a new recruit Constable Ho Ka Po (Kate Tsui) team up to spot the suspect in the street, using every gadget and trick conceivable.

Admittedly the film's premise itself is not new, but with the capable cast and crew the result is more than satisfactory. From the opening sequence the film keeps its good pace and high tension, never letting up. This is a cop thriller, but the film is more about the interesting characters (both police officers and criminals) the great cast play.

The acting is unanimously great. Always reliable Simon Yam, one of the most talented and versatile actors in HK film industry, shows his unexpectedly tender and humorous side in "Dog Head," a mentor-like sergeant. He teaches the arts of surveillance to the newly recruited "Piggy" played by Kate Tsui (this is her feature film debut). Tony Leung is the leader of the robbers, who hides his sadistic personality under his placid smiling face.

Writer-turned-director Nai-Hoi Yau, who is known for his screenplays for Johnny To films (including "Election") has made an impressive debut here. "Eye in the Sky" is a clever thriller with the surveillance theme effectively used, and it should be recommended to any film fans.

ON ONE SIDE YOU'VE GOT THE ELITE SURVEILLANCE UNIT AND ON THE OTHER A PARTICULARLY NASTY GANG OF JEWEL THIEVES LET BY A CRIMINAL MASTERMIND. THE MOVIE COVERS THE UNIT AS THEY TRACK DOWN CLUES TO THE GANG'S LOCATION AND HOW THE GANG ELUDES THEM. GREAT ACTING BY ALL PARTICULARLY SIMON YAM. A MUST SEE!

This is a story driven movie that just needed more action. It had suspense but not enough to make me care more about the characters themselves. For the most part it had some scenes that made me want to watch more closely but truthfully not enough tense moments! You can buy it if you want to but its still best to rent it first, and remember it is subtitled.

I'm finding that I like the Milkyway Image movies where Johnnie To is just a producer more than the ones where he is the director, though Breaking News was pretty good. Eye in the Sky starts off with Kate Tsui on a training mission to see if she is good enough to become a cop in a special surveillance unit. She has to study Simon Yam and be able to give every detail of what he did during the day. And just like every Milkyway movie I have seen, they connect a certain scene at the start of the movie with one that happens towards the end. So she gets the job, but just barely. Simon Yam thinks she has potential, so he decides to let her on the force. Tony Leung Ka Fei plays the leader of a gang of bank robbers. He sets everything up, and the rest of the guys do the roberies. So now of course this is where Kate Tsui and Simon Yam come in and try to catch him.

This is a pretty standard story, but well done. I enjoyed the movie a lot. Kate Tsui does a decent enough job in her role, Simon Yam is good just like he usually is, and Tony Leung gives a magnificent performance. I thought the last couple of scenes were kind of disappointing, but the scene towards the end with Tony Leung and Kate Tsui in the restauarant, and the scene where Simon Yam struggles to finish his joke makes up for it.

If you are looking for a good cop movie that has a couple of well done sudden violent moments, then there is a good chance you will like this. If you are looking for an action packed or highly stylized movie, look elsewhere.

And one more note. This movie is a tight 90 minutes (actually more like 85 if you don't include the beginning and opening credits), which is one of the many reasons why I liked it. And it doesn't feel like it should have been longer. Movies to me are getting too long these days.

4/5

The picture quality and subtitles on the Tai Seng DVD are good. The only special features are the original trailer, and a 22 minute press conference/opening night showing combined with interviews with first time director and long time Johnnie To script writer Yau Nai Hoi, and other people like executive producer Tsui Siu Ming, who in case you didn't know was the director and villain of a kung fu movie called Buddhist Fist made way back in 1980. Odd thing to mention, I know, but I couldn't resist.