Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Decent Action scenes cannot save the film from Over-direction...., February 11, 2008
Benny Chan (GEN-X Cops) is a good action director, his action scenes are hyper-kinetic, hard-hitting, visually stylish. However, it is the skill of great storytelling that still eludes him. Benny Chan's latest outing; "Invisible Target" is action-packed with a lot of great stunt work but it feels like it was left in the oven too long and turns out overcooked and bland. After all, even Jacky Wu Jing (SPL, Fatal Contact) cannot carry a film by himself.
Plot synopsis loosely derived from the back cover:
The rise of Ronin Gang, a group of highly skilled robbers affected the lives of three policemen drastically. Each of the three policemen: Fang (Shawn Yue), Jing Hau ( Jaycee Chan) and Chen (Nicholas Tse) have their own inner demons but all three are motivated to achieve a common goal: to bring Jiang (Wu Jing, SPL), the leader of the Ronin Gang to justice. The trio is pressed for time as Jiang's influence grew and the gang's ruthless acts are getting more out of control. With Fang's wit, Jing Hau's courage and Chen's dexterity, the three vowed to apprehend Jiang. However, while tracking down the Ronin Gang, the three cops become aware of the presence of a prominent figure in the police force who is connected with Jiang. With all these against them, they become even more determined and relentless to stop the wrongdoings of Jiang and his accomplice...
Screenplay for this film lacked discipline and cohesiveness. The character development is a bit overlong and quite frankly, Benny Chan fails to bring every factor together. It seemed like the issues only tie to the plot's main premise with a lack of detail, the screenplay stumbles at times with its perfunctory style. The three lead characters' meeting seemed so convenient and unconvincing, that it lacked needed credibility. At times, we see the three lead characters do some soul-searching and they come to an epiphany about their goals at the most unbelievable moments; (example: fisticuffs) and it all turns out so cheesy that it seemed so irrelevant that the scene appeared so stretched out. There was an unbearable scene with kids in a school bus with a bomb counting down that was so laughable. Chan and company should have just stuck to the basics and refrained from adding wanna-be emotional/dramatic moments in the most "out of place" sequences in the film. The director put some heavy attention to its theme and emotions; said scenes turned out corny and never really did anything but hamper the film's pace. I know successful action films like "Ong-Bak" and "Tom Yum Goong" also have weak plots but "Invisible Target" was so pretentious in its attempts to add depth into the simple plot.
Despite all its faults, "Invisible Target" thankfully delivers on the action sequences. It looked like Tse did most of his own stunts while Shawn Yue and Jaycee Chan (I think he's Jackie Chan's son) had their own share of risk also. Jacky Wu Jing is very charismatic as the villain; he is in familiar territory as with "SPL". At least, the filmmakers had enough sense NOT to try to convince us that Tse or Yue or Jaycee can beat Wu Jing in a man to man fight. The stunts are well done and the action sequences although it uses some CGI/wires are very well executed. Hard-hitting and somewhat brutal, the fight scenes are nicely done and fast-paced. Action choreographer Lee Chung-Chi did an admirable effort.
Invisible Target is not a bad movie, then again; it isn't good either. It did deliver on the energetic action sequences and the stunt work is reminiscent of the early days of Jackie Chan. The film gets really hurt by the usual canned melodrama and the overdone heroics. Its greatest weakest is the inability of the plot/characters to match the quality of the action. The climax felt so obligatory and dry. Action junkies may find the film to be diverting because of its numerous action scenes. Just leave your brain at home and close your eyes in the numerous over-directed cheesy scenes and it may be a fun watch.
It may not hold up to repeated viewings and may be worth a look for fans of Wu Jing and Nick Tse.
"RENTAL" for everybody else! [3 stars]
Note: I own the Deltamac Hong Kong release. The Dragon Dynasty should utilize the same great transfer and will hopefully carry the DTS Cantonese Language track. It is also expected to carry an English dubbed audio track.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Worthless movie, July 3, 2008
I don't know what else to say. This is a completely worthless movie. The bad guys seem like they are all great actors, but because of a bad script there is nothing interesting about them. Some of the fights are good, but there are no good 1 on 1 fights, and the fights that are good aren't nearly long enough. In the final fight Wu Jing gets to show off his amazing skills, but with 3 guys going against him and not even putting up a fight it gets very boring. And I didn't feel anything for any of the characters even though I think there was supposed to be a couple of those crying type moments. Shawn Yue does good in his role, and Jackie Chan's son Jaycee looks like he could be a great actor. The problem is Nicholas Tse, and more of a problem is director Benny Chan. Nicholas Tse can be good, but he needs the right role. He doesn't fit into the role of a super tough young cop who's face twitches when he gets mad. You can make him look as tough as you want but the guy is always going to look like a weakling. I've never liked Nic Tse as a screen fighter, and this movie doesn't change my opinion. He throws a few nice kicks, but nothing else caught my eye. The guy just looks weak as an actor and a fighter. He does do a nice fall down some stairs, so I have to give him credit for that. And it's not like I am totally against Nic Tse, it's that I rarely see a good acting performance from him, and I have never seen him give a good fighting performance. And as for Benny Chan, what can I say? His movies have gone downhill ever since his first 3 good movies, Big Bullet, Man Wanted and Who Am I.
Invisible Target does have a lot of action, just not the action I was looking for. I didn't like this movie in any way. I only got brief flashes of things I enjoyed, and then it was quickly ruined by bad wirework, glass that looks like it would break if you breathed on it, bad script, etc...
2/5
The DVD from Dragon Dynasty is overloaded with special features. There's long interviews with Benny Chan, Jaycee Chan, Shawn Yue, Wu Jing, Phillip Ng, Vincent Sze and Andy On, there's a couple of behind the scenes features, deleted scenes, and a commentary with Bey Logan, Shawn Yue, Jaycee Chan and Andy On.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
(2.5 STARS) Generic Cops: Decent Actions, Overblown Direction, August 30, 2008
In "Invisible Target" three cops (played by Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan and Shawn Yue) join forces to hunt down the criminals involved in a money truck robbery using a bomb. The robbers are also seeking the one who betrayed them and took the money. The story is too long and could have been more compact, but still acceptable. The three stars did good a good job, if not outstanding, as the characters with their own motives. The baddies by Wu Jing and Andy On, though a bit overacting, are not bad. And there are plenty of actions (I will come back to the topic later).
But I couldn't like the film very much. Not a total disaster, I admit, but watching the film became slightly painful after around the 60-minute mark. Maybe that is because of the bad jokes that should have been cut. Or maybe because of the film's tasteless way of depicting the villains who talk too much and point a gun to a little girl. The answer is simple, I think. It is Benny Chan, the director and his overblown direction. And unlike Michael Bay, his overblown style is not fun to see.
Obviously director Benny Chan thought his previous film "Rob-B-Hood" (starring Jackie Chan, Jaycee's father) needed more actions. "Invisible Target" provides action scenes including shoot-outs, explosions, rooftop chase and martial arts fighting. The actors did their own stunts which are impressive. In spite of their fine jobs, however, some actions are overlong and repetitious. You will see glasses smashed, cars exploded and people falling from upstairs again and again, some of which repeat the same patterns. Benny Chan needs the skills of Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen who can add variation to actions they do with props and weapons.
As I said before, this is not a terrible film. It is decent, but is also a kind of film that would make you think it could have been much better with a more skilled hand.
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