Paradox 2017 杀破狼

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杀破狼 (Paradox 2017) -- Saw it yesterday (in Kunming.) Good action flick, fights choreographed by Sammo Hung  洪金宝 which alone would have been almost enough to get me to go.  It's a recent release and I would not be surprised if it does well at the box office.

 

It's a Hong Kong movie, and sometimes these have English subtitles 英文字幕 when shown on the mainland. This film didn't, and that made it a little tricky from a language standpoint, the more so because lots of the movie takes place in Thailand, where characters are speaking Thai. The viewer must then rely on quickly reading the Chinese subtitles.

 

Wilson Yip 叶伟信 was the director, and he's well known in that genre (action films.) You may know him from the Ip Man films. It stars Louis Koo 古天乐, as a Hong Kong police officer whose teenage daughter is abducted. He goes to Thailand to find her. He's smart and brave and is an unbelievably good fighter in the best traditions of these films. Nearly unstoppable.

 

"Shot in the chest?" No problem, shrug it off and keep fighting. "Cut across the back with a sword?" No problem, shrug it off and keep fighting. "Hit by a speeding car?" No problem, shrug it off and keep fighting. You get the idea.

 

A bonus was an excellent "villain" performance by a mixed martial arts fighter named Chris Collins. Had not seen or heard of him before, but he was clearly the real deal. He didn't rely on the magic of special effects as much as the hero.

 

The film is gritty in feel, uncompromising, and moves along well, maintains suspense and has interesting plot twists. Decent character development. We gain insight into motivation and feelings, some of which are nuanced. Top-notch production values. Very watchable. Recommended.

 

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The 手机 index

 

Wish I knew how to create a "shouji index" for watching live movies on the big screen in Chinese theaters. I would base it on the percentage of people who I can see playing with their mobile phones instead of watching the film. The percentage goes down during a car chase, but goes way up during a restaurant scene where people are talking at a table trying to work out issues crucial to actually understanding the plot.

 

This film would score somewhere in the middle. Wouldn't be surprised if an actual count would have showed that the Chinese guys in the audience booked less "shouji time" than the girls. Probably not a great date flick.

 

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Has anyone else seen it? What did you think?

 

Suggestion: This is one to catch on the big screen instead of just watching as streaming video on a hand-held device.