The cover shows, John Cussack, Gong Li, Chow Yun-Fat and Ken Watanabe. One should think this movie could be something exceptional. After seeing this, I wouldn’t go that far but it’s safe to say this movie is quite stylish and well made.
First of all, you can’t really go wrong with a cast like this. Even if the movie was horrible you’d still have a cast that could save a movie like this. But, this movie is far from bad. Instead we get a look at the Shanghai streets just months before the incidents at Pearl Harbor. The movie centers around secret agent Paul Soames, played by John Cussack in an ‘auto-pilot’ kinda way. Soames makes his way to Shanghai because his friend and co-secret agent was killed. It’s up to Paul Soames to find the people responsible for it.
At 45 years of age Gong Li looks absolutely stunning
In a way this movie feels like it’s an hommage to the classic film-noir genre. The movie is basically a gangster/detective flick with that black and white feel of the 1940′s. I feel this movie properly includes the classic noirish themes of the 40′s – 50′s that gave the classic films the reputation they have now. Director Mikael Håfström does a great job to bring the pre-occupied Shanghai to life. With almost no CGI and plenty of ‘real’ sets and extra’s it’s a great change of pace from those movies that are filled with explosions every two seconds.
As said before. The actors do an exceptional job. Cussack kinda under the radar with this role of secret agent. He has this calmness and subtleness over him. The stunning Gong Li plays the role of ‘mysterious’ woman. She has that sultry, mysterious look in her eyes and you can’t take your eyes off of her. Can you imagine she’s 45 years old? Damn. She ages to gracefully and still looks like a babe to me. The two support actors are no slouches either. I even saw some glimpses of old John Woo movies when Chow Yun-Fat busted out the gun and layed some bodies down. And Ken Watanabe has that sinister vibe in him as the film’s main bad guy, though he adds a certain class to his villainous character.
Chow Yun-Fat showed some glimpses of 'Inspecter Tequila'
This is an enjoyable movie, and it captures that sense of mystery, mistrust, betrayal and fear that you experience during an espionage film. Though this isn’t essentially a war film in that it’s main focus is about blowing up people etc, it is about the struggle of invasion and the effects it has on the people. View this movie as a throwback to the classic film-noir genre with an outstanding cast and production value. People new to the film-noir genre: give this time capsule thriller a chance.
Rating:
This movie caught my attention when I heard this was Japan’s choice for ‘Best Foreign Language Movie’ at the Oscars. It eventually didn’t make the cut but don’t let that fool you. This is the kind of movie that would get too many raised eyebrows at a mainstream viewing. I can safely say that this is one of the most depressing en darkest movies I’ve ever seen. I don’t really want to spoil too much so you can stop reading now and sit back and enjoy this masterpiece right now.
