Nomination
at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2002:
Best Visual
Effects
Wilson
Yip stunned fans and critics with his first big budget feature,
Skyline Cruisers. They all slammed the film (rightfully
so) and rumours surrounding his next film was anything but
good. But Wilson Yip kind of redeemed himself with 2002.
Chiu (Nicholas Tse from Metade Fumaca) and Sam (Sam
Lee from Bio Zombie) are ghosthunters in a special
branch of the Hong Kong Police department called 2002. Chiu
has been given the ability to see and interact with ghosts
while Sam himself is one. We quickly learn that Sam's time
for reincarnation is approaching and Chiu must seek out a
new suitable partner. He chooses trafficpolice Fung (Stephen
Fung from Avenging Fist) but according to fate he must
make one huge sacrifice to become a true part of 2002...
The
movie starts off with a bang and we get to see some fairly
good fight choreography and well inserted computer generated
imagery. After this the movie does something that one of Yip's
previous movies Bullets Over Summer also did, it slows
down. What we get to witness next is some good insight in
both Chiu's and Fung's lives. It's not revolutionary characterdrama
but it feels fresh considering what kind of movie this is,
and we do care what happens to our characters. Kudos to director
Yip for injecting some of his human touches to this story.
When
the movie shifts gears again, action choreographer Poon Kwin
Gam, continues to treat us with decent fights and action sequences
(the swimmingpool fight being one highlight). It's quite obvious
that some choreographers working in Hong Kong today can strike
a better balance when it comes to the use of wires and CGI.
In Hollywood filmmakers just want to add more and more of
this to the point where it becomes plain bad (Romeo Must
Die is a good example of that).
The
plot and events around our main characters is sometimes a
bit incredible but we buy it thanks to the now established
good report between Nicholas Tse and Stephen Fung (they were
both in Gen-X Cops for example). Their chemistry elevates
2002 and it makes us sort of forget some of the things
we should question. As Chiu's mentor we see Law Kar-Ying who
provides us with the films comic highlights, most notable
towards the end of the movie.
However,
Danielle Graham does not work in her role as the romantic
interest for Nicholas Tse's character. She is not only very
wooden in the role but she is not a Cantonese or Mandarin
speaker and therefore dubbed by some other girl. This stands
out since the movie was shot in sync sound and some scenes
with her fall rather flat. I guess she was cast because she
was a pretty face and the audience would ignore the dubbing.
Well guess what? It didn't work. Somehow I don't think Wilson
Yip was 100% behind the casting of her.
I'm
actually pleased that Wilson Yip has found his way back to
his way of directing and writing. With 2002 he has
shown that he can combine good characterization and still
make an entertaining action movie.
The DVD:
Golden Harvest Home Video presents 2002 in it's
original 1.85:1 aspect ratio without anamorphic enhancement.
Since it's such a recent movie we should expect a good print
and that's what we have received. Besides from some softness
in indoor scenes, the print is sharp with good detail and
black levels.
We get four audio options here. The original Cantonese track
presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 and the same options
in Mandarin. It's a pretty good track that uses all channels
to great effect, although I would've liked some extra "oomph"
to some scenes. Having said that maybe it will sound better
in 5.1 (I only have a Pro Logic setup).
The English subtitles are a bit on the small side but always
easy to read and with only a few spelling errors. Stupidly
enough the subtitles are placed partly on the picture and
the black bars, which is a shame for us widescreen tv owners.
Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.
In
the extras department we get the theatrical trailer, character
profiles and a making of featurette (20 minutes). This
has only Chinese subtitles so it has little value for many
of us besides some fun behind the scenes antics from Nicholas
Tse, Stephen Fung and director Wilson Yip (check out his cigarette
trick) No scene selection is provided strangely enough but
the movies is divided into chapters.
reviewed
by Kenneth
Brorsson
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