R E V I E W :   Hit Team

Reviewed 6/4/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Universe / 2001 / 93 minutes
Directed by Dante Lam
Screenplay by Clarence Lee and Jack Ng; Story by Dante Lam; Script Consultant Kim Ip

Director Lam made one of the more interesting films in 2000, the deconstructionist gangster story Jiang Hu - The Triad one. That film (released in September) was not very successful financially, although many fans rated it among the top ten of the year. Did the box office totals play any part in Lam's decision to make a more straightforward First Option-type gun movie?

The film played in Hong Kong cinemas for about a month, from mid-February to mid-March 2001. The box office results were disappointing, however, totaling just HK $2.26 million (about HK $600,000 more than its predecessor).

Lam's follow-up film, Runaway (described by a HKMDB reviewer as a 'strange cup of tea') has already been released (May 17).

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Plot: Ho is an undercover cop on assignment to infiltrate the underground bank operated by one ruthless criminal (Joe) for the benefit of other gangsters. Ho's cover is blown and he is shot in the back by Joe. Ho is left paralyzed, but the condition may be reversed by an experimental treatment at a hospital in Switzerland. The catch is that the procedure must be performed within three months and costs five million dollars. Suspected by his superiors of having colluded with the criminals, Ho is fired from the police force, despite a passionate appeal by his friend Don. Don recommended Ho for the assignment and feels responsible. Despite the best fund-raising efforts by Don and three of Ho's closest friends in the police (Fai, Kee, and King), they are far short of what is needed. So, led by Don, they decide to rob the underground bank. Of course, things go wrong. The Hit Team is called in to investigate. This elite unit is assigned to combat all cases involving black market firearms and is led by the young Chung Chau. Also on the team are Sam, BJ, and newest member Jane. Did I give away too much plot? That's just the first 30 minutes . . .

Performances: Daniel Wu Yin-Cho doesn't do anything wrong as Chung Chau, but he lacks the age and emotional weight to fully embody the leader of an elite police squad. Alex To Tak-Wai is quite good as Don, but is betrayed by the script (as discussed below). As you can tell from the plot description above, many other characters come and go across the screen. No one else really stood out, but neither were there any glaringly bad performances. Included in the supporting cast are Chin Kar Lok as Ho, Tony Ho as King, Jo Kuk Cho-Lam as Jane, Ruby Wong Cheuk-Ling as Don's girlfriend, and Joe Lee Yiu Ming as Joe.

Production: In some ways the script is a rehash of the director's first film Option Zero -- with even more characters. The problem is that most don't have enough time on screen to make their individual motivations sufficiently convincing, and others are simply shoe-horned in to little apparent effect. For example, Monica shows up in time to save Chung from drowning, and then reappears at the beach a little later, but is never mentioned again. Two of the cops that go bad (Fai and Kee) appear interchangeable. Director Lam even copies a setup from Option Zero, wherein a character throws a billyclub directly at the camera and smashes glass. And, really, it would have been easier for me to buy into the concept of the cops turning bad to help their friend if he needed the operation in order to live. The film almost seems to send the message that avoiding paralysis is worth the life of your friends. Actually, it might have made for a more interesting story if this concept had been examined more closely.

The action is efficiently staged (by Lam and Wong Wai Fai) and the shoot-outs are often furious in their expenditure of gunfire, yet remain curiously uninvolving. All in all, this appears to be a step back for director Lam after the welcome eccentricities of Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone. I should note, however, that the cinematography by Tony Cheung Tung-Leung is very attractive and the musical score by Tommy Wai adds some tension.

Rating: Category IIB. A tremendous number of bullets are fired and a bunch of people are killed, but the explicit bloodshed is quite limited.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

Look: The letterboxed (approximately 1.85:1) presentation is just short of sensational. The black levels are deep, colors are vibrant and reproduced accurately, and the flesh tones look natural. The many nighttime scenes come across sharp and clear. Just a few occasional imperfections are evident in the source print.

Sound: I listened to the DD 5.1 Cantonese audio track and it sounded exceptional. Dialogue was crisp and the sound field was deep, enveloping the listener in the often-thunderous (i.e. loud) environment of gun battles. Also provided is a Mandarin 5.1 track as well as DTS tracks - perhaps for both languages, but, lacking the proper test equipment, I cannot confirm this or comment on the quality of the sound.

Subtitles: The removable white English subtitles were very easy to read and well timed. Also included are subtitles in traditional and simplified Chinese.

Features: The main menu features three options: On Air, Chapters, and Special Features. Upon selecting one of the options, a brief video clip is played in the background. This becomes annoying, however, when navigating the multitude of special features because, upon the conclusion of most features, the disk returns you to the main menu. Selecting Special Features begins a 10-second clip. Ah, well, most special features will only be played once. These include two music videos (one each by Alex To and Clarence Cheung), a star's file for Daniel Wu, descriptions of eight of the characters (in Chinese only), a 9 ½ minute "making of" feature, including interviews and behind-the-scenes footage (in Chinese only), the film's original theatrical trailer, plus trailers for The Accidental Spy, Lavender, and Bakery Amour. Eight chapters can be selected from a two-page video clip menu.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Rent. Solid if undistinguished police drama with some very loud gun battles but little heart or sense.

 

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