Showing posts with label cops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cops. Show all posts

We admire Gong Yoo in his portrayals in The Goblin and Coffee Prince in the Korean dramas that we like to see him in a movie setting.  Here we find him playing seconds to Kim Sun-a  (who plays that police detective Chun Jae-in) who works undercover always as a highschooler.

In most parts in the film, Jae-in infiltrates a school to befriend a daughter of a notorious gangster. As the gangster is in hiding from his gangster enemies, Jae-in tries to protect the daughter Cha Seung Hee (played by Nam Sang-mi) and possibly extract more information about the father's activities.  This wasn't as simple as she thought it would be as Seung Hee has a reclusive type personality.  She knows her father's activities and she disapproves of it.  So much so that she is a recluse, never wants to make friends in school, making Jae-in's mission a bit difficult.  

At the same time with Jae-in's arrival comes Kang No-young (played by Gong Yoo).  Nothing much was shown with No-young's intentions in the early parts of the movie except that he also is interested in Seung Hee and both of them live across Seung Hee's residence.

Eventually Seung Hee's warms up to Jae-in and they are best of friends.  Meanwhile other characters pop in to create a stir in the story.  Another agent cop swoops in as a teacher and a motorcycle riding character zips in to protect Seung Hee's father.  The latter wears a helmet always so you can't discern who it was.  Later on Jae-in suspects No-young is that motorcycling individual.

Like in most story plots, all must come in the end.  Seung Hee was kidnapped to bring in his father where a duel with the rival boss was inevitable.  Also Jae-in teams up with No-young who was revealed as a gang member protecting Seung Hee's father.  The team was able to subdue the whole gang and both Seung Hee and her father was rescued.

No-young being a gangster, he escaped just in time the police arrived, must to the dismay of Jae-in whom she had started to have feelings for.  Although she was wary of that kind of relationship since she is already mature compared to No-young.

Several months later in another of Jae-in's assignments, she pretends to be a nun to capture a criminal.  In the ensuing chase, No-young shows up and helps her catch the criminal.  A kiss was forthcoming but Jae-in had to be sure, that No-young was just a youthful looking man.

The whole film is a feel good movie and the storyline is so thin if you ask me.  Although not original in concept, it was still refreshing to see this with both Gong Yoo and Kim Sun-a.  The latter was a bit over the top during the first few minutes of the film, but somehow she mellowed down and came back to earth and then we loved her.  Gong Yoo came much in the middle and his presence is always overshadowed with that of Sun-a.  But just a smile from Gong Yoo will bring him back on screen again.  Both by the way looked good together but a romantic relationship only started to be felt past midway.  Not much situations were given to  offer that cute moments between the two as the story line calls for the protection of that gangster's daughter.

A lovely film if you ask us, just a little thin but its not bad either.  For an asian film made in 2005, this is already watchable. We are wary of early asian films but this one will not disappoint.

Currently showing on YouTube, of course not High Definition, but best of all its free.




We like Gong Yoo so what? - She's on Duty (2005)

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No more mr. nice guy for for Mark Wahlberg, being a former detective, its now gloves off for him when he gets out of prison.

Detective Spenser (played by Mark Wahlberg) went to prison when he beats his Captain, John Boylan (played by Michael Gaston) shitless at the latter's home.  He was about to be released when his fellow inmates tried to send him a parting gift.  He was manhandled but was able to survive with an icepick on his back.  That was his gift before going out.

Once free, he boarded up with his friend Henry who owns a boxing gym.  Rooming in with Spenser was Hawk, a boxer who was training under Henry.  Spenser later became his mentor.  Spenser was ready to start a new life and move on when Captain John Boylan was killed.  Immediately he was the top suspect but was cleared when Henry vouched for him.  He was further cleared whey the Police pointed to Terrence Graham (played by  Brandon Scales) as the perpetrator.  Terrence's car showed signs of ramming Boylan's car and conveniently Terrence was found dead in it, purportedly to have committed suicide.

Spenser knew him as a good cop and he was surprised that the Police found drugs and dirty money inside his home.  Being a boy scout that he is, he started investigating into the death of Boylan.  All his sleuthing led him a casino development called Wonderland.  A lot of players want to invest in wonderland including his partner, Driscoll (played by Bokeem Woodbine).  A dirty cop who had a hold on a number of other Police officers and is connected with some street gangs.  His ticket to Wonderland was selling drugs on the streets through this gang.  Spenser got hold of an incoming shipment and hijacked it, only to find Henry kidnapped by Driscoll, the latter offering a trade.  The drugs for Henry.  In the end they rescued Henry, caught them all and turned over the criminals led by Driscoll, and the drugs to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the FBI.

This movie is almost a cop movie except that he is ex-cop playing Batman with Hawk as the Boy Wonder Robin.  His friend Henry acting like Alfred, they fight crime in the streets headon.  Iliza Shlesinger plays Cissy Davis here, the wife or ex wife of Spenser and with her yakking maybe can play the role of Catwoman, she was always catty here.

Mark Wahlberg for us is being stereotyped as a cop.  We are comfortable of him working as a cop from films like, The Corruptor (1999), The Departed (2006), Max Payne (2008), and The Other Guys (2010).  He even dresses like Detective Terry Hoitz in the last film mentioned.  Although here he did not give out comedic lines and he was more bad ass here.  Wahlberg plays an ex-cop with uncontrollable rage thus he is more darker here.  He fights in every confrontation he gets with the bad guys here that we already knew what will happen in the next scene.

Meanwhile, the great actress in Iliza Shlesinger was relegated to a whiny, complaining ex-wife who rants, curses Spenser at every time she gets a chance.  She only stopped her tirades when Henry was kidnapped and then she helps him rescue the old guy.  Wait, you seek the help of your ex-wife to meet with the ruthless kidnappers aka street gangs with machetes conniving with dirty cops?  I don't think so, but hey, that's their story and this is how they want to spin it.

In the end, Spenser gets to fight the big boss in Driscoll and he pins him down with a gun in his hand.  The dirty cop can't run anymore, then for the sake of action, he throws the gun down and challenges Driscoll to a fight.  Both are avid boxers, so Spenser wants to know who would win?  I thought he wants to bring Driscoll to prison.  Oh wait, before he sends Driscoll to prison, he wants to teach him a lesson.  That's why he wanted a fist fight.  Really?  Yes, really.

Because of the twists and and the way the story was told here and the character development, we clearly can see its was not made for theatrical release.  With the style of story telling here, we are like watching a pilot episode of a TV series, and the level of violence here, maybe won't pass a GP rating.  It would be R-13 at best.  

Why did we feel it like a pilot episode?  The ending hints of Spenser doing another investigation work when he sees that fireman being arrested and screams he needs help in front of the TV camera.  Henry cries to the restaurant owner or staff to change the channel so that Spencer won't see more details, while Cissy cries no to Spenser.  Spenser knew that fireman and you can see it in his eyes that he will a sequel or another episode.

If you want to see a darker side of Mark Wahlberg while being the good guy, the Spenser Confidential is for you.  If you don't want any surprises, then this one is also for you.  This film is currently being shown in Netflix so enjoy it there.

And what's with the spelling of Spenser with an S?  I always know its spelled S-P-E-N-C yes with a C-E-R like Marks and Spencer.







Mark Wahlberg being dark - Spenser Confidential (2020)

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Andy Lau stars as the blind detective, Johnston Chong See-Tun in this romantic comedy cop film.  He was a former cop and he resigned from the force when he became blind.  To earn his keep, he now solves police cold cases for the rewards.  At the start of the movie, he is on the heels after an assailant that throws acid off roofs on unknowing pedestrians.  Even though he was blind, he can still follow a suspect very well.   Even his Chief Inspector friend Szeto Fat-bo (played by Guo Tao) believes in him so much that he asked Goldie Ho Ka-tung (played by Sammi Cheng) to follow him.

When she followed Johnston, they were able to apprehend the suspect and solved a cold case.  Seeing how great is Johnston as the blind detective, Ho asks his help in finding a missing person, her childhood friend Minnie.  Minnie was missing the night Ho's neighbor left for Brazil.  Johnston promised to find Minnie for her and teach her detective skills as well which delight Ho.

While doing Minnie's case, both Johnston and Ho undertook some more cold cases.  In one of these cases, Johnston assumed that Minnie was taken by a mentally challenged taxi driver who had a penchant for killing and eating broken-hearted female passengers.  Szeto later reported to him that Minnie's body was not among those found in the taxi driver's premises. 

Johnston next thought of another scenario.  That Minnie was alive and that she was able to catch up with the boy she had a crush on.  Minnie was able to reach Brazil and presently is pregnant with that boy.  It was also learned that Minnie's genealogy had a history of extreme infatuation so much so that they can kill.  In the end, Minnie killed the boy along with his mistress in a fit of jealousy.  Johnston unknowingly stumbled upon the crime scene with Minnie and he got injured there, saved by Ho in the nick of time.

So in the end, Johnston was able to solve the missing person case of Minnie.

The movie is a cute romantic comedy involving Johnston and Ho.  They look good together on screen and they have a good chemistry.  Ho being infatuated immediately with Johnston, who was smitten with another woman which was also shown early in the movie, the Tango Dancer named Tingting (played by Gao Yuanyuan).  It was such cute revelation when we found out that Tingting was already married to Szeto, Johnston's best friend.  We can't help but root for Ho to be with Johnston.

Story wise, it had a simple plot but with lots of cases thrown in as character development, showing off Johnston's great detective skills.  Throw in some sweet moments between the two, it wasn't confusing us the viewers.  Andy Lau's performance as the blind detective was great, credible to the fact that we felt that he was really blind.  We appreciate though the fact that he didn't wear dark glasses like some blind people we know or see.

Sammi Cheng didn't disappoint either.  She delivered the physical comedy part and it was done in good taste, did not exaggerate and she held her part well, at par with that of Andy's.  I hope to see other films with her in them soon.

This movie we first saw in YouTube but somehow it was deleted so good thing its on Netflix.






Can you see it? Blind Detective (2013)

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We love watching Hong Kong movies as we believe that they have bold and unique story lines.  Expect action packed scenes and emotional overtures, you will be continuously on the edge of your seats trying to see if the twists and turns are well within your expectations.  Most of the time they frustrate you how the story turns as they didn't went your way.

The story is between two school friends who took different paths in life.  One became a criminal while our lead character became a cop.  Early scenes showed the criminal Shing-bong (played by Gordon Lam) being released from prison and was met by his girlfriend Yin Bing (played by Yao Chen).  She wanted Shing-bong to turn a new leaf and be a good guy for a change.  As they say old habits never die so he went back to the life of crime.  With his brain smarts, he knows how to elude his friend Lui Ming-chit (played by Andy Lau).  All this he did well much to the gang's delight until Shing-bong wants to be a good father.

He volunteers to be Ming-chit's informant to capture the gang members and have a fresh start with Yin Bing.  What transpires next is a firestorm in the city with lots of destruction and mayhem.

The story is so simple yet it had great side stories that makes this film interesting to watch.  Emotional build up on all the lead characters is present here and very nicely done.  You can see the struggles of Yin Bing trying to reform Shing-bong, the emotional dilemma middle into the film by Shing-bong, and the lengths Ming-chit went through to get his man.  The film also manages to squeeze in other side stories that made this a meaty intellectual film that is truly phenomenal.  The twists and turns defy expectations in most parts and you would be left thinking how the movie would end.

Currently showing on Netflix, we highly recommend that you watch this for all its worth.  Andy Lau and Gordon Lam are two of our loved Hong Kong actors and we love how they perform on screen.  And they do look good together here as friends worlds apart.


Whip up a Firestorm (2013)

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