It was quite... bad. I had never read the book nor watch the anime. But I didn't find it engaging. Tedious to follow actually. Silly story which I didn't really care about (read: zero character development) just basically fast cars and punks driving fast cars. Hardly anything exciting actually. I did like the tofu car though. Thought it was cute. But well. Execution needed work. Alot of work. Sigh. Seriously they have really wasted the talents of Anthony Wong and Kenny B in such a production. Ah well. But from the start we all knew it was a movie not made for the passion of the anime. But rather to bank in on its popularity. And also Jay's popularity. If you thought Benedict Goh was bad, think again.
The racing scenes weren't exactly that well shot. Initially I liked the sudden swinging of the camera angles. But then they didn't use it to their advantage during the racing scenes. Instead they liked to focus on the shoes. Shots of them moving the gear stick and pressing the accelerator. It's weird la. People wanna see the cars when they race, not exactly the shoes. I personally preferred it when they zoomed into the car and gave us a driver's eye view of the race. But it didn't last. It was like all 5 seconds and it was over. Pretty wasted. If they did it more often it might have made me like it a little more. Oh well. Couldn't help thinking that as I was watching the racing scenes that they shot it all at like 20-30km/h and sped it up during post production. Kinda gives one a different perspective on it all now doesn't it? Sure, some stunts are real. Like drifting when the car's alone is pretty much real. But when more cars are involved, everything was shot slowed down. Also one can pick out CGI cars replacing the real ones when they're like further down the mountains. Makes it seems as though they're not even trying. Sigh.
Overall, for all the hype, it was a disappointment. Didn't stick to the anime, slipshod patchwork of a script, repetitive driving stunts (if any actually)... makes out for a mediocre movie. Entertaining in big groups or if one's into racing. But if you want the rush of racing and/or speeding, it's much better doing it yourself.
HKG cinema still has a long way to go to relive their Infernal Affairs days. But here's hoping.
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2 comments:
i think the shots of the shoes were meant to show the drivers blipping the accelerator and using the heel-and-toe technique. check out http://www.tcsracing.org/heelandtoe.htm for more info.
(i only know cos my friend showed me a video of racing techniques before)
yah. i know dat. they also did the same sequences for the anime. but somehow it doesn't translate well. mayhaps they should have done more of the camera shots which zoom in to the side mirrors or through the car. those were very well done. excellent use of split screens too but sadly inadequate.
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