★★★☆☆
4 October 2017
A movie review of MANHUNT. |
"I’ll be back with the truth," Du Qiu (Zhang Hanyu)
Anyone hoping for a return to form for director John Woo has still to wait. It has been 20 years since his last slice of badassery, FACE/OFF. Martin Scorsese, Jerzy Skolimowski and Agnieszka Holland are not spring chickens, yet their recent work feels electric. Woo’s on the other hand is listless. One is on his side. I was willing a Woo-renaissance. MANHUNT is a charmless buddy action comedy, distinctly low on laughs. The combat maestro offers up evidence of his former glories, with some well-enough choreographed mayhem to get us to the end credits. But for the man who gave us HARD BOILED, a delirious an action spectacle as there ever was, this is just not good enough.
Anyone hoping for a return to form for director John Woo has still to wait. It has been 20 years since his last slice of badassery, FACE/OFF. Martin Scorsese, Jerzy Skolimowski and Agnieszka Holland are not spring chickens, yet their recent work feels electric. Woo’s on the other hand is listless. One is on his side. I was willing a Woo-renaissance. MANHUNT is a charmless buddy action comedy, distinctly low on laughs. The combat maestro offers up evidence of his former glories, with some well-enough choreographed mayhem to get us to the end credits. But for the man who gave us HARD BOILED, a delirious an action spectacle as there ever was, this is just not good enough.
MANHUNT is a remake of the 1976 film starring Ken Takakura, and based on the novel by Jukô Nishimura, ‘You Must Cross the River of Wrath’.
The profound flaw comes down to not caring about the protagonist’s plight. A lawyer, who acts for a pharmaceutical giant in Osaka, Du Qiu (Zhang Hanyu) decides to leave Japan for a role overseas. Why would an audience member care about such a guy? He wakes up next to a dead 28-year old woman and is accused of murder. There might have been intrigue had we been unsure of his guilt. Before Du Qiu even leaves his property, a corrupt cop is attempting to kill him. A framing for murder and corporate conspiracy are conclusions speedily drawn. When the C.E.O., Yoshihiro Sakai, is played by Jun Kunimara, you know the role is going to involve dodgy dealings.
Du Qiu is supposedly a decent man and honourable lawyer, yet what he knows about his client puts his life at risk. The movie does not bother to address this discrepancy. Now on the run, the manhunt of the title begins. Ace cop Yamura (Masaharu Fukuyama), who we witness messing up some kidnapers, is on his co-lead’s tail. Of course after Du Qiu pleads innocence among their fisticuffs, a burgeoning bromance begins.
Don’t worry it is not a sausage-fest. Woo has entered the modern era. Nice to see ladies getting involved in the carnage. The director’s daughter, Angeles Woo, is one of the assassins also wanting a piece of the sought-after attorney. We witness her and partner Rain (Ha Ji-won) massacre some gangsters in slow-mo, double handgun Woo trademark. (For the diehard fans, rest easy, you will also get to watch some pigeons.)
It is lovely to see a cross border East Asia cinema project: Filmmakers from Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea are involved in MANHUNT.
It is a shame then that the dialogue and cinematography are artless, with ropey C.G.I. thrown in. There is a CAPTAIN AMERICA/HULK-esque serum plot McGuffin. A bit of sci-fi à la FACE/OFF.
Intentional cheese is still cheese. Not a John Woo resurgence, but not dire either.
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