Chek dou (2015) Reviews

• Fascinating settings and great twists

  chappaai-836-1149632015-07-19

  The film began with a crashed planes being inspected by an officer from MSS (Ministry of State Security, China's version of CIA and FBI combined), followed by an nuclear facility in Korea being attacked and an important object taken. The story is about a black market trade taking place in Hong Kong of a South Korean nuclear weapon named DP8, which is the smallest nuclear weapon ever created. (In reality, South Korea is not supposed to have any nuclear weapons) A task force comprised of Hong Kong police, Korean Intelligence and an enlisted physicist sets out to defuse with the situation. In the middle of the film the MSS official from mainland China intervened with a secret higher priority, but eventually they are all bested by the criminal master mind named Helios. This film is paced in a fashion favored by Chinese (but not by Americans from the reviews I saw). Every twist of the plot left me puzzled with some more questions, yet despite being prepared for surprises, when the big reveal happened, I was surprised. Elements catering to audience from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Korea are obvious. However, this film is not strong on character building, I'm not even sure who is the main character of the film, since non of the characters' personality is deeply depicted. Story of this film is not ended, as the criminal mastermind is still at large. A continuing film is expected.

• don't waste your time

  fredc-dhc2015-05-05

  this is a very poorly produced film with weak story line and tons of unnecessary scenes. unlike most low quality hong kong movies, this movie used korean, hong kong and Chinese actors which tried to please audiences of the three different places. however, low quality story is inconsistent, all the elements are poorly connected and the story. after i left the cinema, most audiences are not happy about the money they paid, the time they spent, and most important, they expectations they had. if you want to see good hong kong movie, i recommended you Overheard [竊聽 風雲] 1-3.

• A Convoluted Mess

  ctowyi2015-05-04

  From the writers-directors of Cold War, multiply their previous budget by a few times, with a cast of who's who from Korea, China and Hong Kong, come Helios, the most logic defying film I have seen this year. Synopsis - A portable nuclear device, DC8, has been stolen from South Korea by a ruthless criminal (Chang Chen) and his accomplice (Janice Man). As the weapon will change hands in Hong Kong, Lee (Nick Cheung) from the territory's Counter Terrorism Response Unit sets up a task force, which includes police officer Fan (Shawn Yue), to deal with the crisis. He enlists physics professor Siu (Jacky Cheung) as an adviser and has to work with South Korean weapon experts Choi (Ji Jin Hee) and Pok (Choi Si Won). Despite their efforts, the elusive criminal mastermind, Helios, is always a step ahead of Lee. Review - The whole movie is based on a MacGuffin which at first I thought is a weapon, but later on it becomes a criminal mastermind. The actors talk and talk non-stop in such an overly serious tone and wear one single frowning/brooding/angry/nondescript expression throughout. There is so much lambo humbo mambo jumbo spewing out which might as well be nonsense to me. First rule of the thumb is show me, don't tell me. For example, everybody keeps proclaiming the power of the bomb but I just couldn't feel the danger. At one time I even turned to my wife and said "I seriously hope Hong Kong gets entirely destroyed". Then right at the end of the movie somebody has the bright idea to put title cards to show the statistics of the what if disaster if the bomb did explode. That made me feel so dumb and when I watch a movie that is one feeling I never want to have. Second rule for me is I never want to see the strings. If I see the strings of the puppeteer, the game is over. I frigging see the strings everywhere. I give one example - the filmmakers feel a need to humanize Chang Chen's villain that they write the Macau scene. IMHO the entire Macau episode is one long and useless scene. If you take that redundant scene out, I have a feeling the film would have tightened up more. There is nothing new here. The action scenes, the story idea, I have seen before in better lesser films. Nothing here coalesce in any meaningful way. The plot is unnecessarily convoluted when it should be immediate. There are just too many players here. Other than the nationalities I mentioned, there are Turkish, Sikh, Caucasians and they even parachute in Americans and Anglo Saxsons, verbally. Every character acts and looks like they are double-crossers or triple-crossers. I couldn't care for anyone and I didn't mind if all the idiots die. After awhile we already knew who Helios is way before the fella was revealed. Damn hate seeing the puppeteers' strings, heck I think they are more like ropes than strings. As if one movie is not enough, the movie ends on a contrived cliffhanger note that screams in your face that this is just the first act of a longer film. We would be dumbasses if we even buy tickets for the sequel. The only consolation is that we had free passes to the movie. God forbid I pay for this rubbish. But if the filmmakers make the sequel to Cold War, that would be a different story.

• Enoyable OTT actioner

  valfanclub2015-05-08

  I went to see Helios with no preconceived idea of the critics response and fearing the worse but I was pleasantly surprised and had a good thrill thanks to a few decent action scenes and I felt entertained throughout, which I cannot say about Cold War, one of the film makers previous effort. The cast was good and I loved the way each country was presenting itself in a very good light but different from one another. Modern movie clichés if you like...Anyway,it had the style one associates with the directors but again, unlike Cold War, it actually looked like HK and made it an OTT version of the city which suited the movie ambitious concept(some may say pretentious). At times walking the fine line between slick and cheesy, it got me involved and I will go and see the sequel. A good actioner with enough pizzaz to satisfy fans of Asian commercial movies.

• Very Factual 10

  dncorp2019-04-29

  A very long time ago before my U.S. Military Career Field was permanently changed to U.S. Military Joint Services Special Warfare my U.S. Military Career Field was Nuclear (Weapons) Physics and Physiology. What I found out is how most Nations just "tolerate" Nuclear Physicists, like those that created the First U.S. Atomic Bombs, as minimal pay and almost kept like prisoners and always suspected of leaking secrets as to why actually they released the secrets of the U.S. Atomic Bombs to the U.S.S.R. and not the so called Jewish Spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Being kept nearly poor and had to maintain the U.S. Atomic Bomb Secrets, could not get a Job that might reveal anything like Physics Teacher or Professor, and no money from Patents, not surprised that they sold Secrets to the U.S.S.R. and Chinese. Without getting into Classified Nuclear Weapons Design Information, having previously dealt with U.S. Small Atomic Demolition Munitions (S.A.D.A.M.s), yes you could design a Portable Nuclear Weapon, just not the complex design depicted. As about a 10 Kilo Tons Yield Portable Nuclear Weapon, the Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 15 Kilo Tons Yield, the Atomic Bomb dropped on Nagasaki had a 21 Kilo Tons Yield, so based on my previous training, a 10 Kilo Ton Yield would be more than enough to flatten City of Hong Kong (must be detonated at a certain location for maximum effect). Good guys do not always win, like in the Hollywood movies, as to why those expecting the Good Guys to win like in the Hollywood Movies rated this low below 6 Stars. Entertainment 10, lots of action. Fight scenes very accurate except good guys getting shot multiple times and not immediately dying, Rating 8. Accuracy ? Cameras do not work, some electronics do not work, close to a nuclear weapon, as the unshielded nuclear weapon emits radiation and a broad spectrum of frequencies. Clear plastic rain suits are not used to protect against Radiation, must have metallic coating of a very dense metal.