Johnnie To

[goliamoto]

Lastly I have watched some movies of this Chinese director and some movies have really imprressed me, mainly Breaking News and PTU. The tone of this two movies are really special and I had never seen something like that, sometimes serious, sometimes ironic and all believable.
I have seen two more movies of him, The barefoooted kid in which i think his style is not yet defined and Running out of Time in which he starts to show his most powerful cards. Even Though this last movie didn't seem to me as half good as Breaking News or PTU I'm looking forward to watch more movies of him. What do you recommend me as a good follower of Breaking News or PTU?

[GwaiLoMoFo]

I really enjoyed Johnny To's "Throwdown". Check that one out if you havent already.

[Chen Zhen]

give fulltime killer a try. andy lau is magnificent in it.

[GwaiLoMoFo]

I agree with Chen Zhen, "Fulltime Killer" is also a very good film.

[kenichiku]

Johnnie's much hyped triad epic 'Election' is getting decent buzz over here in HK with it's humongous ads around town. Stars Simon Yam & Yony Leung Kar Fai.

[dndcollect]

LOVED Fulltime Killer, and dont forget A Hero Never Dies.

I also really liked the Mission.

[Yakuza954]

If you liked Breaking News and PTU you'll probably like all his non-romance stuff. It's all on that level or better. Personally, I didn't like Throwdown at all except for the Judo choreography. My favorites of his are Running out of Time and The Mission.

[Kungfuneo]

Election is great..To at his super best...able to capture what makes a crime boss a Real Crime boss...self preservation!!!!

[ODH1]

for a while he was known for doing HK versions of americans films. "the mission " was heavily influenced by tarantino. His "version" of the teen shock movie "kids" called "spacked out" is a personal favorite of mine. very gritty

[Linn1]

for a while he was known for doing HK versions of americans films.

what are they? He produced Spacked Out. As for The Mission and Tarantino...is it because that film and Taratino's films both have guys with guns? I see little connection between the two.

[Beat TG]

I recommend you to watch Where A Good Man Goes, an excellent but unfortunately underrated crime drama.

[BKarza]

Always found it ineresting that he never worked with Lau Ching Wan again. It's through Wan's MW work that he became one of my favorite actors. WaGMG is lovely stuff.

[Markgway]

To has made a few good films... but is the most overrated director in recent memory. Running on Karma, Throwdown and Fulltime Killer all stink.

[Yakuza954]

He used to be overrated, until Election 2 and Exiled came out.

[Beat TG]

To is always overrated when going for commercial movies (although I enjoy movies like Running Out Of Time and Breaking News) but when he goes for pessimestic themes To becomes his real self.

[daTOAD]

overrated? disagree. this dude reminds me a lot of Sun Chung. check out the Longest Nite[one of my favorites], Hero Never Dies[this and FK are commercial-slightly,but they work well], Too Many Ways Too Be No.1[think this is To or at least he produced it]. dude is dark...i love it. only thing i didnt like as much was the one with the 5 dudes just standing around[though i liked the chemistry].

[Markgway]

He used to be overrated, until Election 2 and Exiled came out.

Haven't seen those yet.

overrated? disagree. this dude reminds me a lot of Sun Chung.

The most overrated Shaw Bros director.

[The Running Man]

To is always overrated when going for commercial movies (although I enjoy movies like Running Out Of Time and Breaking News)

Breaking News was fine, but Running out of Time is so over-rated it makes my head spin.

[Markgway]

Re. ROOT:

I was pissed that To took two of my favourite HK actors (Lau Ching Wan, Andy Lau) and made a crappy movie.

[pressureworld]

He used to be overrated into Election 2 and Exiled came out

I always felt he was overrated. I could never get into the man's films. I think fulltime killer was the last of his movies I saw and I wasn't impressed with that, all bark and no bite.

[Beat TG]

Fulltime Killer is by far the worst To movie I've seen. I tried to appreciate it but could never get into the materials (it took the irony so far it got worst after 10 min) and probably never will. His real strength lies on the more darker/pessimestic/cooler themes found in movies such as The Mission and Exiled. it's there where his real moments are of directing and producing excellent stuff.

[Milkyway]

despite the above post I think Fulltime Killer is quite alright, feels uneven at times (must be Wai Kai Fai) but still good.

check out Triangle if you still haven't, it's got alot of ideas thrown in by the directors that's fun to watch.

[Alex]

FT killer is just a fun action movie, definitely messy but quite enjoyable if you don't take it too seriously

[Milkyway]

I have no problem appreciating the ironic mood and over all unserious tone Milkyway Image bring to their movies whatsoever but it's a bit hard for me appreciating the style in FK. dunno, maybe it's just the story (based on an Edmond Pang novel) or even due to Wai Kai Fai (same guy who directed Too Many Way To Be No. 1, a masterpiece in many ways).

[Alex]

do you like A hero never dies?

[Milkyway]

one of my top favorites actually, along with Where A Good Man Goes, The Mission, PTU, Throw Down, Election 1 & 2 and Exiled.

[Alex]

See, now I'm completely opposite. I couldn't stand A hero never dies, to me it was just an empty exercise in style, so over-stylized in fact that I can't even enjoy on the simple action level.

[Milkyway]

it's more like an exercise in twisting a subgenre (heroic bloodshed) I would say, with DIFFERENT approaches to certain aspects typical of that genre. it sure is more specialty than substance, but again that's one of things that the Milkyway camp are so great at. everything considered in most To movies become something much complex and unique that storytelling at this point don't matter as much as it should be.

Fulltime Killer, however, I felt it just wasn't Johnnie To. it's too "ordinary" to even be recognized as his own movie. story was more important, the relaxing/slow momentic tone is gone and the execution was staying busy but didn't go so smooth (Wai Kai Fai's style is the only explaination to this). but like I said, I like it more these days.

[Milkyway]

Mad Detective is another serious recommendation. Sean Lau rocks in that one!

[Alex]

can't wait to check out mad detective, believe me even though we disagree on some of the titles I am as excited for anything new To puts his hands to as you are

[Milkyway]

I believe you, we can't dig all of them movies.;)

[mark187]

so the important question now is...what's next for Johnnie To? Linger is out with relatively negative reviews, and I can't say that I'm overly interested in seeing it. The Sparrow, on the other hand, looks quite good and hopefully the HK release will be not too long after the premiere at Berlin. I know Andrew Lau wanted him to direct the 2nd part of a proposed Water Margin trilogy, but I'd rather he not go there honestly. The idea of him working w/ Chow Yun-Fat again sounds promising however, and I heard that his possible project w/ Orlando Bloom may have been put on an indefinite hold. So then, anybody have any fresh news on Johnnie To projects!?

[Alex]

wasn't he supposed to do something with Alain Dellon?

[Milkyway]

he's been chosen to remake Jean-Piérre Melville's The Red Circle, that John Woo originally was approached to direct, and other french projects. I believe he's in the process of making a sequel to PTU too which is great. lets pray for the best.

[Alex]

here's to hoping the Melville remake really happends. It would be an interesting comparison to make - Woo when at the top of his game re-made Le Samourai and it was his masterpiece. Now To, also currently at his peak I think, has a chance to remake another key Melville feature - will he come up with something comprable to the Killer?

[mark187]

I've been unsure about that PTU sequel thing, if I'm remembering correctly, I thought that it turned out to be a TV series according to Simon Yam and not a sequel to the film.

[Milkyway]

there's two PTU movies being made at the moment: the true sequel that To will direct and an unofficial one by Lawrence Lau (who made many unrelated straight-to-dvd sequels) that To also produces.

True sequel: http://ent.sina.com.cn/s/h/2007-10-30/23571770635.shtml (in Chinese)

Unofficial sequel: http://www.dianying.com/en/title/21162

[mark187]

ok, that's good news then. I liked Lawrence Lau's film My Name is Fame, so hopefully he'll do a good job with this one.

[mark187]

well, speaking of Johnnie To, finally here's an update on him over at Variety Asia Online, sounds like he won't be doing the Water Margin afterall, which is good news to me as I hope for him to continue making more personal and creative projects for Milkyway Image. also included is a set photo from PTU 2 which confirms that Lam Suet is back! check out the link-
http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/kaijushakedown/JOHNNIE-TO-UPDATE

[Milkyway]

great to have it on the go. can't wait for it and The Sparrow!