One Armed Boxer
06-22-2008, 03:21 PM
Invisible Target
Year Made – 2007
With Invisible Target director Benny Chan steps up to give us what has been hyped up to be a good old fashioned throwback to the heady days of 80’s Hong Kong action cinema, the real question on everyone’s lips of course is does it live up to that promise?
Without having seen the film one look at the cast list and it’s easy to see the potential is there, three cops, played by Nicholas Tse, who’s fists are undoubtedly still fresh from starring alongside Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao in 2006’s Wing Chun TV series, Shawn Yue, who was last seen in an action role waving his nunchucks around in Dragon Tiger Gate, and the unlikely choice of Jaycee Chan, who is actually making a slow but respectable recovery since starting his acting career in the waste of celluloid that was The Twins Effect 2 back in 2004.
To top things off, the gang of bad guys is led by Wu Jing, who perhaps more than any other actor working at the moment is the definition of the phrase ‘you’re only as good as your last film’. After squaring off against Donnie Yen in Kill Zone (aka Sha Po Lang) audiences, including myself, couldn’t wait to see what he did next, unfortunately what he did next was the flop Fatal Contact, followed by the even worse Twins Mission, despite the fact that he was starring alongside kung fu cinema legends Sammo Hung & Yuen Wah. Andy On is also included in the line-up, although he has never really taken off in a big way since taking over Jet Li’s role in Black Mask 2: City Of Masks (ironically Vincent Zhao’s career suffered a similar fate, after he started out replacing Jet Li in the Once Upon A Time In China series), On still provides solid support, and was the only person to go one on one with Jackie Chan for New Police Story’s highlight brawl.
The plot for the film is thin to say the least, it could essentially be boiled down to saying a horde of money is robbed from an armoured truck by Wu Jing and his gang, however they are double crossed and the money is lost, causing them to go on a mission to find out who it was that stabbed them in the back (hence the title Invisible Target). Meanwhile our three heroes of the piece are in turn attempting to track down Wu Jing’s gang and bring them to justice. It’s a story of the good guys versus the bad guys in its purest form.
However in an attempt to flesh things out a bit more each character is given some extra substance by being provided with a back story, which in some form or another ties everyone together. Some of this works and some of it doesn’t, but to give Benny Chan his due it does all come together in the end. Nicholas Tse’s fiancée was killed in the explosion that Wu Jing’s gang planted on the armoured truck, Shawn Yue’s character is slightly reckless in his nature and as a result one of his team is stabbed by an accomplice of Jing’s, and Jaycee Chan’s character has a brother who has gone missing but is photographed with Jing’s gang, leading to the question of if he could be undercover or if he has actually turned.
Regardless of the plausibility of the story, from almost the moment you start watching you’ll know exactly what this film is all about…action, action, and more action. To give you an idea of the pace the film moves at, within the first 30 minutes of the running time there has been five separate action sequences. While most films choose to introduce the characters first then bring on the action later, Chan opts to introduce our three cops through set pieces in themselves. Shawn Yue is first seen getting into a restaurant brawl while apprehending a suspect, sending bodies crashing through tables and smashing enough glass to make the shopping mall at the end of Police Story look like it got away with minor damages. After the pyrotechnic filled opening of the armoured truck, Nicholas Tse is next seen on a fierce foot chase through the streets of Hong Kong to apprehend another suspect. Then, throwing all rules of pacing out of the window it’s hardly ten minutes later when the same suspect gets away in a separate scene and Tse is at it again in a mad dash across the roof tops, with Wu Jing on his tail as well, in a chase which is clearly influenced by the gravity defying jumps of parkour.
So frantic is the pace that when the film finally shifts from fifth gear down to fourth to set up the finale, it almost feels like it’s moving too slowly. This is of course when you're reminded that for a Hong Kong action film, an almost 130 minute running time is unusually long compared to those 80’s action fests that everyone remembers so fondly. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing though, especially as on repeated viewings the tension that is created in the non-action sequences can be more appreciated, because you’re not suddenly expecting another set piece every 5 minutes.
Of course the refrain doesn’t last for long, and the finale is suitably satisfying as the identity of the ‘invisible target’ is revealed and everyone involved converges on the police station for what amounts to 30 minutes of explosions, bullets, fists, feet, and bone crunching falls. I have to say Invisible Target gives one of the most satisfying finale’s to an action film in recent memory, even Jaycee Chan who has been relatively quiet on the action front up until this point gets in on the brawls, producing a crazy fall from several floors up and giving Andy On a chance to fight the next generation of the Jackie Chan clan on a flame covered floor, which from the outtakes was as painful as it looks.
Special mention must also go to the awesome final fight between Wu Jing & Nicholas Tse, which eventually ends up involving Yue & Chan as well for a three on one brawl. Much criticism is often aimed at the way non-martial artists are now dominating the screen with quick cuts and snappy editing, but if anyone had any doubt that Tse & Yue haven’t put in the hours then they’re mind would quickly be put at ease by watching this scene. Tse is literally hurled everywhere taking many a fall which couldn’t not be painful, not to be outdone once Yue gets involved in the fray he takes several squint worthy blows as well, and it doesn’t disappoint. Credit must be given for not going down the path of just having one of our heroes take on Jing, it would never work and Benny Chan’s regular action director Lee Chung-Chi doesn’t make it try too, so instead of getting Wu Jing – lite circa The Twins Mission, we get him in full on bad guy mode kicking ass exactly the way he should.
So to answer the question, yes Invisible Target does indeed deliver the goods, it’s all out action film-making at its best and everyone involved is giving 100% effort. Benny Chan reminds me of a Stanley Tong for the 2000’s, he is cranking out increasingly improving blockbusters much the way Tong did in the 90’s with his Jackie Chan collaborations, as well as Project S & China Strike Force. Chan is gradually getting better with each film he does, having not directed anything since 2000’s Gen-Y-Cops, he returned with Heroic Duo in 2003 and has been cranking one out every year since then with New Police Story, Divergence, and Rob-B-Hood, hopefully he continues to improve as Hong Kong needs a director who knows what audiences want from an action film, and if Invisible Target is anything to go by then it looks likes he’s finally mastered the formula.
Year Made – 2007
With Invisible Target director Benny Chan steps up to give us what has been hyped up to be a good old fashioned throwback to the heady days of 80’s Hong Kong action cinema, the real question on everyone’s lips of course is does it live up to that promise?
Without having seen the film one look at the cast list and it’s easy to see the potential is there, three cops, played by Nicholas Tse, who’s fists are undoubtedly still fresh from starring alongside Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao in 2006’s Wing Chun TV series, Shawn Yue, who was last seen in an action role waving his nunchucks around in Dragon Tiger Gate, and the unlikely choice of Jaycee Chan, who is actually making a slow but respectable recovery since starting his acting career in the waste of celluloid that was The Twins Effect 2 back in 2004.
To top things off, the gang of bad guys is led by Wu Jing, who perhaps more than any other actor working at the moment is the definition of the phrase ‘you’re only as good as your last film’. After squaring off against Donnie Yen in Kill Zone (aka Sha Po Lang) audiences, including myself, couldn’t wait to see what he did next, unfortunately what he did next was the flop Fatal Contact, followed by the even worse Twins Mission, despite the fact that he was starring alongside kung fu cinema legends Sammo Hung & Yuen Wah. Andy On is also included in the line-up, although he has never really taken off in a big way since taking over Jet Li’s role in Black Mask 2: City Of Masks (ironically Vincent Zhao’s career suffered a similar fate, after he started out replacing Jet Li in the Once Upon A Time In China series), On still provides solid support, and was the only person to go one on one with Jackie Chan for New Police Story’s highlight brawl.
The plot for the film is thin to say the least, it could essentially be boiled down to saying a horde of money is robbed from an armoured truck by Wu Jing and his gang, however they are double crossed and the money is lost, causing them to go on a mission to find out who it was that stabbed them in the back (hence the title Invisible Target). Meanwhile our three heroes of the piece are in turn attempting to track down Wu Jing’s gang and bring them to justice. It’s a story of the good guys versus the bad guys in its purest form.
However in an attempt to flesh things out a bit more each character is given some extra substance by being provided with a back story, which in some form or another ties everyone together. Some of this works and some of it doesn’t, but to give Benny Chan his due it does all come together in the end. Nicholas Tse’s fiancée was killed in the explosion that Wu Jing’s gang planted on the armoured truck, Shawn Yue’s character is slightly reckless in his nature and as a result one of his team is stabbed by an accomplice of Jing’s, and Jaycee Chan’s character has a brother who has gone missing but is photographed with Jing’s gang, leading to the question of if he could be undercover or if he has actually turned.
Regardless of the plausibility of the story, from almost the moment you start watching you’ll know exactly what this film is all about…action, action, and more action. To give you an idea of the pace the film moves at, within the first 30 minutes of the running time there has been five separate action sequences. While most films choose to introduce the characters first then bring on the action later, Chan opts to introduce our three cops through set pieces in themselves. Shawn Yue is first seen getting into a restaurant brawl while apprehending a suspect, sending bodies crashing through tables and smashing enough glass to make the shopping mall at the end of Police Story look like it got away with minor damages. After the pyrotechnic filled opening of the armoured truck, Nicholas Tse is next seen on a fierce foot chase through the streets of Hong Kong to apprehend another suspect. Then, throwing all rules of pacing out of the window it’s hardly ten minutes later when the same suspect gets away in a separate scene and Tse is at it again in a mad dash across the roof tops, with Wu Jing on his tail as well, in a chase which is clearly influenced by the gravity defying jumps of parkour.
So frantic is the pace that when the film finally shifts from fifth gear down to fourth to set up the finale, it almost feels like it’s moving too slowly. This is of course when you're reminded that for a Hong Kong action film, an almost 130 minute running time is unusually long compared to those 80’s action fests that everyone remembers so fondly. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing though, especially as on repeated viewings the tension that is created in the non-action sequences can be more appreciated, because you’re not suddenly expecting another set piece every 5 minutes.
Of course the refrain doesn’t last for long, and the finale is suitably satisfying as the identity of the ‘invisible target’ is revealed and everyone involved converges on the police station for what amounts to 30 minutes of explosions, bullets, fists, feet, and bone crunching falls. I have to say Invisible Target gives one of the most satisfying finale’s to an action film in recent memory, even Jaycee Chan who has been relatively quiet on the action front up until this point gets in on the brawls, producing a crazy fall from several floors up and giving Andy On a chance to fight the next generation of the Jackie Chan clan on a flame covered floor, which from the outtakes was as painful as it looks.
Special mention must also go to the awesome final fight between Wu Jing & Nicholas Tse, which eventually ends up involving Yue & Chan as well for a three on one brawl. Much criticism is often aimed at the way non-martial artists are now dominating the screen with quick cuts and snappy editing, but if anyone had any doubt that Tse & Yue haven’t put in the hours then they’re mind would quickly be put at ease by watching this scene. Tse is literally hurled everywhere taking many a fall which couldn’t not be painful, not to be outdone once Yue gets involved in the fray he takes several squint worthy blows as well, and it doesn’t disappoint. Credit must be given for not going down the path of just having one of our heroes take on Jing, it would never work and Benny Chan’s regular action director Lee Chung-Chi doesn’t make it try too, so instead of getting Wu Jing – lite circa The Twins Mission, we get him in full on bad guy mode kicking ass exactly the way he should.
So to answer the question, yes Invisible Target does indeed deliver the goods, it’s all out action film-making at its best and everyone involved is giving 100% effort. Benny Chan reminds me of a Stanley Tong for the 2000’s, he is cranking out increasingly improving blockbusters much the way Tong did in the 90’s with his Jackie Chan collaborations, as well as Project S & China Strike Force. Chan is gradually getting better with each film he does, having not directed anything since 2000’s Gen-Y-Cops, he returned with Heroic Duo in 2003 and has been cranking one out every year since then with New Police Story, Divergence, and Rob-B-Hood, hopefully he continues to improve as Hong Kong needs a director who knows what audiences want from an action film, and if Invisible Target is anything to go by then it looks likes he’s finally mastered the formula.