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#2132 “Movie REVIEW: Breaking News (2004)”
 
SpeedRcr_X
05/12/2018
So trying to get back in the swing of Asian Cinema reviews, we're talking a look at Johnny To's "Breaking News", which is a Cops vs Robbers tale set in Hong Kong. 
Mdm_Maestro
05/12/2018
We will be considering four areas - Plot, visuals, Audio and the overall feel of the film. 
FireFly_9
05/12/2018
The story boils down to this. A bunch of criminals engage in a shootout with Hong Kong police that is caught on camera, making the police lose face. The police decide to turn the tables by using the media to look strong as they pursue the villains in an apartment complex. The crooks quickly realize what is happening and try to manipulate the media as well. 
Reverend_H
05/12/2018
It's an interesting story where everyone comes off looking like a[BLEEP]les, yo. The cops for wasting their time with cheap stunts to impress the news and the crooks (hey, they're having a great meal on TV, let's counter by buying expensive lunches for all our police and the media too, yo) and the media for putting the screws on the police like this in the first place, yo.
Mdm_Maestro
05/12/2018
Yes, the criminals and the police both make tactical mistakes because they are too busy trying to play the media versus accomplishing their respective goals-- escape and capture, namely.
SpeedRcr_X
05/12/2018
It's a pretty damning scenario, but it doesn't beat you over the head with it, you need to think about it. So I give the plot two out of two dragonballs.
Mdm_Maestro
05/12/2018
The beginning of the movie tries an ambitious trick to look like it's all one continuous take, the camra panning and shaking from point A to B in the opening gunfight that sets the scene, and even up several stories to get a window-gunmans's perspective. The movie also makes th ebest use of Hong Kong's dense skyline and packed city blocks, giving it a very Ghost in the Shell feel (as in the scenes were Motoko is chasing a gunman through a city area in that movie). You always feel like you are transported to the location, never that it's "generic Asian city". I think more could have been done to emphasize the media-recorded nature of it all, but that's a minor quibble and will not stop me from awarding this movie two dragonballs for visuals.  
IrnChef_Jovian
05/12/2018
The score on this movie tries. Like a lot of Hong Kong / Chinese movies, the score still feels like someone with a synthesizer keyboard was paid to bash a few keys here and there. There were attempts to introduce a pulse pounding dramatic score, but they just start and stop. 
Flame_Sniper
05/12/2018
I disagree with you. Wall to wall sound that says "THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO FEEL RIGHT NOW" is a turn off for me. This movie kept it subtle and strategic, IMO. Just enough to get your pulse moving for moments of tension, and then it gets out of the way.
SpeedRcr_X
05/12/2018
I dunno it could be a bias thing, but it's a RARE HK / Chinese movie that gets super high marks for me on this front. I'll say one Draognball because it's not absolute ass 
SpeedRcr_X
05/12/2018
I liked it, though the pace was all over the place for me. There were times, like a certain hostage situation, where you felt alternate menace and calm, and it did a good job of reminding you that even criminals aren't just cut-out caricatures. The one issue I had was the sense of tension ebbed and flowed TOO much in the movie. Crooks are holed up in a building and the cops are talking timr out to lunch? (in theory giving the crooks more time to do stuff?) Just because some of the crooks were on Webcam having a nice meal doesn't mean other stuff was happening.
Reverend_H
05/12/2018
But that circles back to the plot of "Everyone is dumbass stupid" in this movie. It's on purpose, yo.
SpeedRcr_X
05/12/2018
Well the overall feeling was good, but not "OMG THIS IS GREAT" like I've gotten from many films. So I give it one-half dragonball for a total of five and a half:   
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 Suburban Senshi: '42.' |
