Costello (an overly plastic Johnny Hallyday), owner and head chef of a French restaurant, arrives to Macau on news that his daughter was in terminal condition after being attacked at home by gunmen. The remaining casualties are her husband and their two children. Obliged by his daughter to inflict revenge on the perpetrators Costello disembarks on a mission of vengeance. Unfortunately for him he has no knowledge of who is guilty of the crime, whilst he himself has limited detective capabilities as he has a bullet lodged in his brain which impairs his short term memory (especially in regards to facial cognisance). Per chance he is witness to a murder committed by three contract killers. Instead of handing them over to the police Costello decides to hire them to aid him in his deadly mission...
One immediately comes to ask why such a movie ever made it to Cannes (in the main competition to boot). Yes, it is stylish and some of the action sequences have many thought put into them. But all in all the characters are bland, vague and stereotypical, while the script never delves into more cerebral subject matter. Even though the opportunities were ripe for the taking. In one scene it turns out that the killers have families and wives, but this never causes any moral dilemmas to Costello or his crew. In another scene one of the contract killers poses interesting questions: Can you avenge something you can't even remember? This question however only lingers for a while, as soon after we are knee deep in blood and any contemplative course of action is muted out by gunfights.
In the end Johnnie To seemed too focused on keeping the movie cool and tried hard not to divert attention from the fact that his sole aim is to make a straightforward revenge action flick. The saving grace of the movie are the thought-out action scenes and small details, which seemed to have consumed all the creative energy the scriptwriter had for this movie. That said the shoot-out in the forest is so lame, pointless and remarkably stupid that it actually had me laughing (never-ending bullets, seven grown men running around a forest with guns, but unable to hit an elephant with them and so on...).
One immediately comes to ask why such a movie ever made it to Cannes (in the main competition to boot). Yes, it is stylish and some of the action sequences have many thought put into them. But all in all the characters are bland, vague and stereotypical, while the script never delves into more cerebral subject matter. Even though the opportunities were ripe for the taking. In one scene it turns out that the killers have families and wives, but this never causes any moral dilemmas to Costello or his crew. In another scene one of the contract killers poses interesting questions: Can you avenge something you can't even remember? This question however only lingers for a while, as soon after we are knee deep in blood and any contemplative course of action is muted out by gunfights.
In the end Johnnie To seemed too focused on keeping the movie cool and tried hard not to divert attention from the fact that his sole aim is to make a straightforward revenge action flick. The saving grace of the movie are the thought-out action scenes and small details, which seemed to have consumed all the creative energy the scriptwriter had for this movie. That said the shoot-out in the forest is so lame, pointless and remarkably stupid that it actually had me laughing (never-ending bullets, seven grown men running around a forest with guns, but unable to hit an elephant with them and so on...).