Theft Under the Sun (1997)



	Theft Under the Sun		Return to Review Archive - T
	Year:	1997	Michael Wong and Julian Cheung
	Director:	Cha Yuen-Yee
	Cast:	Julian Cheung Chi-Lam, Michael Wong Mun-Tak, Gigi Lai Chi, Francis Ng Chun-Yu, Edmond So Chi-Wai
	The Skinny:	A poor foray into western-style action filmmaking. Michael Wong should never play charismatic bad guys, because he's not a charismatic actor.
	Review by Kozo:	High production values are the main selling point for this supposed psychological action drama featuring Julian Cheung as a cop who goes deep, deep undercover by befriending “charismatic” bad guy Michael Wong. They steal some missiles for sale while cops Edmond So Chi-Wai and Francis Ng (in a strangely effective doofus role) try to stay one step ahead of them. Sporadically entertaining, the film loses major points for shoddy special effects and lousy supporting characters. The plot itself tries to be a sort of John Woo-ish flick with homoerotic overtones and a cop/criminal pair who are both friends and enemies. The film takes a good turn toward the climax with some actual tension. Sadly, many of the moments before it are uninteresting. Whose idea was it to pair Julian Cheung and Michael Wong? Neither are more than average actors, and the film suffers for lack of a suitable leading man. And frankly, the idea that Michael Wong is charismatic is totally laughable. Gigi Lai is sexy but horribly annoying as Cheung’s girlfriend. Francis Ng is always interesting, but his character lacks any edges. So Chi-Wai does nothing. Director Cha Yuen-Yee hasn't been known for his action. This movie will do little to change that. (Kozo 1997)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mega Star/Media Asia Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Mega Star Video Distribution, Ltd.
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