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Review
by Kozo: |
Movies about undercover
cops are like afros and ripped jeans: they never go
out of style. Case in point: Undercover, the
latest in a series of similarly-themed films dating
back to the beginning of time. Here's the skinny:
there's an undercover cop and stuff happens to him
because he's undercover. A lot of the time he's depressed
or upset, and frequently he's called a betrayer because
he is/was an undercover. Someone always dies in the
film, and usually, it's because of the undercover
cop being undercover. There's also a girl in the film,
and usually she also has something to do with the
undercover cop being undercover. All the above occurs
because when you're an undercover cop, being undercover
is everything. You can't escape the undercover life
even after you stop being an undercover because to
everyone else, you'll always be "that undercover
cop" or "that betraying bastard who betrayed
us when he was undercover". You all know the
drill. Now go write your own screenplay.
Directed by Billy Chung,
Undercover takes all the above themes and throws
few new tricks out there, except for possibly the
film's protagonist, who's so passive and morose that
he should probably not be the star of his own film.
Shawn Yue is Feng, a former undercover cop who would
definitely come in last place in a "cover your
tracks" contest. Not only does he allow his former
undercover life to drag his current post-undercover
life to crap, but he seems only vaguely interested
in self-preservation. One night while he's hanging
with former triad pal Fai (Sam Lee), the two get caught
snorting coke by a cop (Otto Wong of EO2), resulting
in the cop's death at Fai's hands. Fai immediately
must go on the run, and looks to his buddy Feng for
some assistance. However, their wires get crossed,
and Fai starts to think that Feng is out to bust him.
Feng isn't really trying
to bust Fai, but the cops are wise to Fai anyway,
and it's only a matter of time before they get to
him. To save Fai (and probably also himself) from
incarceration, Feng must go where he shouldn't: back
to Tuen Mun, where everyone hates him for ratting
out their former triad boss (Ken Tong). The journey
is fraught with the expected difficulties, namely
triad guys wanting a piece of him, plus a run-in with
his former girlfriend Sandy (the ubiquitous Monie
Tung), who has angst-a-plenty over the disappearance
of her former beau. Meanwhile, there's a parallel
investigation into a just-discovered skeleton, the
sight of which unnerves Feng so much that he pukes
and passes out. What gives? Is Feng really that much
of a pansy about dead bodies? Can he rekindle things
with his sweetheart Sandy? And can he clear his name
with Fai? Does the audience really care?
Maybe, though any sympathy
the audience has for Feng may only exist because it's
Shawn Yue in the leading role. Yue once played modern
Hong Kong Cinema's most iconic undercover cop (Chan
Wing-Yan of Infernal Affairs), so immediate
sympathy for him is easy. However, the movie works
quickly to destroy that sympathy, doing its best to
make Feng seem like a card-carrying lout who's more
stupid than self-destructive. Feng is supposed to
possess the full catalog of problems experienced by
Nick Cheung in On the Edge, i.e. his current
cop comrades distrust him, his former triad pals hate
his guts, and he has a bit of an identity crisis.
Of those three, Undercover only succeeds at
channeling one: that his former triad pals hate his
guts. He bitches at one point about the cops distrusting
him, but based on the behavior of his earnest partner
(Eddie Peng of EO2), plus other officers (Including
Osman Hung of EO2; see the pattern here?), they're
cool with him being around. Given the lack of consistent
discrimination, Feng's bitching seems a bit empty.
Furthermore, Feng's identity
crisis seems nonexistent, as he's never truly conflicted
by the two sides of his job. Basically, he does his
current cop job in a remarkably poor manner, while
seeming more interested in his previous undercover
life. Presumably, this is because he really is a bad
seed, having been turned by his time on the other
side. If that were so, wouldn't he try a bit harder
at self-preservation? The film's parallel storylines
eventually converge in a completely predictable manner,
leading to Feng looking like a moron for not getting
out of harm's way. Feng should be more of a sweaty,
paranoid cop like Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in The Longest
Nite - basically a bad guy who knows he's done
bad things, and is not looking for redemption of any
sort. Feng isn't looking for redemption either, but
his existence seems to be one of self-pity more than
anything else. As such, he's probably the least compelling
post-undercover cop around. If there's a fault here,
it's that the filmmakers couldn't make Feng more of
a worthwhile character.
Undercover does create
some interest thanks to its themes. While it's largely
been done before, the film's minor exploration of
the undercover life does manage some feeling. Billy
Chung keeps things moving with routine efficiency,
employing lots of tried-and-true style (filters, screen
flashes, etc.) to make it seem like we're watching
something edgy and cool. The film's status as an HD
video project is a bit obvious, however; some scenes
possess poor contrast, and the too-sharp video image
gives the film a distinct made-for-TV feel. Cementing
things is a laughable fade-to-static dissolve during
a crucial plot reveal, which makes the film seem ultra
cheap. Granted, the film really was ultra cheap, as
it was produced as a part of producer Andrew Lau's
Fortune Star DV project, which is targeting cable
and video instead of theatrical distribution. Given
that background, Undercover is better than
plenty of earlier DV-shot Hong Kong features, and
at least seems to be attempting a cinematic story.
However, Undercover only seems ill-conceived
when compared to the superior On the Edge,
as it cannot muster the depth or complexity to make
it more than just another entry in the undercover
cop genre. Given the umpteen films covering the same
subject matter, you could probably do better than Undercover. (Kozo 2007) |
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