Shanghai (2010)

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Shanghai takes place just before Japan entered the World War Two. Paul Soames (John Cusack) comes to China to look for his friend who, like him, worked for the American intelligence effort. From that basic setting we end up getting a good mystery thriller, with all the usual good stuff. Glamorous women, elegant locations, the looming threat of war, betrayals, reveals, backstabbing and more.One of the film's strengths are its actors. I haven't seen Cusack in anything for a while, but he's still in great shape and gives a good performance as your typical silent neo-noir investigator hero. Li Gong is also very good as Anna Lan-Ting, the resident femme fatale.Truth be told, I kind of wish the script was a bit better so that these people could have really stretched their wings. As it is, it's not bad, but it's not really all that original either. You can figure out the mystery pretty early if you know anything about history, the biggest twist when it comes to characters also comes near the beginning, none of the romance subplots really surprise and as a whole, while I was entertained, I wasn't really that thrilled.Shanghai is a good film to check out if you're a fan of wartime period pieces and want to see one that, for a change, doesn't take place in Western Europe. It has great actors, a decent script, excellent production values and a tight enough pacing to make up for its unoriginality.

Shanghai is unfortunately the kind of movie that I rarely watch, the low key spy thriller. Luckily, once in a while a movie just like Shanghai turns up and reminds me how good the genre really is. Because Shanghai is a really good, entertaining and above all an intriguing movie. It shows once again that you don't need the tempo and effects of the big blockbusters to make a really good movie. It is really all about the story.And Shanghai got a good one. Cusack plays the American agent Soames that is sent to Shanghai to investigate the murder of his best friend and fellow agent Conner. Conner seems to have fallen for the wrong girl, but Soames are convinced he was on to something big. Set in the besieged city of Shanghai during second world war (1941) the city is split between the Americans, British, Japanese and Germans. Not counting all the Chinese that are actually living there. The Japanese and Germans are allied, and has an agreement with the local branch of the triad. The Americans are supposed to be neutral, but the trail Soames is following leads to a dangerous and alluring woman, the leader of the Chinese resistance and the wife of the triad leader. So, everyone is scheming behind the others backs.Important to these low key thrillers are the cast, and for a movie set as Shanghai is, I couldn't think of a better cast. John Cusack is joined by Yun-Fat Chow, Ken Watanabe, Li Gong, David Morse, Franka Potente and Rinko Kikuchi. Most of them is severely underrated and once again gives very good performances in Shanghai.Shanghai is a modern film noire, and for me a refreshing addition to the genre. Highly recommended for anyone who doesn't need high octane explosions all the time to like a movie.8/10

The subject matter is interesting. There is suspense and action and romance. Too bad it didn't get a bigger box office release and reception. Some slight imperfections are there.The cast is good. All top notch Asian actors. Chow and Watanabe add stature. Gong Li is alluring if a little older. Cusack is a bit goofy looking but blends in to the scenes well. Heard Johnny Depp was interested probably would have been worse.The sets are bit too theatrical and lacked a little on location feel.The story is feel good old fashioned adventure romance and not irritating. Sometimes it was hard to catch some of the dialog and because of that got a bit lost. Overall worth watching.

A good selection of actors cant save the fact that being an American made film about the orient is going to obscure the facts and bias the point of view.Trying to make out that the most blood thirsty, violent war mongering country in the world was a mere pass-a-by in WW2 is non-sense.Still, its a detective, romance, rebel uprising set in decadent shanghai makes for the lack of facts. Don't expect a documentary, but it beats watching another of those 999,999 type of American movies about American teenagers in American high school showing how superior America is.