2000 AD (2000)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Hong Kong used to be seen as the home of unintentionally comical chop-socky movies of interest only to kung-fu freaks and those too lazy to reach for the remote and, while that's not a fair assessment of that country's current output, it's not a totally undeserved one concerning its past. So it makes a refreshing change to see that Hong Kong – along with other Asian countries – has begun producing stylish and energetic efforts like 2000AD. Hollywood is obviously a major influence on this film – not least in the fact that the writing credits are shared between director Gordon Chan and American screenwriter Stu Zicherman (Chan took Zicherman's English screenplay and translated it into Chinese, although chunks of English dialogue remain). The storyline is typical Hollywood high-tech nonsense, but it's engaging and exciting, and injects high-adrenaline action sequences that match anything that has come out of the States – or anywhere else for that matter – in the last ten years.The complicated storyline focuses on Peter Li (Aaron Kwok), an immature, bespectacled computer geek, who quickly matures after witnessing the assassination of his older brother while in police custody, and finds himself sucked into an ever-widening morass of lies and deceit as he struggles to identify the killers. Able to trust only a handful of the numerous characters offering him support in the aftermath of his brother's murder, Peter soon finds himself the target of the assassins, and becomes immersed in a world that mirrors that depicted in the video games at which he is so adept.The core of the plot regards the search for a computer program that can destroy the world's computer network with the press of a laptop button, but that's really just a plot device from which an explosive cocktail of explosions, shoot-outs, car chases and fist fights are developed. The story starts slowly, introducing us to a bewildering array of characters that take some little while to sort out, and it's only after the first thirty minutes that the action kicks in. Despite this, it has to be said there's not a lot of character development going on in those first thirty minutes: Peter transforms into a grim-faced avenger, mysteriously jettisoning his geeky spectacles, and adopting a sort of Bruce Lee persona that never quite rings true; but, apart from thirty-eight-year-old Kenneth Ng, who delivers a superbly understated performance in the regrettably small role of Officer Ng, a senior police officer approaching his sixties, the other characters are nothing more than cardboard cut-outs – especially Janet (the wonderfully named Gigi Choi), Peter's girlfriend, who is given absolutely nothing to do throughout the entire picture.But, then, since when was characterisation allowed to get in the way of an action flick? Chan hasn't set out to create true-to-life people in a true-to-life world; he's attempted to recreate the breathless, high-speed pace of a video game, one in which his hero has to ascend various levels before the game can be completed ("This isn't a game", says Ng at one point, "you can't start over again").Director Chan, an insolent little brother to the Hollywood high-rollers, delivers the breathtaking action sequences with no little style, eschewing the slow-motion ballet so beloved of John Woo and his many pale imitators (who now, ironically, count Woo amongst their number) for furiously kinetic displays of concentrated carnage. Chan's gun-battles somehow manage to illustrate the brutal violence and terrifying confusion of the moment without confusing the viewer, and he stages each massacre with flair and purpose and attention to detail that is unusual (the car park shootout is actually a homage to the notion of the samurai's sacrificing of their lives in Kurosawa's Ran). True, he overplays his hand, leaving little for the disappointing showdown with the villainous 'cowboy' (another dig at Hollywood?), and some loose ends are left hanging (presumably for a sequel that has so far failed to materialise), but if what has gone before hasn't left your appetite sated then you've probably never seen an action movie you've liked.

The great thing about Hong Kong action thrillers is that you don't need a full frontal lobotomy before you can enjoy them. Movies like The Fast and The Furious, Stealth and A Man Apart are so shockingly devoid of any real action in the upstairs department that you wonder if someone really took the term 'no-brainer' too far and removed the juicy brains of the entire production staff.On the other side of the fence, and indeed the world, most Hong Kong made thrillers are clever and witty, relying on a believable and steadily developed plot just as much as fast-paced set pieces. 2000AD is a fantastic illustration of this approach. Gordon Chan's tight believable movie trundles along at a fast but not breakneck pace, giving you time to get your head round the clever but not convoluted plot.Centring on a corrupt American-Cantonese CIA op attempting to hold the world to ransom with a program capable of destroying any computer mainframe, 2000AD is complex but believable. It smartly avoids using any technology our current world can't produce, and as a result avoids tying itself up in nonsensical knots or producing any real plot holes.While it depends largely on character and story as opposed to braindead gunplay, 2000AD is also full of consummate examples of how to stage a fantastic action set piece. The action sequences are as good as you would expect from the Chan production team, full of great stunts and awesome spectacle. As an added bonus, the movie's slow-burning nature means that when it does let rip, boy do you feel it.With both of these elements, 2000AD comes in highly recommended. However it does have a few niggling flaws. For a start, the version I watched had somewhat awkward subtitles that missed odd segments of dialogue, but honestly this didn't detract much from the movie. Still, the film is a little unbalanced between high energy action and a somewhat darker element. The dialogue in the movie is knowingly funny and wittily written, as with many Hong Kong films, and although this is fun to have in the movie, some people might find it at odds with the film's often brutal action sequences.Still, if you enjoy Hong Kong cinema, you should seek this out, it won't disappoint, and if you feel like a change from the norm in your action movies you should definitely try this movie.

With 2000 AD, director Gordon Chan cements his status as modern Hong Kong cinema's "King of Gun Battles". While his peers seem intent on putting together shootouts which are either a) amateurish and poorly edited (Extreme Crisis, Blood Rules), or b) oblique and artsy (The Mission), Chan proves there is at least one director left in Hong Kong who can deliver thrilling and explosive gunfights like nobody's business. He's not a John Woo clone though. Unlike the slow-motion beauty of Hong Kong cinema's most successful export, Chan prefers a hard-hitting and realistic approach. Think of the gun battle in Michael Mann's HEAT, and you will get an idea of how Chan likes to shoot and edit. Besides the action scenes, 2000 AD is an average Hollywood-style thriller. The story won't change your life, but you will be amused and that's enough. Best of all, the movie is WELL-PACED! That's one skill the current crop of HK directors seem to lack - Their films are too slow. Not 2000 AD. Well paced, good acting, amusing story, and awesome action. What are you waiting for?

In 2000 AD Aaron Kwok plays a computer games developer/dealer, who's brother inadvertenlty lands him in trouble over a computer bomb.The film centres around Kwok trying to find the bomb while avoiding terrorists and wondering who to trust, which thankfully delivers many thrilling and sometimes violent action set pieces set in Hong Kong and Singapore.The films structure is odd, with some scenes having nothing to do with the film at all. Gordon Chans directing is commendable, though varies during the film. In the first action set piece he cleverly uses black & white slo mo shots to enhance the emotional and violent impact of the scene, but this technique is abandoned for the rest of the action scenes. The rest of the action seems to be shot with steady cam giving an arthouse feel. But then he gives us an almost MTV car chase.On the whole 2000 AD is a very good film. Aaron Kwok does a very good job as the confused Peter, and Francis Ng is excellent as the dry witted law enforcer.