2000 AD (2000)

The Y2K Bug. Real Warfare vs Electronic Gaming. Peter Tong, a carefree Hong Kong youngster, finds himself drawn into the web of a deadly espionage conspiracy. A clandestine organization ... See full summary »

Director:

Gordon Chan

Writers:

Gordon Chan (story), Stuart Zicherman (story) (as Stu Zicherman)

Stars:

Aaron Kwok, Phyllis Quek, James Lye

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aaron Kwok	...	Peter Li
Phyllis Quek	...	Salina
James Lye	...	Eric Ong
Daniel Wu	...	Benny
Gigi Choi	...	Janet
Andrew Lin	...	Kelvin Wong (as Hoi Lin)
Ray Lui	...	Greg Li
Francis Ng	...	Ronald Ng
Ken Lo	...	Bobby
Yu Beng Lim
Wenyong Huang
Cynthia Koh	...	Theresa
Shucheng Chen
Kwong-Kim Yip	...	Judge (as Ip Kwong Kim)
Stephanie Chan	...	Government Security Unit

Storyline

The Y2K Bug. Real Warfare vs Electronic Gaming. Peter Tong, a carefree Hong Kong youngster, finds himself drawn into the web of a deadly espionage conspiracy. A clandestine organization schemes to use the Y2K Bug to cause mayhem throughout Asia. To survive, Peter has to call on reserves of courage and stamina he has never needed before.

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Plot Keywords:

conspiracy | playing a video game | hand to hand combat | police shootout | crying | 

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Connections

References The X-Files (1993)

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Soundtracks

Unprecendented
Performed by Aaron Kwok

User Reviews

Hollywood Hong-Kong style

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Media Asia Raintree Pictures

Country:

Hong Kong Singapore

Language:

English Mandarin Cantonese

Release Date:

3 February 2000 (Singapore)

Also Known As:

公元2000 AD

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Box Office

Budget:

SGD6,300,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Media Asia Films, Mediacorp Raintree Pictures, People's Production Limited

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1