2002
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound format: Dolby Digital
A psychic cop (Nicholas Tse) who battles wayward ghosts for the Hong Kong police department is teamed with an eager rookie (Stephen Fung) destined to die and become his ghostly helper. But their plans are thwarted by a vengeful water spirit (Alex Fong), who emerges from the Other Side to destroy them both...
Long on spectacle and short on plot, Wilson Yip's half-hearted blockbuster contains a typical mixture of awkward comedy and heart-rending melodrama, assembled in piecemeal fashion by no less than four credited screenwriters (Vincent Kok, Gwok Ji-kin, Szeto Yam-kuen and Yip himself)! Fate and Destiny play an important role in the patchwork narrative, though such philosophical musings are quickly submerged beneath a tide of CGI effects and wire-fu combat sequences (choreographed by Poon Kin-gwan), including a remarkable fight between Tse and Fong in a swimming pool which rings the changes on an old formula, in no uncertain terms.
However, the film exists primarily as a vehicle for its leading men, both of whom are rendered beautiful by Poon Hang-sang's flattering camera-work and Stephen Tsang's 'Matrix'-style costumes, co-designed by Stephanie Wong. As with so many HK movies of this type, Tse and Fung are given a couple of lacklustre romantic interests (Danielle Graham and Rain Li), but Yip focuses primarily on the intense relationship between the film's male protagonists, and their mutual affection is invested with a fair degree of homoerotic pathos. Sam Lee and industry veteran Law Kar-ying are featured in supporting roles, while Yip himself cameos as a doctor.
(Cantonese dialogue)
