Chek dou (2015)

A portable nuclear device, DC8, has been stolen from South Korea by a ruthless criminal (Chang Chen) and his accomplice (Janice Man). As the weapon will change hands in Hong Kong, Lee (Nick... See full summary »

Directors:

Lok Man Leung (as Longman Leung), Lok Man Leung

Writers:

Dean Kole, Lok Man Leung (screenplay) (as Longman Leung)

Stars:

Chen Chang, Shawn Yue, Janice Man

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Chen Chang	...	Messenger Gam Dao-Nin
Shawn Yue	...	Fan Ka-Ming
Janice Man	...	Messenger Zhang Yijun
Nick Cheung	...	Insp. Lee Yan-Ming
Jacky Cheung	...	Prof. Siu Chi-Yan
Temur Mamisashvili	...	Mr. Big's Bodyguard
Si Won Choi	...	Park Woo-cheol (as Siwon Choi)
Xueqi Wang	...	Song An
Philippe Joly	...	Mr. Big's bodyguard
Hae-sook Kim	...	Park Yung-sook (as Hae-suk Kim)
Jin-hee Ji	...	Col. Choi Min-Ho
Philip Keung	...	Wong, Kin Chung
Joyce Wenjuan Feng	...	Yuan Xiaowen (as Wenjuan Feng)
Mike Leeder	...	Younger / older Mr. Big
Dae-han Ji	...	Korean Ambassafor

Storyline

A portable nuclear device, DC8, has been stolen from South Korea by a ruthless criminal (Chang Chen) and his accomplice (Janice Man). As the weapon will change hands in Hong Kong, Lee (Nick Cheung) from the territory's Counter Terrorism Response Unit sets up a task force, which includes police officer Fan (Shawn Yue), to deal with the crisis. He enlists physics professor Siu (Jacky Cheung) as an adviser and has to work with South Korean weapon experts Choi (Ji Jin Hee) and Pok (Choi Si Won). Despite their efforts, the elusive criminal mastermind, Helios, is always a step ahead of Lee.

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Plot Keywords:

police officer | arms smuggling | double cross | physicist | diplomacy | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Fantasy | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

Hong Kong China USA

Language:

Cantonese Mandarin Korean

Release Date:

1 May 2015 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Chi Dao

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Media Asia Films, Wanda Media Co., Sun Entertainment Culture

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Hollywood-quality production with Hollywood-quality writing, for better or worse

First things first: The surface aspects of Helios are outrageously good. The production value rivals Hollywood films with convincing large scale sets, international location shooting, subtle photo-real CGI, gorgeous cinematography, and rip-roaring action scenes. Speaking of action scenes, Helios' gun battles are firmly in the new wave of Hong Kong gun play: Hard-hitting machine gun battles with a dash of real-world tactical flare. They resemble more the thrilling shootout in Michael Mann's Heat rather than John Woo's elegant work. This action style works well for thrillers and HK cinema have gotten damn good at it in recent years.

Sadly, Helios' plotting and narrative are also notably Hollywood- esque with shallow characters, contrived emotions, and ludicrous plot all held together by tightly paced editing and actors that demand you look at them due to their great acting or great looks. It all still manages to be compelling, but none of it holds up on reflection. Despite its flaws, Helios could normally be recommended as a fun "turn off your brain" action thriller and that would be that. Alas, the ending makes the recommendation much harder. Without going into specifics, just know that there is no satisfaction to be had in any way. No closure, no justice, no explanation. Viewers will have to decide for themselves if it's worth watching a movie that entertains mightily then reverses all of that good will in the last 10 minutes.