Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

"Beijing Bicycle" has been described as a Chinese "Bicycle Thieves". This kind of plot is easy to poach if not always that easy to bring off but Xiaoshuai Wang manages it beautifully helped by a couple of wonderfully naturalistic performances from Lin Cui as the young courier whose bicycle is stolen and from Bin Li as the young thief, as well as by the superb cinematography of Jie Liu. This time the plot is less predictable and handled with a touch more humor than you might expect. It's also a great 'city' film with Wang handling the milieu of a large, and to Western eyes, a virtually unknown metropolis with all the brio of a Lumet but also with a freshness of approach and, like Lumet, he manages to balance the comic and the tragic in equally brilliant measure. This is a truly terrific film that simply shouldn't be missed.

Beijing Bicycle is certainly a layered movie that can be read at many levels. It ostensibly deals with a delicate and difficult subject that China confronts in its frenzied project of modernization: the floating population who lives on the edge of the city, the marginalized group that can no longer be glossed over in the grand narrative of urbanization. This floating population is the abjection, the cluster that can not be assimilated, the group being ruthlessly cast away but stubbornly clings on, and protests in silence; it is a disoriented group, usually incompatible to the ever-changing landscape of metropolitans; their voice is constantly being submerged in the hubbub of the sleepless cities. Indeed, the floating population is aphemic. What strikes me, frustrates me and saddens me is Gui's inability to communicate, to speak out, and to articulate for himself. (This is a little far off, but I was reminded of the similar frustration I had as a little girl when reading 'the little mermaid': if the mermaid has not given her voice away to the witch, she could tell the prince that it was she who saved him and wins his love.) Similar to the little mermaid, Gui could not speak up when he was wronged and abused. For instance, all Gui could convey to get his bicycle back is either his obstinate silence or his repeated sentence: "zhe che ben lai jiu shi wo de" (the bicycle is originally mine). His desperate, strident and continuous cry when being forced with violence by Jian's gang to let go off his bicycle is simply heart-breaking. Who is to blame for Gui's aphasia? Is it class division? Is it his own dislocation? Or is it the indifference of the city with its condescending atmosphere? The picture is definitely not black and white. The result of his aphasia, on the other hand, is more self-evident: at the end of the movie, Gui eventually turns to violence to break his silence… It is said that at least 60% of the crime that happens in Chinese cities comes from the floating population. They are suggested to be the root of the social problems. News reports constantly show how the innocent city folks are being hurt and robbed by those "the other" from the abjection, the floating population. Beijing Bicycle, however, attempts to approach this abjection, to speak up for those who do not speak for themselves, and allow us to sympathize with their plight.

I saw the movie a couple of years ago, and than i thought it was good. But now that i own the DVD, and now that i found all the symbolism within it, i now appreciate the movie to another level. The fact that the movie revolves around a simple bike( symbolism of course) makes the movie so much better. The 2 main characters could have easily bought another bike, but it wasn't about the bike, it was something that each wanted to gain along with it. The big thing about this movie is that you need to study and watch for the symbolism in this movie to really appreciate the artistic aspect of it. Most Definitely one of the best movies i have ever seen. A must see for movie buffs, or even for people who just enjoy to stay in and watch a good flick!

Beijing Bicycle plays out as "how not to be (stomped)". Two similarly flawed characters clinging desperately to one bicycle, which causes them so much suffering. Neither of them knowing when to let go. Both characters going to extremes of passivity and stubborn attachment, failing again and again to practice the pan-Eastern "middle-way". Meanwhile we watch Guo's level-headed/level-hearted boss and Jian's father, dealing well with both his son's failure and his own - and in the background an older man practices Qi Gong. It would be a "coming of age" movie, if there were any development in the main characters, toward the maturity of their elders. But in the end we see each of them battered and bruised, the trio of Guo, Jian and the Beijing Bicycle - last camera shot focusing on the latter, busted-up, a booby prize floating through crowded streets... the message is clear, Just Let Go!