Wonderful character development!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

DOUBLE VISION is a weird little serial killer film from Taiwan with some surrealistic touches and some memorably gruesome set-pieces. The clear influence here is SEVEN, which comes as no surprise during this era, although I was also more than reminded of THE X-FILES as DOUBLE VISION has the same kind of spirit of investigation as it charts the two cops going after a serial killer who employs a very unusual method.This is a slick, glossy production which works well and keeps you watching just because the plot elements are so unusual and bizarre. It's not the type of film that you'd describe as a classic and it's not really one that sticks in the mind either, but it works well enough and keeps you watching throughout. Tony Leung is expectedly good as the lead but the real stand-out is imported American star David Morse, one of the most underrated character actors working today, and of course he's excellent here.

Hrmm, I don't know about this one. An American criminal investigator from the FBI is sent to assist a Taiwanese police group to figure out a bunch of creepy murders. How and why this guy is assisting them is sorta unexplained, but okay. The first half of the movie builds up the suspense pretty well, but the rest of it gets kind of clunky and includes a lot of CG clipshows and gore, segway that relies on music, unnecessary (and yet somehow predictable) plot twists full of tepid villains or lazy pacing.I do like the Taoist mysticism they try to throw into the whole thing, but it ends up being a lot less cool or scary than "Ghostbusters" by the end. The mysticism isn't explained in very much detail, which I suspect is to deliberately cover up its lack of depth. There are a few points where the movie is a launchpad for typical conversations about mysticism/religious belief vs. science. *snore* Tony Leung's main role is pretty cliché'd, at least as far as western cop dramas go. Some event from his past haunts him, isolates him from colleagues, his family, blah blah blah. David Morse is okay, but there's no real point to him being there. We also get almost zero character development out of him. And the script's attempts to get one-liners or sarcastic quips from his character are pretty poor.Seriously, if you hadn't seen these characters already a million times before in better movies, you'd be pretty damn confused by their stories and motivations. The flashbacks and home movies and whatever else you see here, they're so random, they're given almost no introduction so you have no idea what you're seeing or why it's relevant to the story.So it's a typical cross-cultural cop-drama, which mixes with light mysticism and horror instead of comedy or martial arts, and with somewhat choppy editing and pacing. Don't get me wrong, I really loved getting to see Taiwan and all the Taoist symbolism and what-have-you. It just wasn't implemented that well. It's like the movie couldn't decide on what to be. Oh, and the ending is poorly thought out too.The '80s flick "Black Rain" with Michael Douglas does the serious cross-cultural cop-drama thing much better. That one has finer ambiance, a cheesy soundtrack with charming characters as well as a better look into the customs of Japanese law enforcement and organized crime.

This film had an engaging premise. A murderer is shooting pellets laced with a mite-bearing, extremely hallucinogenic mold into air conditioners of intended victims. The victims then destroy themselves in a manner orchestrated by their killer.Now here is the disappointing part... The film could not decided if it was going to remain a mystery or a supernatural thriller. Unfortunately, by the time the credits rolled, I really didn't care.There are several different sub-plots traveling straight together in the first half of the film. Tony Leung Ka Fai plays a cop failing to cope with the attempted murder of his daughter and the suicide of a corrupt fellow officer he helped bring to justice. His daughter won't speak and his neglected wife is seeking a divorce. Amid the murders, Leung Ka Fai learns that a FBI agent specializing in behavioral science and assigned to work with him, has been summoned by his superiors for show. One of his fellow detectives alludes to this and that the government might have a malevolent purpose behind this. The investigation points towards supernatural forces, and we are led into a temple where we witness a murder take place in the midst of what appears to be a Taiwanese Satanic ceremony.All this flies straight together, but then each veers off in a separate direction, and in order to make sense and keep up with the story line, the viewer needs "double vision."

A Perfect cast in an Evil Intention Plot ThrillerWith Double Vision, multi-talented director Chen Kuo-fu pierces the evil of the unexpected whereby he has taken a typical corny Hollywood story line, infused it with millennia-old Chinese mystical beliefs and placed it in the sweat soaked, politically charged atmosphere of 21st -century Taiwan. This thriller is about a troubled police detective Huang Huo-to (Tony Leung Ka Fai) whose is about to suffer from a severe mental breakdown as his life is falling apart. The reason for this is as payback for blowing the whistle on corruption in the force. He's then relegated to a do-nothing job as a Foreign Affairs Officer. His fellow policemen colleagues have turned on him and his wife Ching-fan (Rene Liu) is filing for divorce. Then suddenly three grisly murders shake up the department. The victims are unrelated but the coroner (Yang Kuei Mei) finds a mysterious black fungus in their brains, along with evidence that they had all died in a hallucinatory state. Clearly there is a serial killer on the loose, but the first in Taiwan's history whereby the police are unequipped to handle the case. With the public on the verge of panic, the high command of the Republic grudgingly calls on the United States for assistance. The FBI comes into the picture and sends its top expert, Kevin Richter (David Morse) to help Huang to wrestle these mysterious cases. The suspenseful ride is now on..... sit tight!Besides its suspense and thrills that you would find in this movie, the perfect cast of Double Vision is also worth a mention. Tony Leung who shot to international stardom in the box-office hit The Lover, plays a demanding role as well as the main foundation bearer of the movie. His role is certainly worth a nomination in the Best Actor category in the coming Film Awards in Taiwan and Hong Kong. As for the graceful, azure-eyed David Morse who is in his debut Asian Film, plays a FBI agent who is sympathetic as well as a lovable character. As for the supporting cast, each and everyone is also a heavyweight in the Taiwanese film industry like Rene Liu, Lung Sihung, Leon Dai Li Ren and Yang Kuei Mei. Therefore it is a perfect cast in an almost perfect movie.Working with Oscar-winning production and costume designer Tim Yip of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame and Arthur Wong, one of Hong Kong's great cinematographers, director Chen Kuo-fu takes danger and suspense to a new level of dimension. In fact, just making the film is a venture into a new territory. Double Vision is a very brave effort indeed for a Asian production. It would also open a few eyes of the Hollywood producers on Chen's credibility as well as catapult him to the ranks in the likes of Ang Lee or John Woo.