Very well executed

Let's be realistic.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Blistering performances.

"Eye in the Sky" (aka "Gun chung") runs at about and hour and a half, but the movie is directed by Nai-Hoi Yan in a way that it seems like the movie was three hours long. While the concept idea and story was good, this slow pace was a severe anchor weighing the movie down.The movie does have some familiar faces on the cast list, including two of Hong Kong cinema bigger names; Simon Yam and Tony Ka Fai Leung. But for us familiar with Hong Kong cinema, then Suet Lam is also a familiar face and name. I wasn't particularly familiar with Kate Tsui, but she was rather impressive in this 2007 action thriller.The story is about a young woman (Kate Tsui) starring int he CIB special division of the Hong Kong police department. Under the training of her superior (Simon Yam) they are playing a cat-and-mouse chase against a particularly professional gang of thieves.There are many interesting aspects to the story in "Eye in the Sky", and the characters are detailed and have depth and fleshed out personalities. And the acting talents were doing good jobs with their roles. Just a shame that the pace of the movie was so dreadfully slow.I will say that "Eye in the Sky" is a movie that appeals only to those whom are fan of the Hong Kong cinema. Otherwise you might find more enjoyment in another action thriller.

A Young woman joins the police surveillance unit and begins to track a gang of robbers and their mysterious leader. Good, but really great (which some are hailing it) police procedural. More suspense then action this tale of cops and cameras watching everything we do. You'll really have to forgive the lack of detail. I did watch the movie, finishing it an hour ago, but at the same time as soon as it was over my attitude was "okay whats next?". I think part of the problem is that you can pretty much guess how its going to go. You know the early confrontation will be played out later with a different result and you know that a couple of cliché turns will inevitably come to pass. I liked it but its such an unremarkable film that I can't really recommend it. If you do happen upon it give it a try but don't bother searching it out.

Enough of pseudo psychological depth of an undercover cop's mental state or ultra convoluted plots with stupidity disguised (not terribly successfully) as cleverness. "Eye in the sky" has one simple agenda: a police procedural showing you the workings of the police surveillance team. How refreshing! The job is in fact extremely simple: observe, remember and report. The team members aren't even expected to assess if the observed target is really the criminal – somebody else in the police force will do that. There is of course a downside. While it is grindingly boring, it requires you to be alert all the time. There is also physical danger.This movie is a job well done, in 90 tightly paced minutes. There are remarkably little wasted time or red herrings. The subject matter confidently claims centre stage (screen, I mean), keeping the audience's attention focused.Simon Yam and Tony Leung Ka-fai are as ever watchable, playing cop and thief, respectively. It's also a cat-and-mouse game but here, it is sometimes difficult to tell which is which. Kate Tsui, in her movie debut, as a rookie cop, is generally praised. There is the usual gang of supporting cast that you see in every Hong Kong gangster movie. Maggie Siu is the weakest link, trying to portray a tough, foul-mouthed police department boss but comes across looking more like a clown than anything else.

Forget about the intriguing posters for this one. For those expecting a sophisticated updating of Enemy of the State or some such paranoid-conspiracy theory number, much disappointment lies ahead.And it didn't even take Big Brother to stamp out any creativity in the project. Seems like Eye in the Sky fell victim to its own hushed and brief proviso, amounting to one of the most perplexingly short and underwhelming releases so far this year.Expectations run high as Tony Leung Ka Fai and Simon Yam saddle up to what by all rights could have been so much more. Opening sequences do bring with them fleeting glances of the delightful hi-tech, surveillance-rich spy mood the movie's promotional material sort of wanted you to buy into, but that's the extent of titillation they managed here.We soon realize Eye in the Sky is nothing more than yet another cops and robbers affair, and not even remotely one of the more poignant you've never seen. It does come across that director Yau Nai Hoi previously worked with Johnny To and his crew on stuff like The Mission and Expect the Unexpected, but apparently on his own he can't match those classics.Instead, we get a minimal story, paper tiger villains who crumble all too soon and a fatherly good cop character that seemingly can't die. That last one really pooped the party, which sounds mean, but after building up the melodrama in an almost-touching scene having the guy come back from the dead is simply awkward.So both Simon Yam and good old Tony Leung fail to make a lasting impression here, but what about the supporting cast? Well, a mixed bag as usual. Kate Tsui is Little Piggy, a new recruit to the HKPD's surveillance unit, a gathering of people with the knack to be anyone, anywhere and anyhow. They even know where you buy your saltines and soda. That aside, Tsui is OK for some scenes, but overall there's no raving about her output in this film.Likable soap opera Wayne Lai does his best and is impressive, but gets about ten seconds on screen so what can you do? Likewise, Maggie Siu (PTU) is cool as a constantly-cussing commanding madam, albeit doesn't get explored much beyond.To its credit, Eye in the Sky does have numerous instances of the beloved F word, and finally a classic shootout-with-vans-on-a-deserted-Hong Kong-overpass type of deal between the crooks and bemasked tactical unit cops. Not bad that one! Sadly that last exclamation does not apply to the rest of the movie. Eye in the Sky is simply not worth getting excited over nor keeping your peepers peeled for.Rating: * * *