A Major Disappointment

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The plot was actually interesting enough to pass off as an interesting movie, if only the pace (editing) had been a little faster. There were odd hesitations here and there, especially in the way the actors speak (the awkward Mandarin), which made the flow a little choppy. There were a few unexplained loopholes here and there in the plot, (*spoilers ahead*) like why the mentor Tianle was blamed for the explosion when it was shown in the scene that it was not his fault. There were not enough back story to establish the characters, and the members of the elite Special Tactics Unit were also not given enough screen time for the audience to know each and everyone, thus, when they died, the audience couldn't empathize with the characters. There were also not enough action scenes to make the film an action movie, it's more like a crime mystery movie to me?Many veteran actors like Zheng Ge Ping and Xiang Yun were involved, but they not given enough screen time for their characters to develop properly. The most disappointing part was the character Qizhen (Mico Chang) whose expression was so dead that my friend wondered if she had botox prior to the filming. Her agitated voice did not match her expression when she was talking to her sister-in-law (Xiang Yun), which kinda show that the voice was dubbed on later.Wu Tianle (Sunny Pang) was a character which I wished they had delved a little more. Was he really dead? Or had he really turned bad because of all the accusation? Sunny Pang was able to get the audience wondering and guessing for some time before the plot unveiled. Besides Wu Tianle, Yuan Shuai was the only one which somehow saved the movie and made it a little more watchable. While some might feel that he over-exaggerate his expressions, I felt that he gave the film the energy that a crime thriller should have. The character's agitated nature made up for the main lead's sub-standard acting. This led me to wonder...Read More: http://tiffanyyong.com/2014/02/25/resolve-movie-review/