2002

2002 is the ghostbusting department of the Hong Kong Police. The hero is fated to cause the death of anyone he gets close to, which cramps his love-life somewhat. He gets through partners rather quickly too, since they die, become super-powered ghost partners and then get re-incarnated. His mentor sells paper offerings for the hero to burn for their ghost friends.

The script is always intelligent and witty. The action sequences are just right - they move the plot along without dominating it and are great fun. The acting and directing are both excellent and the main characters are likeable and sexy - strong, but vulnerable.

We laughed out-loud, especially at the comments that brought the characters down to earth. We didn't actually cry at the pathos but it was there.

This review relates to the English subtitled version shown on TV.

Version: Cantonese, with English subtitles (by SBS)

When watching movies on SBS, I'm prepared for nearly anything. Obviously my definition of 'anything' didn't include an action/horror movie from Hong Kong that was essentially 'Ghostbusters' if it were a kung-fu movie. SBS rules.

'2002' follows a police-unit dealing with the supernatural. Each team is comprised of a human / ghost partnership. When Tide's (Nicholas Tse) partner is re-incarnated, Tide finds a new partner in Fung (Stephen Fung). Fung doesn't know about the human / ghost rule, nor does he realize that anyone close to Tide is doomed to die. Meanwhile, some nasty demons are running around Hong Kong, and they're pretty angry.

The story of '2002' is pretty good. The characters are likable, and the movie was well written. Some things weren't explained very well, but that shouldn't be a problem for anyone interested in these movies or the general subject (Chinese mythology).

Action-wise, '2002' kicks arse. There is a lot of wire-work and CGI. I normally don't like CGI, but I'll forgive it here as the fight scenes were pretty damn-cool. Be warned though, the fight-scenes in this exist to serve to explain the story, and not for the sake of action. Some of these fights are broken up by flashbacks, etc and may drag-on for those not keen on the plot.

8/10 - Check it out if like HK action movies.

In Hong Kong, the special force of the police known as 2002 is composed of the twenty-two year-old cop Chiu (Nicholas Tse) and his ghost partner and they fight against supernatural phenomena under the guidance of the mystic Paper Chan (Kar-Ying Law). When his partner reincarnates, the rookie policeman Fung (Stephen Fung) applies for the position; but Paper Chan explains Chiu that the team is to be formed by a man and a spirit, and Chiu has a death star on his hand that dooms his friends to die. Meanwhile, Chiu falls in love for Nurse Danielle (Danielle Graham), but he avoids her to protect her life against the fate of the death star. When the fiend Water Ghost (Alex Fong) possesses Fung seeking revenge against Chiu, he has to battle against the evil spirit trying to protect also his friend.

The melodramatic "2002" blends action, sci-fi, fantasy, fight scenes, drama, romance, comedy, free merchandise of a bank and an ice-cream brand and cheap philosophy; the result is an enjoyable, but very confused movie, with weird rules and no explanation for the ghosts and fiends in Hong Kong. The special effects work very well and in the end this film is a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "2002 – Exterminadores do Além" ("2002 – Terminators from Beyond")

I sat down in 2022 to watch the 2001 Hong Kong fantasy action movie "2002" for the second time since it was released. I recall having seen the movie shortly after it was initially released, but I just couldn't recall the storyline. So I opted to watch it for a second time.

And while the concept of the storyline in "2002" is interesting, and writers Vincent Kok, Chi-Kin Kwok and Kam-Yuen Szeto were on to something, then directors Wilson Yip and William Darvill just failed to bring something outstanding to the screen.

Sure, I will say that "2002" is certainly watchable, but the movie is just lacking something to spice it up, because it is a fairly bland and generic flavored dish.

"2002" does have a fairly adequate cast ensemble, with the likes of Nicholas Tse, Stephen Fung and also Sam Lee.

Visually then "2002" was adequate back in the day when it was released, and while the effects still are passable today, they are showing signs of aging.

There are far better movies of the same type available, even from the Hong Kong cinema. And "2002" just didn't manage to stand out, so I fear that it will slowly fade back into the mists and become a distant memory of a movie having already been seen.

My rating of "2002" lands on a four out of ten stars.

One of my favourite movies of all time. It's a lovely bitter-sweet story surrounded by an edgy plot and plenty of action and bits of humour.

The story tells of the ancient partnership of a ghost and a human teaming together to solve cases concerning unhappy ghosts.

But with this ancient partnership, comes a burden.

This movie does carry on a tiny bit but it's all for the sake of emotional suspense.

The plot twists and turns and just when you think you can predict it... I haven't met a single person that hasn't enjoyed it (and I've played this film to a lot of friends)

Perfect for a night in, maybe with your other half, it's neither overly violence nor over-mushy.

I can't hyper about this movie enough!