Chu bao

One of the best Chinese movie I have watched for the last 2 years! Made me watch again and again for at least 7 times. Not kidding. 7 times.

The movie got so invested into its weakly conceived plot thread, that it forgot to give the audience anything to care about. Much is happening but you may find it hard to apply any interest, due to the absence of any persons to root for or be worried about.

The wannabe-charismatic antagonist is too evil. The protagonist is the blandest piece of dry bread you could try to imagine. No one else is established long enough to grant you the strength to even raise an eyebrow at.

Daniel Wu, as the antagonist, could have done a better job, I believe. I've seen him act well in other movies. Sadly, the director is quickly revealed as tone-deaf and has, I assume, never cared to repeat any of the scenes for a better take. Wu has still done at least remotely okay enough...but his charisma gets doused by lack of efficient direction or script. The story attempts to give his character depth, but apparently forgets that his actions weigh more than his scrawny sub-plot.

Qianyuan Wang got the worst deal out of it, though. It's possible to see what type of cop he's trying to portray, yet he's never given a moment to be anything but the worst trope of 100+ years of character writing for crime movies. No character development, no personality to describe with more than a few words and no reasonable establishment of his motivation.

The last fight had me at least mildly entertained, short as it was. What finally managed to raise my eyebrows, though, was the very end, revealing the fate of one of the characters. It's a somewhat shocking statement on Chinese government. At least that how I read it.

Caught in Time, originally known as Chu bao, is a vibrant action-thriller from Hong Kong and China. Partially based upon true events, this dynamic film tells the story of ambitious Detective Zhong Cheng who tracks down a ruthless, organized and experienced group of robbers led by charismatic gangster Zhang Sun. The cat-and-mouse game takes place in Hong Kong in the early nineties and concludes with an intense fight between protagonist and antagonist in a bathhouse.

This movie convinces on many levels. First of all, it has a perfect length of ninety-five minutes. This film has vibrant pace and manages to entertain from start to finish. There are no unnecessary cutscenes or even one single second of boredom. The flow of this movie rivals with the greatest Hong Kong action movies from the eighties and nineties.

Up next, the special effects are quite spectacular. The brutal crimes showcased here, the breathtaking car chases through narrow alleys and the intense shootouts and explosions deliver the goods and keep viewers on the edges of their seats from start to finish. The final showdown is this film's satisfactory highlight and ends a great film on an excellent note.

The characters are also quite intriguing. The antagonist is quite charismatic and experienced and has an interesting back story and family background. The protagonist gets more convincing with every single scene and his resilient determination to arrest the antagonist is truly inspiring.

Even though the story might not be surprising and certainly lacks a few twists here and there, Caught in Time offers so much substance in terms of pace, effects and characters that it has to go down as one of the greatest contemporary action movies from Hong Kong. Genre fans should certainly give this entertaining film a try even though it features a cast that is known to veteran genre experts but doesn't come around with any big names like Andy Lau or Donnie Yen.

After that, "Chu bao" ("Caught in Time" in English) starts to drag. I had never heard of Zhang Jun and the robberies that he carried out in the 1990s. Hell, I didn't think it possible to carry out robberies in China; a college friend spent a summer teaching English in Shanghai and said that it's impossible to break the law due to the police everywhere. But anyway, the first part of the movie focuses more on the robberies themselves, after which the movie starts to meander.

Basically, it's the sort of movie that you watch if you want to learn about a particular story; it does an excellent job informing the viewer about that. It falls short in other respects.

Apparently, the working title was Xiànqi Pò'àn, literally "Solving the case in time", but in September 2020 the title was changed to Chúbào, literally "Getting rid of outlaws", in support of the ongoing law enforcement campaign to crack down on underworld crimes.

A very original crime thriller that any film maker/director, who wants to shoot a crime story, should watch! Its an action drama thats nevers slows down for 1 second and never allows you to lose interest at every single frame. Its original, clever, well filmed, superbly acted from a well put together cast and, not a single American in sight. This gem is all Chinese and though they make a lot of films in the crime genre, this is one of the best you will ever see...if you are willing to view it with subtitles in your native language.

The only bad part in this entire film is to be found in the rolling end credits where, as is typical with BS Chinese self glorifying propaganda, they say they have inhibited the availability of guns for the general public. And then they say that because in doing so they have made China one of the safest countries in the world...something I'm pretty sure the Triads (the Chinese mafia equivalent) and the populace would totally disagree with! The biggest threat in China to the public is from the regime itself and the corrupt police!