Dai zek lo

I feel that the plot is excellent: A Buddhist monk who is able to "see" past choices that lead to present day Karma. This was an excellent plot but... They should have made it more of a love story, i.e. a strong attachment by the viewer between "Big" and the police woman. And somehow it should have had a clearer ending. the plot had a potential for a great movie. Also it would have been nice to have a good ending. There were some interesting things in the movie...For example, the director certainly understood something about karma as explained by buddhist. I recalled in the movie when the monk says that the Japanese soldier is a different person than the policewoman, but that she is carrying his karma. That is an interesting distinction from the Hindu explanation of karma.

Johnnie To supernatural film with some Buddhist elements. Two-part movie: first part they are catching Indian murderer, second-part reveals Big past and the secret behind Sun-Ko

First part 9/10 Second part 5/10

About the movie, it's entertaining, wonderful story, fantastic make-up techniques and efforts, Cecilia Cheung has improved a lot in interpreting the young policewoman who is in search of a good life ending, good good good as a whole...

Yet, please tell me the names of the two Indians who have taken pains to act well at the beginning? Why no credits to them? I kept searching for their names both in Chinese translation or English romanization from the roller for three times but in vain. Discrimination against the Indians or Pakistani does exist in Hong Kong. But now even China is taking about something like "bridging with the international scene", please learn something from USA or Europe. On their film rollers, carpenters or people who has taken small part(s) got their names on it. That's international.

What do you want from your movies? A shaolin monk turned stripper/bodybuilder with psychic abilities? A young female Hong Kong cop cursed by her former life as a murderous WW2 Japanese soldier? A mysterious mountain-dwelling, serial-killing hermit who's evaded the authorities for five years? A karmic feud between two men dating back generations? A rage-filled police chief who thinks nothing of beating and/or killing suspects to get results? Well, look no further than Running on Karma! Co-Directors Johnny To and Wai Ka Fai throw all these ingredients into the mixer and come up with one original cinematic cocktail. By turns funny, tragic, romantic, horrific and action packed, Running on Karma is a film that could only have been made in Hong Kong. Great performances from Cecilia Cheung and Andy Lau make you care about the characters and their fates, despite the loopy/deep(?) storyline that will have your brain spinning. No description of this film is a match for actually seeing it, so what are you waiting for?

I will list three major reasons why this film should rock your world: 1. (The action.) It is a mixture of Chinese-martial and superhero choreography. The protagonist and the various "villains" he encounters are over-the-top, their abilities are by all means supernatural, there's nothing believable about them. All this exists in a contemporary Hong Kong setting. The film isn't even about kung-fu or wild action sequences. This is brilliant.

2. (Andy Lau showing off his skills with a piece of tissue.) The most original way of demonstrating martial art skills of all time.

3. (Unconventional genre mixing.) It has action, it has comedy, and it has philosophical depth. It features Andy Lau in a goddamn body-suit. There's a love story. It's a tragic love story. There's a tragic love story involving Andy-freaking-Lau in a goddamn body-suit. He does kung fu. There are cops. There's mystery. There's a detective story. This is very brilliant.

I find this film brilliant. There's no other adjective I find more fitting. Every word of that screenplay and every movement captured by the director (Johnnie To), is goddamn brilliant.

Along with One Nite In Mongkok, this was my favourite HK film of 2004.