Filatures

If you're into crime movies full of hand - held camera zoom - ins and outs at giddying speed, rapid - fire editing, seeing a Hong Kong shot through the old, tired, steel - grey filters (where weirdly everyone looks as if they're dressing for a trip to Alaska), characters almost always using hilarious pseudonyms to address one another, a plot line that involves stake - out after long drawn out stakeout, shallow characterisations and all baked in a muzak quality soundtrack, Eye in the Sky may just be the tonic for you.

But for this disappointed punter, I have to to label it a complete dud and agree with one of the other reviewers in this forum, who says that it's a 90 minute film that seems to run for 3 hours. Yep, it's that boring. Case in point. Take the occasional action scenario from the film, such as that set on the freeway. It should be regulation viewing for all aspiring directors to demonstrate on how not to stage action set pieces. Besides seemingly, just throwing the cameras hopefully in the air, whilst again zooming in and out at frightening speed, one then proceeds to completely break up this rare action, by cutting away to, yes, another stake - out. Mind - numbing stuff!

The storyline is supposed to be seen (spasmodically anyway) through the eyes of rookie female cop Piggy (yes Piggy, not Peggy as cited on IMDB and feel free to cringe like I did). But there is no growth or development of Piggy throughout the movie's running time. She's pretty much appears the same lame rookie at the conclusion, as she appeared at the start. And I won't even go into the dead end climax, where she alternates between following a "Mr Big" and rolling around a pavement in the rain crying. Seriously! It's that sort of film. Intermittantly funny, but not meant to be! Be warned.

This is basically the ultimate surveillance film that revolves around the covert operations of an undercover police unit attempting to gather intelligence on a sophisticated crew of jewel robbers. So the way the film works is that you have this sub-division of the police department that has maybe a dozen or so operatives, in civilian clothes, who attempt to identify and gather information on suspected criminals. So let's say that there's a robbery somewhere and a street camera catches the image of a suspect. Well, this sub-division will search the other street cameras in the area and see how far they can follow this guy, to see where he went after the crime was committed. Eventually you're going to lose him, but if you have an idea of an area that he frequently goes to (whether it's near his home or work, etc.), then you dispatch this surveillance team into the streets to stake out the area in an attempt to find him, follow him, and gather information on him.

So most of the film concerns the protagonist operatives as they do their jobs, which is really interesting to watch. From the very first minute, the cloak-and-dagger shadowing begins and continues right up to the final moments. This contributes a slow-burn suspense that keeps the viewer on edge. Although technically this is a "slow moving" film, the pacing still seems very brisk due to the premise. And there are also some great moments when a protagonist is in a position that may expose the entire operation.

The overall quality of "Eye in the Sky" is impressive on all fronts. The direction is very engaging, with fluid camera-work that keeps things moving while at the same time effectively showing everything that is happening. The viewer is constantly aware of the positions and locations of all of the characters, which is key when you're dealing with the theme of surveillance and "tailing" suspects. Also, the music is excellent and very catchy. It's perfectly suited given the themes of the film.

Now what about the acting. It's exceptional, and all of the actors have great chemistry together. We have another appearance by Simon Yam and this is one of my favorite performances from him. When I first saw this movie – years ago – I had seen a bunch of Yam's more nasty, notorious films where he plays the bad guy, so his turn in "Eye in the Sky" as a reserved, intelligent, extremely likable father-figure totally convinced me of his range as an actor. He's fantastic in this. The lead actress is Kate Tsui, who is also surprisingly excellent in this. I immediately became a fan of hers after watching this film, but the only other memorable role of her career subsequent to this was when she appeared in the Donnie Yen's flick "14 Blades" from 2010, where she played a villain. Now I have heard that many of her best roles are in TV dramas, so I definitely need to check those out if I can find them. And finally, we have Tony Leung Ka-fai, who plays the villain here in impressive fashion. This guy is paranoid and very sharp, with a fantastic memory – which automatically makes him a challenge for our protagonists. As an FYI, there are two Tony Leungs on the Hong Kong acting scene. The more popular actor in the west is Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, who you've seen in films such as "Hard Boiled" from 1992, "In the Mood for Love" in 2000, "Infernal Affairs" from 2002, and "Lust Caution" from 2007. I'm a big fan of Tony Leung Chiu-Wai – he has a very suave, slick look to him that is instantly charismatic. But I must say that Tony Leung Ka-fai has significantly grown on me over time, and I think that his role in "Eye in the Sky" represents some of his best work. So that's just another reason to watch this movie.

The one thing that might irritate some viewers is that there are a few improbable coincidences that are used throughout. I think that – in that case – it's a bit easier to swallow because right at the beginning of the movie, the theme of "coincidence" is alluded to by Simon Yam's character. He specifically tells Kate Tsui's character that sometimes you just gotta get lucky to catch these guys – and it happens more often that you might think. So they introduce "coincidence" as an "up front" theme of the film, so it feels less like a contivance and more like an interesting aspect.

In my opinion, "Eye in the Sky" is a contemporary classic. I could watch this movie a thousand times and not get sick of it. Fans of mostly realistic, suspense-driven "tailing" sequences ala "The French Connection" will be drooling all over themselves. And it's fairly easy to find on DVD – so watch it!

First time director Yau Nai-Hoi's Eye in the Sky gets the two thumbs up from me. It's an excellent movie with a strong storyline that gets zoned into the moment, with no room spent on unnecessarily bloating the movie beyond what it should be. Director Yau, a frequent collaborator and scriptwriter for Johnny To classics, brings to Eye in the Sky, a taut 90 minutes cop-robbers story on surveillance, of the men and women who do the thankless anonymous tasks behind the scenes on following suspects and trawling the streets for them.

Surveillance is never easy, and trust me I know, from work experience. While there are countless of CCTV cameras and various technologies, nothing beats having up to date field intelligence. The opening film of the HKIFF, I had hoped to have watched this on its first screening, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I had one week to trawl the streets of Hong Kong and Kowloon, and being able to identify the locales used, was an added thrill.

Although this is a cop thriller, it doesn't have the usual car chases, explosions or fancy gun battles. It's quite muted in these aspects, however it brings about a refreshing realism to the story, a great departure from the days when action has to be stylized (flying through the air shooting two guns anyone?) The way the surveillance team operate, with its arsenal of disguises, tricks and vehicles, and the skills that one must possess - keen observation, alertness and an elephant memory, makes it like a cross between The Recruit and Mission: Impossible.

Eye in the Sky tells the story of a new recruit, nicknamed Piggy (Kate Tsui) by her mentor Dog-Head (Simon Yam), as she undergoes an on-job training of sorts in their case to track down some armed heist robbers, led by "Hollow Man" (Tony Leung Kar Fai). It becomes a tight cat and mouse game as identities are attempted to be established, and the team comes up against a villain who's truly aware of his environment, turning the tables as the hunter might become the prey.

There are strong performances all round, led by the veterans Simon Yam, in a change of alignment given his outings last year as villains, and Tony Leung, as a chillingly observant, cool and methodical sudoku-playing mastermind. In her first movie role, I thought Kate Tsui did remarkably well in her role as Piggy, the newbie lacking field experience, yet being thrown in the deep end of the pool to sink or swim. Perhaps it is truly her being new to the scene, that eased her comfortably into a role which is similar to herself, but the story does allow her room to showcase some of her acting chops, and she holds her own well against the veterans. Maggie Tsui too added some comedic moments as a foul mouthed police madam.

Eye in the Sky is a recommended Hong Kong cop thriller (time to let go of mole stories) which is tight, and keeps you on the edge of your seat as you follow the surveillance team through high angles (akin to CCTV camera angles), tight teamwork and features an incredible soundtrack as well to keep it fast paced. You must watch this when it makes it to our shores in Singapore, tentatively scheduled for mid April.

You have to completely suspend disbelief to enjoy this movie. If you enjoy watching things that make no sense whatsoever then this is a movie for you, other than that stay clear of it.

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.