The Adventurers - Gli avventurieri

I was pretty excited to see Stephen Fung's latest adventure flick, and on a recent trip to Hong Kong, managed to pick it up on DVD. A loose remake of John Woo's classic Chow Yun Fat vehicle, Once A Thief, the film definitely has more likeness to the later Mission Impossible films and other light hearted Hollywood blockbusters such as Knight And Day (2010) and Oceans Eleven (2001). There's even shades of 2002's The Transporter throughout - which is ironic given that starlet, Shu Qi, starred in that also...

The opening 10 minutes takes us from Andy Lau's release from a French prison - where cop Jean Reno (who is looking very rough) warns him that he will be keeping an eye on him - to the Czech Repubic, where Lau has already arranged with his team, their next big heist. That just happens to be in the beautiful Grand Pupp Hotel in Karlovy Vary, although renamed the Grand Hotel Cannes for the film. I had the pleasure of a special birthday lunch with my husband in this stunning hotel a few years back - and just weeks before this production got there, unfortunately!

With no less than 6 writers credited to the film, I have to say it would be the script that is the bigger let down of The Adventurers. Its not dreadful - but it certainly lacks any creativity or excitement one would expect with so many writers involved. Then again, too many cooks and all that.

The cast is pretty good though with the never-aging Andy Lau and Shu Qi being as great as always. Zhang Jing Chu (Rush Hour 3, Seven Swords) who also starred with Lau in Protege (2007) is fantastic as his old love interest and partner to cop Reno, and the addition of Eric Tsang adds even more star-power. To be honest, I don't think I need to complain about any of the talent involved...

As much as there is a few nods to the classic Once A Thief, The Adventurers is more James Bond than John Woo with plenty of hi-tec gadgets and stunt work that is impressive at times, and often is accompanied by a Bond-esque score or humorous moment. While the action itself can be big and certainly challenges its Hollywood counterparts, it does lack the hand-to-hand combat one would expect from a Hong Kong movie like this, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

A light-hearted, action-adventure, this is about as mainstream as Fung could get, delivering a Hollywood-style Hong Kong movie with international appeal. The European setting is stunning, and cinematography from Shane Hurlbut (more known for his work on 80's and early 90's music videos) makes it a joy to look at.

The Adventurers is far from perfect, but for anyone looking to escape and enjoy a decent popcorn movie, then it'll do the job!

Overall: Stunningly shot and fun, yet at times flat, The Adventurers isn't as bad as the critics say but offers little originality...

Here's The Lowedown on "The Adventurers" (NR - 2017 - China)...It's good to be free.

Genre: Action/Heist My Score: 6.7

Cast=8 Acting=8 Plot=7 Ending=8 Story=5 Violent=5 Pace=4 F/X=7 Heist=8 Chem=7

The world's top thieves join forces to pull off the heist of a lifetime. But when they find themselves pursued across Europe by a legendary French detective, they'll have to take their game to the next level.

"Just because you're out of prison doesn't mean you're really free." This was a pretty solid heist movie with a good cast. I had some pace issues in the middle and it had a strange half Mandarin / half English dialogue. I think they could have shaved about 10 minutes out of the middle and the pace would be better. It was still a fun movie, just not quite as much as I hoped.

Overall story is a bit mediocre for my taste, I've seen the concept of the high class super thief before, which is fine, but Andy Lau brings nothing new to the formula. Well, except for being Andy Lau who I'm just staring to discover and really like. He's starred in better Asian cinema, however, Like another film he released this year, Shock wave which was impressive.

The formula has been done. Andy Lau plays an amazing thief, who wants to retire but first he goes after the holy grail of his career while a French police officer hunts him down like he's his Moby Dick.

Although if you are really into heist movies  no doubt this will get you going, but Despite how much I'm liking Andy Lau these days (The whole reason I went to see the movie), his performance or anyone else in the movie did not spark any interest for me.

This could be a ripoff of any action thriller film released in the last 25 years. Andy Lau and Jean Reno are wasted here and give their worst performance from what I have seen. Not even a single thing is there that hasn't been shown in another film in a much better way. A lot of the dialogues and situations were laughable or else simply predictable. It's Shu Qi that made the film a little bearable even though the character isn't well written. There were some decent chase sequences too but overall very lacklustre and there is no adventure here.

Legendary actor Jean reno(león the profesional a classic movie,ronin,crimson rivers,wasabi,the squad) creates a likable, sympathetic carácter in this international production movie. This is necessary for the comic relief of the movie. The camera-work was particularly masterful - creative, meticulous high level production.. There are few a particular cool action scenes towards the climax that are amazing.The international cast are part of the experience. Yes, there are some credibility factors but it is after all only a movie.The producers should produce a sequel to this great movie