Bat sei ching mai

Although it uses the same hokey elements typical of HK films, Bullets of Love cooks them up to somewhat tastier effect. Maybe it's just the advantage of a bigger budget than usual, but the music, the cinematography, even the acting seemed above average for what we normally find in Hong Kong action movies. Or it could be the Japanese actress, Asaka Seto -- although she hasn't been in a lot of films, she has a genuine screen presence and plays her role with a charm and delicacy one does not usually find in pictures of this ilk. Compare, for example, the ridiculous overacting of The Stewardess' Seina Kasugai and it becomes clear that Ms. Seto saved this picture from being a mess.

Don't get me wrong. This film wasn't exactly high art, more like "high trash." The storyline was hackneyed, totally predictable, but perhaps a better description would be "classic." The ending would not have been out of place in a Shakespearean or Greek tragedy, and so, as a whole, the film receives a strong recommendation from me.

PS: I haven't given it a full listen, but apparently the DVD comes with a director's commentary of some kind on the fifth audio track. Go figure.