Infiltrado

People say going to the hospital is a risk in itself, perhaps in not quite the high style and carnage as on display here.

The film lightly pits the Hippocratic oath vs hypocritical cops, toss in a charismatic villain and a few cc's of humor to help temporarily release the tension, but you know what's coming in even if you are not an action film aficionado.

I am not one but this film killed time in a tick-tock fashion. Korea may outdo the US on violence and weird worship of homicidal psychopaths, that's okay by me.

A very interesting concept of setting a cop thriller entirely within a hospital, with some very well choreographed sequences (except I don't think people fly up in the air when they get shot). Therefore it's a shame the characters are poorly written and acted.

Of the three main characters, the cop and the doctor look permanently pissed off and are one-dimensional. The doctor is obviously psychologically unstable and unfit to practice, so I don't know why she's working in a hospital. The criminal is actually the most interesting and likeable. The minor supporting characters are actually better done.

A prisoner is admitted in a hospital and then he plans to escape but one of the police man make fails his plan and one of the lady doctor help with him by mercy and she too get into a problem.. Good thriller but poorly executed.. Must watch thriller..!!

If there is a director that knows their way around action, is Johnnie To. He would be great to do an action movie out of a video game, with his choreography and dazzling camera work, his bravura shots and his willingness to challenge the viewer's expectations.

However, "Three" is not much more than a curio, a minor work that could have been much more and ends just being an interesting one hour and a half, with a plot flimsy as they come, and so much silliness the viewer will be forgiven if they start giggling in the action sequences.

The story is simple: a thief has been shot and the police takes him to the hospital to take the bullet from his head. It seems one of the police people shot him but they don't want that to come to light. The thief himself doesn't seem to want to be operated on, and believes his friends will save him. At the same time, the doctor that is taking care of him has a little bit of god-complex.

The movie centers on the thief, the police boss and the doctor, all played quite straight by known actors from Hong Kong, and how their relationship evolves while at the hospital. However the plot doesn't offer much and from the very beginning we have the feeling that a showdown will come sooner or later. The characters are paper thin and as simplistic as they come, and the acting, even if acceptable, doesn't elevate the product.

But what makes this movie something more than just your run-of-the- mill action movie is To. From the moment the thief gets to the hospital, the viewer will notice director To is up to his camera tricks. Long shots, lots of actors, amazing camera work, ridiculous slow-motion moments... To directs the movie as if it was the deepest and most amazing action movie ever and it elevates the movie up a couple of levels. It is just amazing. However, it is so flashy that sometimes falls into the silly and it seems more a class in directing action scenes than a proper movie (some of the excuses for an action moment are as lazy as they come, but To won't let anything pass by if it lets him put the camera at a weird angle).

Acceptable, with great action camera work, but with the same complexity as an empty canvas.

A great and thrilling concept stuffed into a melodramatic package.

Johnnie To is a name that most people associate with great films, but I on the other hand can't quite 100% agree. I always find his films, while action packed, often poorly written and filled with melodrama. This film is no different.

A big gripe was the writing. There's this doctor character thrown whose storyline is quite prominent. It doesn't have much of a payoff, so it's strong presence seems odd. Then there's the silly moments. A paralyzed man falling down the stairs and being able to walk, a gun jamming not once but numerous times over and over just for the sake of drama. Even someone cocking a gun in the middle of emptying a clip. C'mon Johnnie, you make films with guns all the time! Learn how they work!

The main action set piece is a disappointment too. It's a long, one take (aided by trick editing and CGI) pf a gunfight. In theory it sounds amazing, and it does touch on greatness, but there's two big flaws in it. The musical choice is terrible. An unfitting song with unfitting lyrics. The 2nd flaw is that everyone looks like they're doing that "pretend slowmo run" that people do when they're fooling around. It's terribly laughable and sucks the drama out of the scene completely.

I wanted to be thrilled by this, but by the lackluster ending I was left disappointed.