Chek dou

I hadn't heard about the 2015 movie "Helios" (aka "Chek dou") before sitting down to watch it in 2021. And let me just say right away that this was definitely an enjoyable movie.

Now, normally I am not one overly keen on crime movies, but I will admit that writers Dean Kole, Lok Man Leung, Kim-Ching Luk and Robert Stein definitely managed to put together an interesting storyline here, and it was one that proved entertaining and captivating from the beginning and right up to the end.

"Helios" has the type of story that grabs the audience in an iron grip and doesn't let you go before the end credits starts rolling. And although running close to two hours, the movie didn't feel prolonged or slow. There was a great pacing to the storyline, and there was always something happening to further the story and keep the audience enthralled. So thumbs up to directors Lok Man Leung and Kim-Ching Luk for that achievement. Plus, the storyline is not a linear one, there are some nice plot turns and twists along the way, which makes for a non-predictable movie.

If you are a fan of Asian cinema, then you will find yourself in for a treat here, given the casted performers, with the likes of Shawn Yue, Jacky Cheung, Nick Cheung and Jin-hee Ji.

Visually then "Helios" was a good movie, because it often felt like you were right there in the movie, amidst the chaos, gunfights and drama. Definitely a good appeal to the movie. And the action sequences are nicely choreographed and executed in a very realistic and believable manner.

My rating of the 2015 movie "Helios" lands on a seven out of ten stars. For an action crime movie then "Helios" definitely proved to be enjoyable and entertaining. And it is a movie that I can warmly recommend you sitting down to watch if you have the chance and if you enjoy crime movies.

Despite the star-studded cast from different countries, this movie was really boring. There are many cliched scenes, the acting flat most of the time, and the story is very convoluted. It became extremely boring at the halfway mark because you stop caring about what will happen to the characters and the Helios device.

Skippable...

Typical boring action movie... All actors look similar. No one can recognize who is who.

From the writers-directors of Cold War, multiply their previous budget by a few times, with a cast of who's who from Korea, China and Hong Kong, come Helios, the most logic defying film I have seen this year.

Synopsis - A portable nuclear device, DC8, has been stolen from South Korea by a ruthless criminal (Chang Chen) and his accomplice (Janice Man). As the weapon will change hands in Hong Kong, Lee (Nick Cheung) from the territory's Counter Terrorism Response Unit sets up a task force, which includes police officer Fan (Shawn Yue), to deal with the crisis. He enlists physics professor Siu (Jacky Cheung) as an adviser and has to work with South Korean weapon experts Choi (Ji Jin Hee) and Pok (Choi Si Won). Despite their efforts, the elusive criminal mastermind, Helios, is always a step ahead of Lee.

Review - The whole movie is based on a MacGuffin which at first I thought is a weapon, but later on it becomes a criminal mastermind. The actors talk and talk non-stop in such an overly serious tone and wear one single frowning/brooding/angry/nondescript expression throughout. There is so much lambo humbo mambo jumbo spewing out which might as well be nonsense to me. First rule of the thumb is show me, don't tell me. For example, everybody keeps proclaiming the power of the bomb but I just couldn't feel the danger. At one time I even turned to my wife and said "I seriously hope Hong Kong gets entirely destroyed". Then right at the end of the movie somebody has the bright idea to put title cards to show the statistics of the what if disaster if the bomb did explode. That made me feel so dumb and when I watch a movie that is one feeling I never want to have.

Second rule for me is I never want to see the strings. If I see the strings of the puppeteer, the game is over. I frigging see the strings everywhere. I give one example - the filmmakers feel a need to humanize Chang Chen's villain that they write the Macau scene. IMHO the entire Macau episode is one long and useless scene. If you take that redundant scene out, I have a feeling the film would have tightened up more.

There is nothing new here. The action scenes, the story idea, I have seen before in better lesser films. Nothing here coalesce in any meaningful way. The plot is unnecessarily convoluted when it should be immediate. There are just too many players here. Other than the nationalities I mentioned, there are Turkish, Sikh, Caucasians and they even parachute in Americans and Anglo Saxsons, verbally. Every character acts and looks like they are double-crossers or triple-crossers. I couldn't care for anyone and I didn't mind if all the idiots die. After awhile we already knew who Helios is way before the fella was revealed. Damn hate seeing the puppeteers' strings, heck I think they are more like ropes than strings.

As if one movie is not enough, the movie ends on a contrived cliffhanger note that screams in your face that this is just the first act of a longer film. We would be dumbasses if we even buy tickets for the sequel. The only consolation is that we had free passes to the movie. God forbid I pay for this rubbish. But if the filmmakers make the sequel to Cold War, that would be a different story.

First things first: The surface aspects of Helios are outrageously good. The production value rivals Hollywood films with convincing large scale sets, international location shooting, subtle photo-real CGI, gorgeous cinematography, and rip-roaring action scenes. Speaking of action scenes, Helios' gun battles are firmly in the new wave of Hong Kong gun play: Hard-hitting machine gun battles with a dash of real-world tactical flare. They resemble more the thrilling shootout in Michael Mann's Heat rather than John Woo's elegant work. This action style works well for thrillers and HK cinema have gotten damn good at it in recent years.

Sadly, Helios' plotting and narrative are also notably Hollywood- esque with shallow characters, contrived emotions, and ludicrous plot all held together by tightly paced editing and actors that demand you look at them due to their great acting or great looks. It all still manages to be compelling, but none of it holds up on reflection. Despite its flaws, Helios could normally be recommended as a fun "turn off your brain" action thriller and that would be that. Alas, the ending makes the recommendation much harder. Without going into specifics, just know that there is no satisfaction to be had in any way. No closure, no justice, no explanation. Viewers will have to decide for themselves if it's worth watching a movie that entertains mightily then reverses all of that good will in the last 10 minutes.