Loved this film, Woo tries to be Hitchcock, Succeeds?

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2000)

I loved this film and will go and see it again.
Firstly, you have to understand this film is at the very least a homage to Notorious, if not a remake. I don't know how the studio let them do it. That film, made just after WWII, is the kind of film that just doesn't get made anymore, it's not bloody enough for your average teenager. I love Hitchcock, my favorite is To Catch A Thief, and I see a lot of Hitchcock in this film. I'm sorry that so many people don't think there was enough killing in the first half of the film, but there isn't supposed to be and frankly I enjoyed it. I think Woo gets a pretty good level of thrill out of people NOT falling off cliffs, NOT getting caught in a secret meeting and shooting their way out, etc. I'm sorry there wasn't more of the sort of action seen at the race track, the slight of hand and people dodging around behind each other. People talking to each other on secret mikes while watching each other through binoculars just gives me a big grin, I don't know why. That said, I think that the original ending of Notorious is pretty lame, you almost feel sorry for Claude Rains. Woo gives us, well, a different one.
Secondly, and this is just my theory, the first time you see John Woo's work it hits you between the eyes. You're not quite sure what you saw, or why you thought it was so amazing, but you know you have to see more. And then it never seems quite as striking after that. It's good stuff, but you start looking at everything except the action. Lots of people seem to be complaining that they saw Face/Off and this isn't as good. Frankly, I thought Face/Off was an atrocity exhibition and not nearly as good as Broken Arrow. MI-2 has just the right mix.