Vengeance takes it all and the brain wins it all

Rating: 8/10 (14 September 2004)

I didn't hold high hopes when I picked up the VCDs because neither the cover nor the blurb is attractive. However the more my eyes rolls over it, the more earnest my heart grows. Now I am even tempted to see the 1969 Michael Caine production. It remains me a Hong Kong hi-tech stealing movie "Downtown Torpedoes".
The death of John Bridger causes his daughter and his "co-workers" to retaliate with a vengeance to cook up an international $35 million Bali dancer gold bar heist carefully. Their plan is perfect, flawless and the car racing-chasing scenes though not stunning, it's well-designed. Bravo to the safecracking skills and the building blasting skills!
One mis-cast is Edward Norton. He expressed that doing this project is out of responsibility but not choice. Well, this tells why his face does not match the ambiance. His face is not villain-looking, not cunning even though he wears a mustache. John Travolta, Clive Owen, Tim Roth all can replace him. Strangely, the top-notch team is too gentleman-looking, too soft, craftier faces are wanted.
Thank God it's a decent action film of brain-teasing game and rivalry, it doesn't reek of sex, however, it might be due to this spicy void that the box office gave a less satisfactory report, and a re-release was desired. It's a sacred formula of Hollywood movie that: "sex it up and sell it well".
If a love or sex scene is to be inserted to vacuum up more money, easy, Charlie and Stella strip, but first kick out Mark Wahlberg, put Ethane Hawke or Brad Pitt or Keanus Reeves instead. And bingo, bingo, money will come.
It is evident that cinematography is not the selling point, and so my beloved San Marco Piazza, Venezia water canals are portrayed as drab district, mamma mia. If cinematography is done by Giles Nuttgens, the screen vision should surely be entirely different. The beauty of this world famous scenic city will be exposed to its fullest. Nevertheless, the music team deserves kisses because the music score has compensated the visual flaw, a suspense is successfully created through out the film.