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Originally posted by gabegarwick
Conman in Tokyo

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Originally posted by roseart
Thanks for the review. :up:

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Originally posted by gabegarwick
I'll see if I can't find some other stuff for you to add to your list ;)

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I watched The Conman with Andy Lau last night. It's pretty decent. It's about conmen obviously. It starts out really heavy and then kinda settles down after a bit into a lighter toned film. It's about Andy Lau being a conman and a womanizer and just a bad guy. Then one of his gambling cons goes bad and he gets beaten and thrown in jail. The beating caused him to lose his ability to see color (which they didn't really explore as quite the weakness they built it up to be). He's released from jail after 5 years a gentler man with alot more good in his heart. He's still a conman though and quickly gets back into it, but only for good and so he can reunite with his wife and child.

Andy Lau is actually likable in this film - normally I don't much care for his characters, but once he is released from jail he's quite likable. The supporting cast is decent and there's a few HK cinema "in-jokes". The plot has some weak moments, but it is a Wong Jing movie - so what do you expect. It's not a comedy, but there's a good balance of comedy in it along with drama. The cons are interesting and clever enough. The ending was forgettable.

Overall it's a decent flick - I'll have to watch the next 2 films to see if this story is to stand on its own or if it's better as part of a larger arc in these people's lives. I guess I'd give it a :up: but only 6.6/10.

The DVD is Mei Ah and it's among their better produced DVDs. It was kinda skipping a little on my player, but I think it's just cuz my player needs to be cleaned. It's still a nice DVD with 5.1 and 2.0 sound in cantonese and mandarin and the video quality is nice as well.

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This review might give away a tiny spoiler, but nothing that will spoil the plot - just a funny moment... if you're the type that won't think it's as funny if you know it's coming, then just skip ahead to the paragraph after the next one.

So I watched Conmen in Vegas just now and I liked it. This one is more like a classic Wong Jing movie - it's silly and there are a few good movie parodies in it... they even parody The Ring and it made me laugh out loud. I would suggest seeing The Ring before watching this film... sorry if that gives away a surprise... Anyway - There are other great moments in this one too that make it a fun time. The story seemed to trail off alot like they were working without a script or something, but they managed to tie everything up in the end.

Movies make their own set of rules... rules for characters and rules for plot development and rules for location and gravity or whatever... Like in the Matrix, it created this world and did a pretty good job of sticking to the rules they created. It's not the real world that we live in, but we were able to follow along and know what was going on... had they changed the rules, it would've been too confusing and the movie wouldn't have been as good. In Hong Kong cinema - sometimes they will change the rules of characters or situations. There's nothing really wrong with that except that it makes these films difficult to believe or follow or what have you. With this film - being that it is a sequel, the first film set up some rules for the characters... they didn't really follow these rules however... they did to the extent that they aknowleged the rules existed only to change them so they could make a movie that was more fun to watch.

So right from the beginning they throw out all the storyline that had happened in the previous film so they could start fresh. Not a bad way to go considering the result, but fans of the first movie might be disappointed if they were expecting to see certain things resolved. It's not so much a continuation as it is a new film based on the same basic characters. This still has Andy Lau in it (many other faces return as well) and he is just as charming... I like him better now that I've watched these two films. It's still about being a conman, but this one doesn't have any of the serious undertones that the first one did.

This time Andy Lau (King) must travel to Las Vegas so he can capture a wanted criminal, retrieve some stolen money and pay off some bad guys who are holding his pal captive. The cons in this film are even more elaborate and probably a bit too much for their own good as the audience might have trouble believing they could possibly work in real life... but that's not what these films are about. This isn't really an updated God of Gamblers so much but it's in the same vein. I'd venture to say that it shares alot in common with Tricky Master.

There's plenty of Wong Jing slapstick and movie references in this film and the comedy manages to be quite funny. Near the end it gets too silly for its own good, but overall I'd have to give this one a :up: as well and score it a 7/10 cuz I liked it more than the first one. I started watching the third one and it looks like it's gonna be good too... Andy Lau isn't in it though... I'll let you know...
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Conmen In Tokyo - more Wong Jing silly. The film has very little cohesion. This film doesn't have Andy Lau. Basically only one actor returns in this one and he isn't even playing the same part as in the previous two. It's a totally different movie rather than a sequel. Anyway - this one has lots of kung-fu (some pretty decent stuff too), lots of gambling and lots of silly moments. This movie is still pretty good, but it's nothing like the others and stands on its own.

I have to mention the title sequence - it was very well done. This movie had quite a bigger budget than the first 2 - there was alot of CGI in it. I don't know what to say other than it was well made.

No sense in me telling you what it's about... gambling in Tokyo with some drama and action and kung fu and a guy who can throw playing cards with deadly accuracy. I found it enjoyable for the most part. As a whole, the movie is a mess... as individual parts, each part of the movie is good. Well for a wacky Wong Jing film with a budget - I guess I give this a 6/10 (overall - 4/10, scene by scene - 8/10)... I give it a reluctant :up: - I'll keep it in my library cuz there's alot of great stuff in here.

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Originally posted by gabegarwick
Is it *really* scary? And is it available with English subs? If so, please point me in right direction. :)

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