Surprisingly enough, there has been little in the way of DOUBLE VISION hype. Honestly, I can't understand why more people have been talking about this film. Perhaps some people expected a horror film along the lines of THE EYE? But alas, DOUBLE VISION is a lot closer to a movie like SE7EN than the afformentioned HK chiller. I will say one thing slightly negative about the film (in trying to become a stricter critic), and that is that the storyline towards the end of the film veers into convoluted territory. Because I loved the first hour and a half of the film, the last 23 minutes were sort of jarring to my senses, taking all that had happened before, turning it 180 degrees, and trying to wrap everything up in the last few minutes. However, don't let any of this detract you from seeing DOUBLE VISION because there is most definitely a whole lot to like.

First off, I have to say that it's really great to see David Morse in a Taiwanese production. He of GREEN MILE fame, the excellent Morse lends a real sense of professionalism to the film right off the bat. The thing that I liked most about his character is that he really isn't the main character, and that's a good thing because this is a Taiwanese production after all. It would've been so easy for them to throw David Morse front and center, boasting that a big American actor is starring in a Chinese-language film, but they didn't. Morse's performance is very subtle, hinting at an experienced man who has been through hell and back, which is sadly not expanded upon in great detail.

David Morse is great, but DOUBLE VISION is Tony Leung Ka Fai's show. Tony is amazing here, playing a character so tortured that the audience can feel it. He hits all the right notes and shows an incredible range. This is a man who's got nothing left to live for and Tony's performance clearly expresses that. Now I've not seen many films with Tony Leung Ka Fai in them (though my mom loves THE LOVER), but it's apparent here that the guy has considerable talent as an actor. The interplay between Tony's Taiwanese foreign affairs cop and Morse's American FBI agent is really genuine, and there are quite a few touching moments to be had, mostly coming towards the end of the film. The late, great Sihung Lung shows up in a cameo role as a Taoist expert. His scenes are brief, but it's always good to see him in a film.

Direction by Kuo-fu Chen is slick and atmospheric, but bear in mind that this is really not a straight-up, in-your-face horror film. With that said, there are little to no scares in DOUBLE VISION. This isn't a bad thing, though, as I would compare the film most closely to SE7EN, which wasn't scary either. DOUBLE VISION, like SE7EN, definitely has a more intense, psychological aspect to it. If any scares are to be had, they'll be coming from your own mind, not from a masked stalker with a machette. One scene in particular stands out among the rest, and many of you who have seen the film will automatically know what I'm talking about. It's the "temple massacre" scene. This scenes is amazingly well-executed, and features a lot of gore. For those who love gore, this scene will be the highlight of the film for you. If you can't stand the sight of blood, you're in for a shock. A special nod goes to the visual effects in the film. They're extremely well-done and never look out of place.

Overall:
If you can get over the fact that DOUBLE VISION kind of loses itself in the last stretch of its runtime and that it's not scary (for those who thought it would be), there is a whole lot to like here. Excellent performances by the two leads that provide us with characters we actually care about and an exciting plot makes for an intriguing viewing experience. Highly recommended.

Taipei. A bizarre series of deaths begin to occur: A businessman found dead in his 14th floor office, yet he is frozen solid and all the evidence points to his having drowned in icy waters. A politicians mistress is found dead, her body shows signs of being apparently engulfed in flames yet her apartment is spotless. And, a priest is found disemboweled, his intestines removed, cleaned, and then put back in with no apparent struggle. The only connection the police can find is a mysterious mold on the victims brains, and the puzzled detectives are forced to ask for outside help and turn to the FBI.

Huo-tu (Tony Lueng, The Lover, Dragon Inn, Prison on Fire) is a sullen Foreign Affairs captain. Having exposed some corruption within his police district years earlier, that scandal has now left his career in tatters and his marriage on the brink of divorce. Since detectives are already skeptical about a foreigners involvement, the already ostracized and English speaking Huo-tu is the perfect candidate to escort FBI liaison Kevin Richter (David Morse, Indian Runner, Dancer in the Dark, Green Mile).

Eventually the reluctant, troubled duo begin to uncover more evidence in the peculiar case. Pellets shot into the victims rooms. An unknown from of mite. High level s of dopamine in the brain. And, some Taoist carvings that belong to a long thought dead radical sect that believed in a process of sacrifices that could lead to immortality.

Not anything new in terms of plot or characterizations, nevertheless Double Vision is a thriller that succeeds in characters, direction, and production design but falters in its plotting, which becomes a bit forced and befuddled in its supernatural serial killing cult leanings. It reminds me a lot of Crimson Rivers, in that the films both share the same plusses and minuses. Both are entertaining and feature good performances by the main actors, some effective scares, and elegant direction, but come up short when it comes to the murderous parts of the plot and collapse into weak finales.

The cross culture cops thing has been done before, probably most memorably in Ridley Scott's Black Rain. Lueng and Morse are both good actors (Hell, I cannot think of one performance by David Morse that wasn't solid) and manage to play out some good scenes despite offering no real variation on their formulaic characters. Morse is probably the most easygoing, the standard hard-bitten, science driven profiler and has some nice fish out of water moments like trying to say "Thank you" but instead saying "Thank your mother." Unfortunately the convoluted handling of Lueng's characters back story (the corruption he uncovered was his own cousin, who freaked out and took Lueng's daughter hostage, nearly killing her and rendering her mute- whew') doesn't help him much. Still, the awkward moments between the two, complete with conflicts of philosophy and that irksome language barrier, do make them an engaging duo.

The most surprising thing I found was that having seen director Kuo-fu Chen's previous film, The Personals, you wouldn't think him capable of a thriller. The two films couldn't be more different. One a light romantic comedy, the other a thriller. Even in terms of style, one had a low budget looseness while the other has a X-Files look and slickness. He also served as writer on the film and while he initially attempts to meld some "is it real or not real?" real questions about the killings, it then clearly leans in one direction, the fantastic, which makes viewers have to take a big leap in believability. Also, unlike, lets say Se7en, there is no steadfast killer that we follow or glimpse, but a large faceless group and then... well, I wont ruin it. Even if all of its story isn't successful, the tale unfolds with some twists and turns in the finale, some of which are slap in the face unexpected and some of which are just confounding.

A series of seemingly unrelated murders has the Taiwan police baffled. A Christian priest is disemboweled while still alive; a corporate executive is found seated at his 17th floor desk apparently drowned and frozen to death, even though he had not left the office all morning; a young woman is found dead by smoke inhalation and with burn marks all over her body in her untouched apartment.

The detective in charge of the case, Li Feng (Leon Dai), enlists the aid of good friend and former top investigator Huo-tu (Tony Leung). Huo-tu has been working minor cases for the past two years since his involvement in a case which exposed a number of corrupt cops within the force. The last straw came when one of the corrupt cops took Huo-tu's daughter Mei-Mei (Wei-Han Huang) captive. His gun misfired and the bullet grazed her skull, and Mei-Mei has not spoken since. Huo-tu blames himself for the enraged cop's actions. He is so distraught that he has taken to sleeping in his office at the station. His wife, Ching-fang (Rene Liu), visits with Mei-Mei from time to time, asking him to come home. Huo-tu even ignores her when she begins to drop off copies of her divorce papers.

Huo-tu's life changes when the superiors enlist the help of the FBI, whose top "mindhunter" Kevin Richter (David Morse) is in Taiwan to train at the academy. After studying the crime scenes, Richter reveals evidence which ties these disparate cases together. Soon he has uncovered a scheme by a local group of religious cultists. Eventually he is the catalyst which will bring about change in Huo-tu's life, for better or worse.

I was quite surprised by this film. The acting is superb. Tony Leung (A Better Tomorrow III, God of Gamblers 2) provides deft characterization of the depressed inspector such that we both are intrigued by him but can't help feeling sad for him at the same time. His situation is entirely understandable yet we still want to shake him out of his self-absorbed path of destruction. David Morse (TV's Hack, The Green Mile) shows considerable talent as the foreigner in a foreign land whose unique scientific skills and insights give him confidence even in isolation. Rene Liu's portrayal of Huo-tu's long-suffering wife is spot on perfect. And Leon Dai's cop/best friend is equally convincing.

The screenplay, by Kuo-fu Chen and Chao-Bin Su, is a fine example of tight pacing and near-perfect plot development. The cinematography, by Arthur Wong (Big Bullet, 2000 A.D.) is beautiful and adds an entire new dimension to the overall story. Kuo-fu Chen's direction keeps the pace moving smoothly and the transitions seamless. With all elements working so harmoniously, Double Vision is a near-flawless motion picture.

Even if you can't stand subtitles, you should give Double Vision a chance. It is one of the best films I've seen all year. And it's available at your local video barn.

Double Vision stars Tony Leung Ka-Fai as a burnt-out cop who lives at the police station shell-shocked after having to turn in his cousin on a corruption charge. After a series of mysterious murders, his superiors reluctantly team Leung up with a FBI agent (David Morse). The duo turn up a mysterious conspiracy led by rogue Taoist priests which leads them both down a dark path.

Unlike a lot of movies dealing with mysticism, Double Vision keeps its' focus pretty clear throughout the running time. There are a few twists and turns, but the matters never seem convoluted or forced, which is refreshing at this point in time, where far too many movies try to out-do movies like The Sixth Sense and plop on "big twists" during the film just for the sake of doing so. Things are helped along immensely by the performances of the two leads. Both David Morse and Tony Leung Ka-Fai are two of the better actors out there (the fact that Morse is stuck doing CBS dreck like "Hack" is a travesty) and Double Vision is another example where they put in solid work. They help flesh out the themes in the movie without going overboard, and a smart script (which thankfully doesn't fall into the "foreigner" cliches of movies like Rush Hour) provides them a solid foundation to work with.

Oh, and the gore. I've been waiting for so long for a new picture to deliver the goods in this department, and Double Vision does that. Some of the effects look a bit cheesy (too much CGI and not enough Karo syrup), but I'll take this kind of stuff over the PG-13 crap now pumped out by movie studios all over the world and considered "scary" by far too many people. Even the simple effects of a double pupil work very well, and some scenes literally have shredded limbs flying about -- all to great effect. When you combine the visceral thrill of the blood and guts along with a good story and acting, Double Vision is one of the best films this reviewer has seen in quite a while and well worth seeking out.