Undercover Blues: Viewer Comments

Johnnie To's The Mission made far too little money to influence the direction of big-budget HK movies, but its influence is apparent in several recent low-budget thrillers. And it shouldn't come as any surprise... The Mission's creative minimalism is a perfect fit for a low budget. Undercover Blues "borrows" The Mission's cool blue and green tones, its realistic approach to gunfights and the tactics employed, and, most blatantly, the memorable mall standoff. Chung doesn't just steal, though; it appears he's actually learned something. The direction and cinematography here are generally solid, even above average at times, which is much better than can be said for Chung's clumsy-looking "Killer." Unfortunately, Chung isn't half as subtle a filmmaker as To. The movie's generic "points" are all played out in voiceovers and transparent conversations; no "show don't tell" here. The plot, however, while simple, is not a rehash of the same old triad cliches. Ray Lui and company are undercover cops, sent to Malaysia to find undercover Joe, (Daniel Wu) who's been out of contact with his superiors in HK. This minimal setup works reasonably well... Unfortunately, the plot is padded with relatively unobtrusive- but still pointless- relationship problems. Ray Lui's lost bar hostess love in particular takes up a lot of running time without serving much purpose. Despite the padding, things don't drag much, and at a running time of under 75 minutes it hardly overstays its welcome. Though it tries very hard to be deep and clever, Undercover Blues is too simple-minded a movie to fully recommend. Still, it is a remarkable step up for the generally schlocky Billy Chung, and much better than I had any reason to expect.