But things once again go awry, and Ho's son is taken instead. Pushed to the limit after being taken off the case by her superiors, Ho takes matters into her own hands to get her son back.

From beginning to end, Kidnap just screams "generic thriller". The film-makers didn't even bother to create a complete musical score for the movie, as much of it is ripped off wholesale from De Palma's The Untouchables.

Matters aren't helped any by the acting. It isn't really bad per se for the most part, but the main actors just seem bored and on auto-pilot. When scenes call for them to actually show some emotion, it comes off as forced, which is really not good at all for a character-driven movie such as this.

And, as unfortunately seems to be par for Hong Kong movies, the child actors are extremely annoying. I really didn't care if Ho's son lived or died, which really kills the whole point of the movie.

There are some attempts to liven things up with a few chase scenes. The effort here was appreciated, but again, it's stuff that most people (especially fans of Hong Kong action cinema) have seen dozens of times before, and done better to boot.

Most damningly, Kidnap really falls apart during its' climax. There's a shot of one of the characters dying that's supposed to shock the audience, but the CGI used is so transparent and awful-looking that it almost turns comedic.

Also, the ending itself is so cheesy and implausible that it leaves a bad taste in the viewer's mouth. Kidnap certainly isn't the worst movie ever made, but there are a lot out there that are much more deserving of your time.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to dabble into something else besides darkness and action but when Law Chi-Leung decided to, what we remembered of the director that gave us Double Tap and Inner Senses went straight out of the window. Bug Me Not! was the commercial product (not film) that did introduce Isabella Leong but ended up faring ill amongst every critic not 5 years old. Maybe I shouldn't judge I haven't seen it but I know where I prefer Law to be and it's not amongst CGI-bugs. Leong deservedly went on to acclaim in Edmond Pang's Isabella, director Law Chi-Leong was part of the announcement of Kidnap and presto, still slightly ill from the cutesy, commercial bug he may be but to keep it simple, the film represents a return to comfort.

Just like many movies, there exists the potential of wanting to appear smart but you instead end up twisting the script until it pukes out of dizziness. There is a case to be made though that writer/co-producer Cheung Chi-Gwong has something up his sleeve. Structurally no surprises initially as we see the cops failing at keeping their promises so this creates a cunning, resourceful and frail Lam as played by Karena Lam. We feel a huge bump first however as her transition to at least close to master criminal isn't very believable even in a shallow way and giving the supremely talented Lam little chance to elevate herself above this rather flat role, Kidnap will never make anyone forget its needed, clinched content being rather failed. But the ride holds some surprises anyway.

The narrative-steps into kidnapping, negotiating with cops and surveillance seems or rather is very lifted and Law Chi-Leung doesn't exactly infuse the production with a lot of confidence. It's ticking off the beats, such as deadly boring ones showcased as we see Rene Liu's character being divorced (ex played by Julian Cheung) and dealing with cracks in parenting. There exists a quickness though, a need to get to the actual twist of the tale and getting not so much the most out of the psychology that follows, Cheung Chi-Gwong and Law goes to work to log a vehicle where we do wonder how far it can go. Because it's personal and emotional, often flirting with mental instability within the inflicted and since Karena Lam unfortunately has no room to move, Rene Liu responds with a varied portrayal of an inflicted.

It's raw, naked emotion that prior was swift, smooth moves like a butterfly through your lifeact and while Liu is called upon to pull out the big beats, Law finds a reality in the tale that is recognizable within that character-shell. Seeing Liu's eyes go manic, her sink to her knees in desperation moments later heightens tension (that is done well in a handful of sequences otherwise too) as well as the fair strength the slick production has as anything can go wrong it seems. Again, we genuinely wonder if it will. Expect the unexpected? One such unexpected idea is giving otherwise supporting player (often in Johnnie To's flicks) Eddie Cheung a bigger arena to play in. Being the tough and at appropriate times in the narrative human cop who feels remorse for the events 3 years prior has its place in Kidnap.

Law Chi-Leung certainly holds us till the end while still only injecting fair depth into the part thrill ride, part drama. But the glimpse into something we do know of from other films is still done with enough skill and backed up by an at times clever script to warrant the investment. You can argue and it might as well be wrong that the most clever move by the filmmakers was to do a standard flick for a few reels only to squeeze some gasp-moments and emotions out of it by the end but whatever the intention was, the bits work. Not just all of them but Law Chi-Leung has shaken off quite a lot of the cutesy bugs he surrounded himself with prior. We welcome one of his feet back into the room of respect.