“Caught in Time” Theatrical Poster
Director: Lau Ho-Leung
Cast: Daniel Wu, Wang Qianyuan, Jessie Li, Michelle Wai, Da Li, Yu Xiao, Hu Zi-Cheng, Li Xiao-Chuan, Hung Jun-Jia, Rock Ji Huan-Bo, Dante Pang Yu-Nong
Running Time: 95 min.
By Martin Sandison
Back a decade or so ago Daniel Wu annoyed me. I had seen him in films such as New Police Story and One Night in Mongkok, very good films, and his presence had made me squirm in my seat. His face simpered and pouted through bad performances, and I wondered why people liked him. Then I saw The Shinjuku Incident, and something had shifted. I really liked that performance. But not enough to keep watching him. Then I noticed he was going to play the lead in the sweet TV show Into the Badlands, and thought I’d give him a chance. I’m glad I did. He has grown into a mature, nuanced actor and left behind the arrogance of his youthful performances. With a few Hollywood roles under his belt, he’s still appearing in Hong Kong/Chinese pictures, and the latest is the crime thriller Caught in Time. It’s a very interesting one considering the current climate, and Wu sports a prize mullet in the first half that sits happily alongside Van Damme’s barnet in its prime.
Caught in Time is unusual in the recent crop of crime films as despite being from Hong Kong, it’s set in mainland China. The story follows one of the most notorious criminals in recent Chinese history Zhang Jun, a serial killer and robber who murdered 50 people in the 90s. Zhang (Wu) is the leader of a gang of robbers who are able to evade the police with ease. There’s one cop who just won’t give up, Zhong Cheng (Wang Qian Yuan, Brotherhood of Blades), and he pursues Zhang for years. Zhang is a smart cookie, and is able to commit numerous crimes around China, but Zhong is closing in…
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Limbo is a masterpiece. Limbo film feels like a true Hong Kong film, from the extreme violence to the moral ambiguity. Hand-Rolled Cigarette retains that true feel too, and both have got me excited. The thing about Caught in Time is… it very purposely combines Hong Kong and Chinese mainland talent, and its story is set on the mainland. Director Lau Ho-Leung has worked in the HK industry for two decades, first as a screenwriter (he penned Donnie Yen’s triumphant Kung Fu Jungle). Actor Wang Qian Yuan has appeared in numerous big mainland Chinese films, such as The Eight Hundred.
What has me a bit worried is that this is the route Hong Kong films will take; combining talents, due to necessity, and bowing to the Chinese government. Caught in Time is cleverly written, so that there is violence and action, and Wu’s character is given depth despite being the baddie. It makes the film a gripping watch, but all of this is in service to the ending, which is flag-waving jingoistic nonsense up there with any recent Chinese blockbuster. It made my stomach turn, and the film came down a little in my estimation. There is Hong Kong style in this movie, but it has to be sanitised and ironic to serve the narrative’s purpose: to communicate how China is now the safest place on the planet. Not if you’re an Uighur.
Rant over. This movie moves at an absolute breakneck pace, and crams in a ridiculous amount of plot points and action sequences in its 95 minute run time. While being constantly entertained, I was aware how the jumps in narrative were so quick that you’re barely given time to breath. When you are, there are some poignant and well-acted moments, such as Zhang meeting his girlfriend at the top of a radio tower, or Zhong taking a quiet moment to reflect on the pursuit with a colleague. Both Wu and Wang are fantastic in their roles, and play them with pathos that outdoes the stitched-together feel of the script.
One element which at turns had me thinking ‘that’s allright’ and at others ‘that’s shite’ is the CG. We’ve all got used to poor effects in a lot of Asian films, but there are times in this film it looks absurd and takes you out of the experience. The best action movie of last year Raging Fire combines decent effects with real-life pyrotechnics in a jaw-dropping way; director Lau should take a leaf out of that book. However, there are some pretty good action sequences on show here, and a mid-film gunfight hits the right notes in editing, tension and adrenalin release. The end showdown in a bath house between Zhang and Zhong is pleasingly old school with crunching impact, as the two face off hand to hand or whatever weapon comes to hand.
There are elements of Caught in Time that obviously reference the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, none more so than a shot-for-shot recreation of a scene from John Woo’s masterpiece The Killer. It looks cool, but on closer inspection is a bit redundant. Limbo is the real Hong Kong style. Caught in Time aims for it, and achieves something interesting, but the message the ending communicates is a world away from the chaos, vitality and pure energy we all know and love.
Martin Sandison’s Rating: 6.5/10
I pretty much felt the same way with this film. There was no avoiding the “China is number 1!” message, but there was a lot of good stuff here too.
I thought it was funny how the final fight scene managed to keep the towels on our two leads. They definitely weren’t (and couldn’t) going for an Eastern Promises vibe.
Raging Fire did a better job of telling a compelling story while not pissing off the government. I wish Caught in Time could have gone a similar route, but maybe it was unavoidable.
“…..China is now the safest place on the planet. Not if you’re an Uighur.”
Uighur extremists massacred hundreds of Han, Muslim and Uighur people in China in the early 2000s. So of course they and aspiring terrorists weren’t safe from the law. The Chinese government should’ve sent them to Guantanamo for waterboarding instead of putting them in de-radicalization camps. At least Chinese citizens have since been safe from terrorist acts.
USA#1 forever!