“Paradox” Chinese Theatrical Poster
Director: Wilson Yip
Cast: Louis Koo, Wu Yue, Tony Jaa, Chris Collins, Gordon Lam, Ken Lo, Jacky Choi Kit, Stephy Tang Lai-Yan, Chan Hon-Na, Vithaya Pansringarm, Wave Choo
Running Time: 98 min.
By Paul Bramhall
The hot topic of discussion leading up to the release of Paradox was the question of it was, in fact, SPL III, so it seems to make sense to begin a review by addressing it. Well, the answer is – yes and no. Back in mid-2015 producer Paco Wong announced that a third instalment of the thematically connected series had been greenlit, and was to go under the title of SPL III: War Needs Lord (grammar be damned). Few other details were released, except that Soi Cheang, who directed the sequel, would remain in the director chair, and Wilson Yip would maintain his producer role. So it was a surprise to everyone when, at some point during the pre-release months of Paradox, its Chinese title suddenly had the characters Sha Po Lang prefacing it, throwing everybody off-guard.
Paradox gives us a reversal of the announced roles though, with Yip, the director of the original, here back at the helm, with Cheang wearing his producer’s hat. Thankfully, Yip seems to be a forthright guy, and has openly stated in interviews that he doesn’t consider Paradox to be SPL III, but rather a thematic spin-off. Considering the series is based on themes rather than characters anyway, those that furrow their eyebrows at such reasoning are perfectly within their rights to do so – I was one of them. What’s more interesting to note is that Paradox originally started out as an origin tale of Louis Koo’s character from SPL II, until it quickly became apparent that such a tale would never get past the Chinese censors. So instead, he decided to morph it into another idea that’d been gestating in his head for the past decade, and make a Hong Kong version of Taken.
So hopefully that clears up the confusion. Basically the Sha Po Lang prefix was added as Yip believes it represents, in his own words, “an action series with strong dramatic elements.” I’ll be the first to say that I was a little disappointed by his reasoning behind the titles inclusion. It may be easy to forget with the horrendous US re-titles of Kill Zone, but the original Sha Po Lang refers to three stars in Chinese astrology that represent destruction, conflict, and greed. When the three stars cross each other’s paths, the outcome is said to only be one of regret. Sha Po Lang gave us Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, and Simon Yam, while its sequel gave us Wu Jing, Tony Jaa, and Max Zhang. Paradox loses the very theme it alludes to, instead being painted with the broad brushstroke of it being an action movie with good drama. It kind of feels like a cop out.
However, putting that disappointment aside, if we take Yip’s approach and look at Paradox as a non-SPL SPL flick, then we are indeed left with a Taken influenced HK thriller. Casting its shadow over Paradox just as much as Taken though, is Soi Cheang’s sequel. Sure, the father searching for his abducted daughter in a foreign land is blatantly extracted from Pierre Morel’s unintended action classic, however the Thailand setting and organ trafficking theme all feel like Yip is giving us his own take on Cheang’s follow-up. The father in question is played by Louis Koo (continuing his monopoly of playing the HK thespian), in the role of a HK cop whose teenage daughter runs away to visit her friend in Thailand, after their father-daughter relationship hits the rocks. When the friend she’s staying with calls to say she’s been missing for a few days, he packs his bags and heads to Bangkok.
Once there, Koo partners with a Chinese cop working for the Thai police in Pattaya, played by Wu Yue, who investigates the case with his colleague, played by Tony Jaa (credited as a ‘Special Appearance’). Ken Lo also plays a cop working in the same precinct, clocking in a total of three returning cast members from SPL II. It seems like only yesterday that Tony Jaa was still limited to working in Thailand under his Sahamongkol Film contract, and fans would dream of what it would be like if someone like Sammo Hung choreographed him in action. Well, Paradox fulfils that wish, as the legendary Big Brother takes on action directing duties, here for the first time since his return to directing with the previous year’s The Bodyguard.
Despite its tenuous connections to the first two SPL flicks, what can’t be denied is that Paradox offers up the bleakest tale of the three. With organ trafficking, abortions, corruption, and murder all playing a part in the tale that unfolds. Yip’s choice to stay so close to SPL II though, also serves to show his weaknesses as a director compared to Cheang, who proved he could be a master of the down and dirty with movies like Dog Bite Dog and Shamo, an aesthetic that served him well in the sequel. The content of Paradox also cries for a gritty and deprived feel to it, but instead everything is filmed with a colourful radiance, the brightness of the colors onscreen frequently contradicting the dark corners of humanity the story finds itself in. With the exception of an effective opening credit sequence, which sees the camera slowly panning up to an upside down city skyline, one which is dripping with blood, the look of Paradox just feels far too clean.
What Yip does have going for him though is the ability to draw good performances out of his cast (we’re dealing with the guy who made people think Donnie Yen could act after all), and here is no different. Louis Koo has always been much like Aaron Kwok, in that they both need a good director to reel in their overacting, otherwise they have the ability to become teeth gratingly bad. In 2016 he was punch the screen awful in Benny Chan’s Call of Heroes, yet intensely effective in Johnnie To’s Three. Here he does a solid job of playing a tightly coiled father searching for his daughter, and even puts in a worthy action performance under the guidance of Sammo, putting to rest his horrendous floppy fists from Flash Point.
Wu Yue is the real revelation though, as the increasingly dishevelled cop attempting to balance looking after his heavily pregnant wife, while investigating the disappearance of Koo’s daughter, his frequent calls to action light up the screen. He’s shown his action chops before, in the likes of From Vegas to Macau 2 and The Brink, but here he really gets to shine. Sammo’s choreography leans towards intense bursts of close quarter exchanges, often involving one participant with a chopper or other bladed weapon. The speed and impact of these throwdowns often make Yue look like he’s just walked off the set of a movie like Angry Ranger, or any other 90’s HK kickboxing movie. It’s a great throwback, and Sammo’s decision to incorporate Muay Thai moves into the hard hitting HK kickboxer choreography style is really a joy to watch, feeling both fresh and wince inducing.
With that being said, there are some questionable moments of wirework. While some instances work, others don’t, and I’ve never been a fan of the whole ‘person gets hit so hard they flip 360 degrees, and mid-flip kick the person that hit them’ move. Save it for a wuxia flick. One of the biggest issues with Paradox though is its bad guy, played with an inappropriately cartoonish level of villainy by Chris Collins. His English dialogue and actions become increasingly impossible to take seriously as the runtime progresses, grinding against the dark tone of the events surrounding him, and taking you out of the movie. He does deliver on the action front, providing Jaa with his only action scene, involving a foot chase and rooftop throwdown. The scene is decent enough, although for me the pleasure of seeing Jaa turn up in HK movies remains in actually seeing him act.
As Paradox heads towards its conclusion, the weight of Louis Koo’s slender frame carrying an action finale looms large on his shoulders, however Yip and Sammo make the wise decision to keep his moves brief and brutal, not unlike Sammo’s own in The Bodyguard, and it works. Things get a little too enthusiastic when Koo has to fend off a ferocious sustained attack by 3 chopper wielding thugs, but Wue comes in at the right time to do the heavy lifting, resulting in a face-off with Collins in which they both brandish a pair of meat cleavers in each hand. There’s a couple of small but obvious cuts for violence, which have unfortunately been maintained for the home video release, but thankfully these are the only real reminders we have of Mainland censorship in Paradox.
This being a tale with “strong dramatic elements” though, the final fight is not the finale of the movie, as Yip takes the time to wrap up the loose ends in a way that some may find downbeat, but arguably fits in with the stories theme and isn’t without hope. Overall Paradox feels like a strange beast. What can’t be argued is that it has both strong action and strong dramatic elements, however there was more than once when I felt they weren’t really complimenting each other. If I could put my finger on it, I think it comes down to the fact that the action was so intense and entertaining, but the dark circumstances in which it took place in acted as a kind of caveat to being fully enjoyed. Who knows, maybe sometimes having nothing else on the line except a missing Buddha head may be a good thing after all?
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10
hey man appreciate your review, the movie wasn’t bad although i consider this movie to be a standalone spin-off in the spl series like star wars rogue one
Good review. I was expecting Paradox to get released in the US as “Killzone 3.” Despite your explanation of the SPL connection, that could happen anyway.
It’s odd that there’s been no announcement for a US release, so I got the Blu-Ray from DDDhouse.
I’m also surprised this hasn’t been a no-brainer for the guys at Well Go, so like you I went the DDDhouse route. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on it once you’ve checked it out!
Turns out Well Go USA were just biding their time with this one. Wonder what took them so long!? 😛 –
http://cityonfire.com/whats-sammo-hung-and-tony-jaas-fate/
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Wilson Yip – even if the Hong Kong action genre isn’t exactly thriving like the Eighties, I have to believe it would be in dire straits if Yip and Donnie Yen hadn’t revitalized the genre with the likes of ‘SPL’ and ‘Ip Man.’
That said, I’d have to argue Soi Cheang Pou-Soi is a stronger filmmaker and certainly more of an auteur, putting a personal stamp and vision on each of his projects. The difference really shows in watching SPL vs. SPL II. I agree with your sentiments about Yip’s visual style – when I think of his movies, the visual style tends to be very clean, brightly colored, and a little antiseptic.
(Of course, Soi Cheang Pou-Soi’s Monkey King movies just about disprove my above paragraph…but moving on)
I definitely echo those statements, and I’d take a Wilson Yip movie over a Benny Chan one any day of the week. But you’re right about Soi Cheang having more of his own distinctive style, and in that regard ‘Paradox’ comes across as rather workmanlike in its execution, when there were certainly opportunities for it to be a lot more.
As for Cheang’s ‘Monkey King’ movies, I look at them as his visual vomit that he has to get out of his system every couple of years. A left of field perspective, but one I’m sticking to. 😛
I popped the movie in as soon as it came in the mail. I liked Paradox quite a bit, but I do get the criticisms.
It was interesting to read how others thought the movie looked too “clean and polished.” I kind of thought back to Brian Helgeland’s version of Payback and how it had that same look before Mel Gibson changed the photography to make it look “dirtier.”
I actually liked how the clean polished look of the film contrasted with how ugly the content of the story was. Just like with the director’s cut of Payback, it was an interesting stylistic choice.
It was too bad Tony Jaa wasn’t in the movie more, but I thought his role was decent. I certainly don’t feel like he was wasted like in XxX 3.
Louis Koo was good. I’m glad he was up to par in screen fighting, and did well with close quarters combat. He was supposed to utilize it in Flash Point, but it just didn’t materialize back then.
Chris Collins was a ridiculous villain, but he reminded me of some real life assholes, so it was satisfying to see him get punished. It’s interesting that his only other IMDb credit is as a random thug in Gen-X Cops. I wonder how he got this role.
All in all, I’m glad I own Paradox now. It kind of reminded me of the late 90’s early 00’s era of Hong Kong where they were trying to make Hollywood styled films, but this one tricks the audience into thinking it’s going to be fun and then it gets grim.
Interesting take on it Andrew, and that’s the first time for me to hear about the post-production changes that ‘Payback’ went through.
I agree more of Tony Jaa would have been nice, but overall if his only starring role in a Hong Kong movie is to be ‘SPL II’, then I can be happy with that. I noticed during his scene that Yip used the same setup (complete with the same awkward wirework) that he did in ‘Flash Point’, when Xing Yu distracts Yen by using a child as a human projectile, only here Yu and Yen are swapped for Chris Collins and Jaa.
Speaking of Collins, he does also have a small role in ‘Wolf Warrior’ as a member of Scott Adkins’ team of mercenaries, however other than that his appearances onscreen are sporadic to say the least.
I agree with everything in your review except I didn’t think Louis Koo effectively pulled off any of the action scenes. To me he looked weak and nervous about the moves he was doing. And I was also surprised that nearly all the action looked like it was shot too closely, to the point of it being distracting. Maybe this would be acceptable to hide Koo’s weakness in performing the choreography, but not for everyone… especially not Tony Jaa. Sammo Hung has always been a master of making people that can’t fight look capable of advanced combat, and using doubles in clever ways so they don’t look obvious. So what happened here? The film had it’s strengths (as Paul pointed out), but I was let down by the deficits I mentioned in the action and the film’s unevenness. I’d drop it down to a 6/10.
C’mon Bob, the guy is being choreographed by Sammo Hung, of course he’s going to look nervous! 😛 (As for the weak part though, I attribute that to the fact he stars in 200 HK movies a year, I’m surprised he has any energy left at all) I think much like Lau Ching-Wan, performing physical action is simply not Koo’s forte (although I do prefer his performance here than in ‘Call of Heroes’, which was also choreographed by Sammo). I remember him looking good under the direction of Yuen Bun in Johnnie To’s ‘Throw Down’, but in the case of ‘Paradox’ I was relieved that most of the action heavy lifting went to Wu Yue, who I’ve been waiting to see in a movie like this since I saw him face off against Shawn Yue (no relation I believe) in ‘From Vegas to Macau II’.
I thought Koo looked great in THROWDOWN. And I wasn’t expecting him to suddenly fight like Donnie Yen in PARADOX, but his action here was so weak that it totally distracted me from the film.
Strangely, I was complaining about Lau Ching-Wan’s less than believable work in CALL OF HEROES, but recently re-watched BLACK MASK where Lau looked very convincing. So maybe Sammo, one of my favorite performer/choreographers of all time, is simply losing his touch?
I agree with you about Wu Yue- he was very good in PARADOX. But when you have a lead like Koo that spends the whole movie walking and talking with the confidence of a physically capable guy, and then the shit goes down and he has a look on his face like “Oh God, don’t let me die” the whole time… disappointing.
Good review dude, I don’t suppose this one will be hitting BR/DVD in Europe anytime soon?.
Cheers DragonClaws. Surprisingly it doesn’t seem to have been picked up for distribution in the US or UK yet, where I’m sure (as previously mentioned in the comments) it’d get slapped with the ‘Kill Zone 3’ re-title. You can pick up the Hong Kong release from our buddies at DDDhouse though –
http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_list.php?CategoryID=627&LanguageID=0
Overall it was good movie. I liked it better than Spl 2 where the last action scene had way too many cut away shots that were too distracting to watch. With a 15 millions budget, the director and the action director did one hell of a job.
I am curious why no one is talking about this film’s plot. I know it’s not the single most important with the genre, but with a name like Paradox (no actual paradox in the film) and the weird “premonitions” of Jaa’s character that seem to be a thread that is left hanging for no reason. I am left a bit confused.
I agree, and think that the original working title of ‘Fate’ is more aligned with the themes explored with this one. I felt what it was really about is the notion of karma, so
***SPOILERS***
Louis Koo forced his daughter to get an abortion, killing her unborn child, and because of that, he’s ultimately unable to save his daughter from being killed as punishment.
***END OF SPOILERS***
You’re right about Jaa’s character though, it would have been nice to see more of him and explore the Thai superstitions that were hinted at, but instead they just got dropped (the superstitious stuff, and Jaa himself, literally).
Finally caught this last night on a Blu-ray screener, and I agree whole-heartedly with your review, although I would probably rate it a little bit higher (by that, I mean a 7.5 out of 10, ha ha). This is an extremely entertaining, mostly fast-paced action/thriller in the vein that Hong Kong does so well. I even enjoyed Louis Koo’s performance, which is not something I typically say outside of his Johnnie To collaborations. Tony Jaa isn’t in this much, to be sure, but I swear I haven’t seen him fight this fierce since “Ong Bak II.” It was good to see him with a spring in his step again.
That said, I think you’re right in that Wilson Yip might be the weakest link here. That’s not entirely fair because the movie looks good and he films the action beautifully, but his clean, precise, and almost sterile style is just not the right fit for this material. Cheang Pou-soi is way more at home with subjects like abortion, organ trafficking, and police corruption, and he always makes sure the look and feel of his films is appropriately grim to match. Wilson Yip instead makes the colors pop like he’s about to shoot a music video.
Regardless, I had a great time with the movie, and I feel it’s a worthy spiritual successor to SPL and SPL II. I’d recommend it to any Hong Kong action fan.
What’s with the Chinese censors, though? They’re okay with golden showers but not with hands getting chopped off? Something ain’t right there. Paul, am I right that assuming that setting this in Thailand was also a way to get around Chinese censorship? In that you can make a movie about any heinous criminal organization as long as it doesn’t take place in the Mainland…
This is also the first HK movie I’ve seen where I definitely felt the influence of The Raid. That overhead shot when the SWAT team storms the slaughterhouse, firing away with their automatic rifles, was straight out of Gareth Evans’ film.
Good review. Did you also prefer the theatrical release of Payback as opposed to the director’s cut? I can understand why a bleak movie should have a “dirty” look to it, but I think it’s an interesting dichotomy to have “clean polished” cinematography for an ugly story.
Then again, I’m sure something like Oldboy or Saving Private Ryan wouldn’t do well with that look.
I’m sure the SWAT scene must’ve been inspired from The Raid, but I thought Once Upon a Time in Shanghai’s fight scenes were similar to the Raid films as well.
Paul, am I right that assuming that setting this in Thailand was also a way to get around Chinese censorship? In that you can make a movie about any heinous criminal organization as long as it doesn’t take place in the Mainland…
I’m definitely no expert, but I’d hazard a guess and say that yes, this is most likely the reason why these more grimy crime tales are suddenly finding themselves shot against Thailand as a backdrop.
Particularly movies which feature some kind of police corruption, like ‘SPL 2: A Time for Consequences’, or just plain police stupidity, like in ‘The White Storm’…for sure that kind of stuff would be a no-go if the setting was on the Mainland.
For other recent Thai-set Chinese flicks though, it also seems to be a case of it simply being a cheap locale to film in that looks great on camera. Movies like ‘Lost in Thailand’, ‘From Vegas to Macau II’, ‘Detective Chinatown’, ‘Operation Mekong’, and ‘Extraordinary Mission’ have all put its exotic locations to good use, and I’m sure the economy is enjoying the influx of cash from having these productions film there.
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