Dorathen Better Late Then Never

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Joseph_Gillis A police captain assigns his unit to help a colleague retrieve his gun, lost in an altercation with a street-gang, before a reporting deadline expires.Just as much as the style and the look, it's the choreography and orchestration - and the way To shuffles the characters and objects about on his late-night chessboard; and the sound-scapes, in addition to the glorious night-lit streets and skyline which delight almost to the extent that the opening restaurant confrontational, ultimately tragic, musical chairs and climactic set-piece shoot-out serve as mere book-ends for what comes between. Or even, as brief irritants.The characters don't particularly matter either - although there are some particularly wonderful-looking villains - because they're all just pawns for this visual, and aural feast.You've seen plenty of tyre-squealer car-chases - maybe you've seen too many of them; To's come up with a new angle: the cars that glide at intervals through city streets, unobtrusively, apparently disinterestedly, and almost noiselessly - perhaps just to get you thinking "now I wonder what they're up to'? A crime film where all the cars keep within the speed limit? Shurely shome mishtake? And then there's the kid on the bicycle: by the time of his third sighting you're wondering is he a midget gang member, or undercover cop - or afterhours drugs mule, even; and will it be his fate to be ripped apart with bullets, by all sides? How cruel could that be, for somebody so young? It's all about building tension, and keeping you on edge - or maybe filling in the spaces on that chessboard.There are some great scenes and ideas, too - of course: as with that opening restaurant scene where various customers get re-assigned according to their place in the hierarchy, and phone messages that we only later become privy to, have fatal consequences. Then there's the tense confrontational scene in the video-game arcade, with the array of flashing video screens vieing for our attention with a synchronised symphony of unanswered cell-phones; and there's the men in cages, bent over almost triple.Thematically, it reminds me of Kurosawa's 'Stray Dog' - and there may have been more than one scene of that classic referenced; visually; and to a certain extent narrative-wise, it reminded me of Scorsese's 'After Hours'. The boy on the bicycle reminded me of the boy in 'The Third Man', and also of 'M'. But these were only in passing: To obviously has his influences, but his style is all his own. And, sometimes, style matters.

DICK STEEL The reason why I bought this was simple. Since I was on a DVD buying spree, and had picked up Johnnie To's The Mission (see review here), I thought I might as well pick up yet another of his movies which I have not watched, and so PTU presented itself because of the price, and the uber cool slip case cover.PTU, or Police Tactical Unit, is quite unlike To's movies like the Election series, or The Mission. Here, we look at cops. Ordinary cops, who like everyone else, just want to go home safe and sound after their tour of duty. The movie started off with the sounds of the bustling streets of Hong Kong, before we find ourselves inside a police truck, with everyone in sombre mood during their trip to their patrol grounds of Tsim Sha Tsui, and listening quite ominously to an announcement over the radio regarding the death of a cop.And so begins am eventful night, which is the time period where PTU takes place in. We follow quite a number of characters - Lam Suet as Lo from the Anti-Crime Division, whose firearm was lost during a scuffle with thugs, and forms the crux of the story in which the lives of everyone else in the movie revolves around, Maggie Siu as Kat, sergeant of her team of PTU cops, and Simon Yam as Mike, her counterpart leading the other team. It's a great character study piece of the three main characters, initially one who knows he's in lots of trouble for the loss, and desperately trying to recover it, in order to save face, and keep his reputation intact for an upcoming promotion, Kat's sense of doing what's right, following procedure, and Mike, who's willing to risk it all to help another of his own "for kay" (slang for cop).Under To's direction, PTU is a brilliant visual piece. Creative use of light and shadow illuminates PTU, making it a visual spectacle, so much that you'll still enjoy the movie even if you turn off the volume. I particularly enjoyed the rather quiet moments which were plenty throughout the movie, rather than the usual wham-bang kind of action with guns ablazing. In fact, a shot is never even fired, until the end-all finale, combining all the separate threads of the story into one heck of a finale. What could probably raise eyebrows, are the unorthodox methods employed by the upholders of the law. You can't help but ponder over the methods, and how the lieutenants either turn a blind eye to, or are in full agreement with the provocative procedures meted out by their captain. Surely a talking point, if fire should be met with fire when dealing with scum.There are many subtle touches in this compact tale of less than 90 minutes, with the ubiquitous mobile phone being so important as a plot element, and that strong sense of irony in the narrative. And again in To's cops and robbers / triad movies (though I may be wrong), it seemed that the cool soundtrack which is peppered throughout the film, seemed to stem from a single primary theme music, this time with some electric guitar riffs.PTU doesn't get bogged down by wasting time explaining the many whys and how comes, and prefers to zap you right into the moment. It's the sense of contemplative urgency that makes it compelling to watch, and every turn brings something unexpected. The ending is particular interesting too, especially for those who have written statements in uniformed groups - you surely know what they're doing!

Jason Gervais This is quite possibly one of my most favorite films ever. Johnnie To returns to the crime genre with a bang. Literally. Known for his "The Mission", Johnnie To takes us into the perilous night and folds us into his dark and rich world.The story follows a band of police tactical units, who keep order in the streets of Hong Kong during the night. Lam Suet plays anti-crime detective officer Lo, a cop who's night is about to go upside down. He gets beaten up by your regular triad gang, and he wakes up to find his gun is missing. Risking his job and lives, he must find his gun before it does any damage. He gets help from Mike (Simon Yam) and his party, the PTU, to search for his gun until dawn. The characters themselves are not quite developed. However, these characters need no words or development when it comes to this film. Much like, "The Mission", development is not needed to express themselves throughout the film. The characters are simple enough for anybody to understand. The film's music is also really well done and fits the mood of "PTU" very well.The effects used throughout the film are highly impressive. Johnnie To places us in some kind of magical world, painting Hong Kong in darkness and plays around in it like some kind of playground. The light on dark shots are very well done to say the least. Fans of the "Silent Hill" video games for example I think will definitely enjoy the scenery of the film.Highly recommend this film to you. If you haven't seen any Johnnie To film yet, this would be a good place to start. If you liked this, chances are you'll also like his "The Mission" film as well.

Harry T. Yung spoiler by innuendoP.T.U. (for Police Tactical Unit) is director Johnny To's much publicised recent work. Comparison with To's classic The Mission is almost inevitable. P.T.U., unfortunately, does not measure up. The main problem could be that To tried too hard, not unlike Zhang Yimou with Hero.While Zhang tried to dazzle his audience with an overwhelming visual kaleidoscope, To was indulged in an attempt to impress his with mental sleight of hand. Both failed. What To has done is to play with every scene like a sleight of hand, building up mounting tension and suspense, culminating in..........nothing. On might say that this is precisely the point, to show the absurdity of the entire situation, a much ado about nothing piece of satire. Even granting that, this sleight of hand thing is still far overdone.This assertion comes out more clearly by comparison with The Mission, which is To's best work to-date. In The Mission, To used a simple plot as his vehicle to do the things he wanted to do: the characters, their interaction, the visual form, the mise-en-scene. Amidst all that, he had time to squeeze in one of the most inspired scenes: the five body guards languidly kicking around a crumbled piece of paper made into a ball while waiting for the big boss.P.T.U. is not a complete disaster. The sleight of hand does capture some attention, at least at the begining. Lam Suet's portrayal of the rather down-to-earth and somewhat comical character does a lot to brighten up the film.The original score by Chung Chi-wing also deserves some credit. Chung, unless I am seriously mistaken, is the one quite well know among people familiar with the local live theatre scene, being credited with a couple of very respectable local musicals.