Interactive Murders (2002)Five days after pop singer Ching Suet is kidnapped and her roped-up image is placed on the Internet, former Organised Crime Bureau cop and gambler Ai Mo (Andy Hui) is called back to the police force. The kidnapper has e-mailed a request for Mo to take a crack at the case and the folks at the police station, making little headway themselves in the face of a multi-million Dollar reward, grudgingly give the cop-turned-bodyguard a chance. Mo gets into his old investigating form fast, deducing from the scant available info that the kidnapper has a "distorted psychological state" before he sets about sussing out clues from the video. But the ensuing investigation is not easy -- the kidnapper's one for playing games with his police friends over the Internet and has his eyes on more celebrities to bring back to his video-equipped lair. Just as a second kidnap takes place, Mo stumbles across a radio show online in which phone-in listener Shana (Nicola Cheung) had predicted the crime. Apparently equipped with supernatural powers and "psychic eyes", the Internet-addicted girl quickly becomes the star of an increasingly high-profile investigation. Though the filmmakers make a commendable effort to go beyond this synopsis, the more interesting concepts play out more like an afterthought than as part of a coherent package. On the investigation front, the premise of a website being part of ongoing evil (not unlike the Webpage of the Death in Deathnet.com) doesn't translate into much excitement when screenshots and scenes of folks hunched over computers take up considerable screen time. Interactive Murders offers little excitement, too, in the overall look of the production. The low-budget filmmaking features lacklustre location work and only picks up in the kidnapper's various hideouts, where the set design is suitably atmospheric and makes good use of lighting setups. Technology depicted throughout the film verges on the absurd, with designs and concepts on computer screens looking far from achievable and shots of the public viewing hacked news and Internet services appear in ridiculous scenes. While this all hampers the film's techy angle, the filmmakers at least give the impression that such quibbles shouldn't be taken too seriously. At one key point, the filmmakers play on the interactivity suggested in the movie title to engage audiences in a split-screen spot-the-difference game. Bemused audience members can join the cop shop gang for some sleuthing in this static segment, which may end up looking rather silly on the low-resolution and small-screen video format the majority of people will see Interactive Murders on. Andy Hui is passable in the lead role but isn't playing with strong material to begin with, though Nicola Cheung does get into her odd role nicely enough. Support actors in the police team including Ken Wong and David Li, who was so good in From the Queen to the Chief Executive, look remarkably casual in their scenes and offer little appeal to lift this Golden Harvest production's generally bleak tone. |
Credits: Directed by Billy Tang |
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