Treasure Hunter (1999)

Treasure Hunter brought on an odd sensation in the cinema. As seemingly mismatched shards of plot came flying from the screen, several times it seemed the poor guy in the projection room had muddled up the reels. Such was the array of sequences, introductions (and removals) of characters, and the lively pace. There was half an hour of diving, match-flicking, brawling, and a paparazzi mini-plot before the following story was vaguely revealed:

A $3 billion weapon system is on delivery to somewhere or other by two guys in a dinghy. When the marine police show up in their little rubber boats, the pair dump their booty at the sea bottom and hand themselves over to the law. Divers Fu (Chin) and Kwai just happen to be watching from a remote island, and they swim out and retrieve the treasure.

International arms dealer Mr Abdullah is consequently miffed that has weapons system been swiped. Fu and Kwai are also not impressed. The briefcase the collect doesn't contain the vast riches they'd hoped for, so they offload it on a buyer who in turn comes to the attention of Mr Abdullah's right hand man Wang Chuen (Loui).

Wang has already discovered the briefcase missing after a failed salvage excursion and orders Fu and Kwai be found. And he offs one of the treasure hunters' mates in the process. Fu videotapes the murder and is incensed. "Why don't we report to the police?" asks girlfriend Pinky (Cheung). Fu retorts: "Police? Revenge".

It's nice to see people act on their passions and make a film -- it seems people behind Treasure Hunter really like the sea. There's plenty of diving, people propose and get married underwater, people hang out on their boats and there's even a massacre on a fish farm. One hapless character is drawn and quartered by jet-skis! Plentiful shots of the deep blue sea, and an equally clear sky, are almost a revelation to people thinking Hong Kong's waterways are just bluish-greenish murk. That effort, the underwater bits and occasional stunts make Treasure Hunter appear a more expensive film than usual low-budgeters.

A coherent storyline presentation and better use of the side actors would doubtless make Treasure Hunter a more satisfying film to watch. But its speedy and enthusiastic charms do offer occasional highlights outside the water activities. When Simon Loui and a starlet played by Sherming Yiu are tailed by the paparazzi, the journalists are immediately firebombed. When a horde of angry chopper-wielding thugs run into a bar, they slip on ice cubes and fall about in little pools of blood... end of fight. One novel touch comes late in the film when local metal band Circle briefly appear on a stage, dubbed for a couple of seconds by strip-style music.

Film industry woes figure into the film too. "No one goes to the cinema these days", moans someone early in the piece. Not so, I say! About 30 die-hards sat though Treasure Hunter on its October 2000 Mongkok morning show revival.

Credits:

Directed by John Cheung
Underwater fight choreography by John Cheung
Starring David Leung, Chin Siu-ho, Pinky Cheung Man-chi, John Cheung, Simon Loui Yiu-leung, Monica Chan Fat-yung, Sherming Yiu Lok-yi and Jude Poyer (cameo)