Cold War (2012)

Pretty Good

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The film is also called "Laan jin." It has nothing to do with the cold war, nor is it much of an action thriller. The film is a Hong Kong police drama which utilizes a kidnapping and bombing as background for a police commissioner struggle. There are long dramatic scenes of internal office conflict and politics which follow a very orderly process.The translation is not herky-jerky, but very straight slang English, no reverse syntax. Some of the dubbing made the actors look bad, especially the woman crying for her dead husband. The film focuses on Deputy Police Commissioner Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) and his relationship with the commissioner (Tony Leung Ka Fai) and operation Cold War. Cold War is a police emergency that happens when an emergency van with five hostages are stolen and a bomb goes off at a cinema. While part of the story involves solving the crime, a good two thirds of the film is a complex multi-sided office drama.The film uses a stock made for TV sound track. It has some cliche tough guy language like "Desperate times call for desperate measures" and "I was never here." It then ruins it with "I prefer latte." There is also some mention of police and government openness, something I didn't know if it was a criticism of government or a government propaganda statement. The film lost me for a moment when the internal office conflict started as I was expecting a Chinese Dirty Harry. Instead I got a Joe Friday arguing with his boss and then apologizing. Clearly the Chinese don't have the genre down for American audiences.Parental Guide: Some minor F-bomb usage. No sex or nudity. Woman in lacy top and panties.

"Cold War" ("Hon Zin") is an entertaining movie, but it is far from the finest moment in Hong Kong cinema. And for a crime-thriller, well then it set out to do a lot of things, but it ended up looking as if directors Lok Man Leung and Kim-ching Luk had bitten off a bit too much and weren't able to fully bring it full circle.The story starts out well enough, and quickly picks up pace, but towards the last third of the movie it started to become forced and somewhat messy, making the movie suffer in overall coherency and enjoyment as a result."Cold War" does have some of Hong Kong's top actors in it, and Aaron Kwok does carry the movie quite well. It was a shame that Andy Lau wasn't given more screen time in the movie, but his appearance was great nonetheless.Personally I am not overly keen on crime movies such as these, and "Cold War" didn't really bring anything overly new or exciting to the genre.The movie was nicely shot and edited, and it is enjoyable for what it is. But even with my love for Asian cinema, then I doubt that I will be making a second viewing out of this movie. It just didn't have that much to offer.

I saw this film today on DVD i don't care about critical reception critics got no business watching films there is something very underrated about this film specially the middle of the film its very deep when hong Kong police investigates and it involves a lot of politics and dialogs that could spin your head and think again about who to trust i liked the film for what it was but it comes with flaws like overused cgi & cheesy climax.The Plot:in honk Kong one night a van loaded with high tech equipment & 5 officers disappear out of the map,the hijackers make demands but the whole police department goes insane trying to figure out is there a mole among them or they have became weak that anyone can attack.The Cast:Andy Lau & Aaron Kwok looked smooth but Charlie Yeung surprises with her new hairstyle but Toney Leung Ka Fai Steals the show with brilliant performance, i have to say this film is better then departed or any other stupid film that Hollywood makes but in the climax it looses itself specially the rooftop action scene and unnecessary explosions but overall its a good film worth watchable you'll get to know what its like and how the police in china operates there is also a big surprise in the end which i wont tell.Cold War 2012 is a fine film filled with heavy suspense,dialogs and its quite entertaining to see actors taking full advantage of the environment of work place my rating is 5/10 its almost the best film made but could have been more better but do see this film:Recommended.

An explosion in the heart of Hong Kong city and the mystery disappearance of an EU van with five armed policemen onboard kick start a series of events that not only threaten the innocent citizens of Hong Kong but also the cohesion of the police force.Heavenly King Aaron Kwok plays Lau, the Deputy Commissioner of administrative services of the HK police force while Tony Leung Ka Fai plays Lee, the Deputy Commissioner of operations. With the Commissioner (Michael Wong) away on a conference in Copenhagen, Lee assumed the position of officer-in-charge and authorized an immediate rescue operation (codenamed Cold War) of the kidnapped officers. However, Lau has doubts over Lee's authority and a fight over the commanding position ensues. With the clock ticking including the safety of Lee's son, Joe (Taiwanese idol Eddie Peng) being one of the kidnapped police officers, operation Cold War is still a go despite the differences. Co-helmed by first time directors Sunny Luk (who serves as one of the writers and second assistant director on movies such as "Full Alert" and "On the Edge") and art director Longman Leung, "Cold War" is an intense crime thriller that collectively packed a lot of stuff into a compact 100 odd minutes. Taking into account the countless familiar faces that the duo has assembled, this factor probably already worth the admission ticket alone. The summary above only accounts for the first half of the movie, yes you heard that right. You got an electrifying scene between Lau and Lee's character. Two Heavenly Kings, one by the name of Andy sharing a scene together after their last collaboration in "Lee Rock II" almost two decades ago and a nail-biting scene involving Lau bringing a whole bag of cash to meet the kidnappers and ends with a gunfight on a busy road. Another gentle reminder, all these happened in the first half of "Cold War" and we have yet reached the end. Luk and Leung take a fresh spin on the usual crime genre and gave it a new life during the process thus instead of a straight out actioner liked Benny Chan's "EU Strike Force", we have a layered cop drama in the league of "Infernal Affairs". The story is also the duo's love song to their beloved homeland, a country that is run on a respected common law jurisdiction and enjoyed freedom of speech and accountability which is a stark contrast to the People's Republic of China. The two filmmakers refuse to rest on their laurels that they have to introduce a young ICAC rookie, Cheung (Aarif Rahman from "Bruce Lee, My Brother") in the next half of the movie to investigate Lau's alleged involvement in the missing ransom which in turn question the existence of a mole in the force. This is not to say the scripting of "Cold War" is perfect. In fact, in an enthusiastic move to generate more twists and turns, a couple of missteps including too many false endings and a CG filled finale actually hamper the overall enjoyment a little.After being lambasted for his cheesy acting in "Murderer" and "City Under Siege", Kwok equipped with a salt-and-pepper hairstyle is surprisingly believable as the calm, confident Lau while the award- winning Leung shines in a role that screams for more. The other supporting cast includes Gordon Lam Ka Tong playing a role that he can virtually portrays in his sleep and action choreographer Chin Ka Lok doubling as Lau's subordinate, the ever pretty Charlie Young pops in as Head of Public Relations with Andy Lau in an extended cameo as the Secretary of Security. I can't say much for Eddie Peng but this young man unquestionably is a shining star to watch out for.Even without the financial involvement of Mainland investors, "Cold War" is an impressive feat for the two relatively new filmmakers. The lush production values and picturesque aerial shots are examples of that. Although it doesn't feature wall-to-wall action (think "The Viral Factor"), "Cold War" is a recommended title proving the crime genre which the HK movie industry is famous for is still very much alive.