Kidnapper (2010)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Sadly Over-hyped

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

A good film that is worth watching. Although this is not a movie with Hollywood-style action pack, but the storyline may worth giving it a try. However, there is a few loop holes in the plot. Actors performance are not bad. I would like to say this movie is not a bad one in view of the budget they have for production. But don't have a high expectation.-----------------------SPOILER --------------------------------- In the end of the movie, they did not conclude the consequence of what (lee) did, like should he be jailed or fine even though he is alive. The polices in the movie did not seems to help enough though. The police should get suspicious when (lee) plan to make a police report and yet leaving the scene immediately with that worry expression whiteout completing the report after receiving a call from the kidnapper.Lastly, why did the kidnapper hit the van towards the hostage after receiving the money and caused himself injury and eventually death. I always though the kidnapper will escape when driving off the taxi

This film, while good in its own ways, needs to be watched with an open mind and some suspension of disbelief. I think it is now a Kelvin Tong hallmark that many of his films don't make much logical sense if you peer into it on a micro-scale, and in this respect "Kidnapper" resembles his earlier effort, "Rule #1", which is similarly flawed if engaging. Similar to that film, if you can swallow some of the incredulities on show, you will be treated to some very fine editing sequences and intense pacing and acting, as performed by Christopher Lee (the Singapore-Malaysian actor, not the Dracula legend).It's hard to be too critical of a movie whose budget is just S$1.5 million, but a lot of the technical details are gotten right in this movie. The Varicam HD looks sharp and the colors are treated in the correct way, so no one will miss the look of film (in fact, until the very end, I had thought the movie to be shot on celluloid) The performances are also all quite uniform. The storyline is good enough to be gripping, although, as I have said, screenwriters Ken Kwek and Kelvin Tong simply doesn't iron out the less convincing elements. A question that constantly run through any audience's mind is why Ah Huat the taxi-driver simply doesn't go to the police when he is down and out and totally desperate. Is it worth gambling on your son's life by doing the impossible when you can't accede to a kidnapper's request? However, like I said, "Kidnapper" is a film very well put together otherwise. Its editing is well paced and fully commendable. The performances as I have mentioned before are all fairly consistent, with Lee's Ah Huat the standout. I do find the kidnapper (played by Malaysian radio DJ Jack Lim) to be a tad one-dimensional, and some characterizations too are not fleshed out enough, but that's criticism of a high order.In the final analysis, "Kidnapper" is a well-made, well-conceived film thriller which will appeal to those following the local cinema scene or are interested in this sort of high adrenaline drama. Its intensity will be a draw for many viewers, so since now the movie is due to be pulled out of the theaters, I would urge you to rent it to see what Kelvin Tong and his team has to offer here. Although there may be implausible blemishes here and there, it cannot disguise "Kidnapper" as a A-class effort in making a thriller film never before made in Singapore.