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| 2002. Starring - Nicholas Tse - Stephen Fung - Lo Ka Ying - Danielle Graham. Director - Wilson Yip. Special unit ‘2002’ is a designated task force of SPI (Spirit & Paranormal Investigation), ridding the world of evil deeds from haunting spirits via an execution team consisting of one man and one ghost. Chiu is a psychic human who bears the mark of the death star and he is fated never to make friends. Anyone he comes into contact with will die hence his partnership with the ghost Sam who he inadvertently murdered. Paper Chan former head of the 2002 unit tells Chiu that Sam is due to be reincarnated very soon so a new partnership must be formed. During their final mission Fung a traffic cop witnesses Chiu and Sam in action. He locates Chiu and reveals that he too has psychic powers and wishes to join the unit. After visiting Paper Chan it seems fated that Fung will be Chiu’s next partner, it is also fated that Fung must first die before he can take up his new position in the unit. However Fung knows nothing of his impending doom and is hell bent on proving his worth only to realise that his first encounter with the ghost ‘Fire’ leaves him paralysed with fear. Chiu defeats Fire in order to save Fung but this is all played out in front of ‘Water’ who swears vengeance on the ghost busting pair. MTV meets Ghostbusters in this strange fantasy tale at times captivating, at times ridiculous. The first 15 minutes fall into the ridiculous bracket where we are introduced to the characters and their intentions, mainly through the use of wires, CG animation and poor comedy. This is soon forgotten as the movie starts to unwind and a great story is revealed playing on Chiu’s (Nicholas Tse) inability to form any kind of lasting relationship. This is complicated further by his attraction to Danielle (Danielle Graham) and also by his growing friendship with Fung (Stephen Fung) whom he knows must die before he is allowed to carry on as his partner. You would hope this is how 2002 would continue, but unfortunately it doesn’t as again towards the end of the movie it descends into bizarre nonsense throwing the plot all over the place with some inane twists and turns. I really found it hard to get to grips with this movie. As I said earlier in parts the story is fantastic with fine performances and beautifully shot and scored scenes, but in parts the score is laughable and the action and scripting are just too far out of place to be taken seriously. I think the only reason why Wilson Yip has made these so obvious transitions between film genres in 2002 was to appeal to varying audiences therefore to make more money. It is a big shame as he could have made two totally different movies here with one relying heavily on action and style whilst the other could have been much more personal and intriguing. When this film is good it’s very, very good, but when it’s bad it’s terrible. For example if you have ever seen a movie called ‘Meet Joe Black’ starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt, you would have witnessed a scene where Pitt’s character is killed and it is truly shocking. Wilson Yip tries to emulate this scene in 2002 but it all ends up looking like a comedy sketch as the young boy/hood ornament is bounced puppet like between the cars. 2002 ultimately is a missed opportunity, with just one too many ‘Turkey’ moments to make this anything more than a one night stand. 6******stars. |
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