THE STORY

The two old friends Kit (Nicholas Tse) and Fit (Edison Chen) have come up thought the ranks of the police force together, and now they face their most serious challenge as the police force prepares to go to war with the local Triads. At the same time the two cops face serious changes in their life. Kit is seeking a transfer to internal affairs, and Fit is being approached by the triads because of a family connection.

But when the triads bring the fight to the young cops’ doorstep, they get more than they bargained for...

THE FILM

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as a bad film, so indifferent it’s impossible to muster the strength to hate it.

“Moving Targets” looks good, it has plenty of talented actors and a story that should have worked. But instead of an engaging action movie, picking up the mantle from “Infernal Affairs”, we get a semi-disastrous b-movie with a weak story, sketchy characters and no sense of direction.

“Moving Targets” plods along, like a wounded animal with no will to live, from one uninvolving scene to the next, only stopping every now and then for a brief glimpse of what might have been. One storyline gives way to another, before it’s even finished, and the film changes direction in this manner half a dozen times during its brief running time. It fails to establish any kind of logic. One guy, seemingly lined up to be main baddy, suddenly falls victim to a stray bullet, and then there’s the girl who switches from one guy to the other, without any explanation, apparently only to serve current needs of the story.

Many of the action-scenes look good, but all other scenes have a half-finished quality to them, and in the end the film just can’t shake that b-movie feel.

I bought this film because I thought Nicholas Tse was back in form, I’ve really missed him. But he’s not back. Not by a long shot. Even the reliable Simon Yam sleepwalks though his performance, and everybody else fails to make an impression.

The film tries, it really does, and there are some good moments here and there, which just makes it all the more frustrating. “Moving Targets” is like an unflavoured dish. It’s not exactly bad, it’s just doesn’t have any taste. Like sticking your tongue out of the window for an extended period. That’s really no way to spend an evening. Go see “Gen-X Cops” instead.

David Bjerre
September 29, 2004

GALLERY