Review of Breaking News (2010) by Neel S — 20 Jul 2008

Hong Kong action. Starring Richie Ren, Kelly Chen, Nick Cheung. Directed by Johnnie To. (Not Rated. 90 minutes. At the Balboa.).

It takes just the first shot to get sucked into "Breaking News," the latest bit of destruction from mayhem master Johnnie To, and it's a doozy: A seven-minute take with To's camera sweeping in and out of upstairs rooms, cars and shops, climaxing in a shootout on a Hong Kong street.

When the dust has settled, the crooks have gotten away and the police are embarrassed; especially when a patrolman puts his hands up in defeat when confronted by the main crook, Yuan (Richie Ren), and a local TV news crew gets it on tape.

So the police not only have a dangerous band of thieves on the loose, but a PR problem as well.

Enter Rebecca Fong (Kelly Chen of "Infernal Affairs"), an ambitious inspector who lobbies the police chief (Simon Yam) to take control of the case. Her plan: Once the criminals are cornered -- and they quickly are, in a high-rise apartment building -- she will invite the media and feed them stories with a pro-police slant. She even sets up a media trailer outside the apartment building to personally direct the PR strategy as well as negotiate with the criminals.

Trouble is, the criminals, who have three hostages (a father, played by To regular Lam Suet, and his two children), also have cell phones and Web cams, and they create their own media access.

So what we have is "Dog Day Afternoon," Johnnie To style. To, Hong Kong's best action auteur since John Woo left for Hollywood, doesn't disappoint. Apart from the bravado opening take, he inventively stages shootouts in the apartment building -- in cramped hallways, in stairwells, hanging outside windows and even in elevator shafts.

To is also excellent at little touches that humanize his characters -- as in the fabulous scene when two of the crooks fix dinner (because Dad, the hostage, can't cook) and find they both had wanted to be chefs and own their own restaurants. Also noteworthy is Cheung as an inspector who has little patience for Rebecca's plan.

However, as solid as "Breaking News" is, it doesn't quite reach the level of To's best work -- specifically "The Mission" (his masterpiece), "PTU," "Where a Good Man Goes," the romantic comedies "Love on a Diet" and "Needing You" and his most recent film, the gangster drama "Election," which was just voted the best Hong Kong film of 2005 by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association (and just came out on DVD in Asian video stores in the Bay Area).

Perhaps that's because To's skewering of both media and government responsibility needs more bite. He's working with a great idea, one that should have been as well thought out as his elegantly staged action sequences.