Review of The Bullet Vanishes (2012) by Jesse O — 08 Feb 2016

This is another one of those very good good movies. I don't know why, but it just never really seems to take that next step to greatness. It almost does with its third act and all its revelations about weeding out police/government corruption, no matter what the cost, in order to ensure that more people are saved under a 'fairer and just' police chief.

That stuff was actually really good, to me, but the murder mystery itself, while certainly intriguing, didn't really go to enough interesting places, nor was there really much mystery behind who actually committed these murders.

And I think that's a problem in murder mysteries in general, it's just really hard to get me really that invested unless you really subvert the genre tropes or tell a great story. Gone Girl would fit both of those categories, so that's an example.

I don't think this film can really be considered a subversive murder mystery, though this one isn't so much of an issue. I've watched many films that play into the established tropes of their particular genre that are still enjoyable, so that's not the problem.

The story, to me, just isn't that great. It's good and it definitely keeps intrigued for its duration, but there's an extra element missing. The casting is real good though, Nicholas Tse and Sean Lau have real good chemistry.

Sean Lau's performance really is the best part of the film in how understated he actually is. I've seen him in various movies and he's always, to me, been very good. So I can't really complain on that front.

Like I said, the story reveals its real intentions in the third act and this is where the film is at its best. I don't wanna spoil anything, but it's not completely unpredictable considering how everything ended up playing out, but this is where the film really shines.

I wish they had incorporated more of that in the film, because the third act, while really good, sort of feels like something out of a completely different movie. I'm probably complaining too much, but it is what it is.

This is still quite an enjoyable movie, I just had some issues with the presentation of its story. I'd still recommend this if you have Amazon Prime, but it doesn't end up being anything special or memorable.