Any reviewer that takes "Seoul Raiders" seriously as a film is either on the take or mentally defective. This film is a ludicrous romp where Tony Leung CW and Shu Qi ham it up shamelessly as ultracool and irresistible superspies in a Korea where the bad guys have neither guns nor knives, and are constrained to fight only with fists and feet. Surprisingly enough, the film is pleasantly watchable, primarily because Tony Leung CW and Shu Qi really are ultracool and irresistible. They even tell us so in the movie. It's fun to watch them mug their way through this movie, although one hopes that this is the last "Raiders" picture (after the previous "Tokyo Raiders") that Jingle Ma will inflict. Richie Ren plays the straight man role to make Tony Leung look all the more wonderful by comparison. One only wishes that the three babes backing up Tony Leung had more screen time.
10 Reviews
Unpretentious, energetic entertainment
gridoon19 May 2006
"Tokyo Raiders", made in 2000, was a fun, lightweight action film that didn't exactly cry out for a sequel. But after five whole years one was made anyway, and it is another fun, lightweight action film that manages to equal, if not top, its predecessor. There are some creative fight / chase scenes (in the subway, on the wings of a bi-plane, etc.), and most of them have a comic element as well. It's always nice to see a Hong Kong film with real martial arts and limited wire-work and CGI, though the editing can be confusing at times. Tony Leung is a cool and suave lead, like an Asian version of James Bond. Shu Qi is charming, if perhaps underused action-wise. And Richie Ren does a good job of replacing Ekin Cheng (not in the same role) from the first film. Overall, "Seoul Raiders" is a film that doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is - pure entertainment - and I enjoyed it on that level both times I saw it. (**1/2)
What you need to watch in this "sort of" a bit scattered action film is the hidden exquisite subdued expression of human darkness with quick dry satire humor by Tony Leung
7thclouds11 May 2005
Seoul Raiders is a drama with dark humor, satire reflecting some dark side of human in violence or ego that that could be converged into something different form of expression as well. In this film Seoul Raiders, Tony vividly indicated the sheer fact that it is true there are some people who cannot feel be content with himself/herself without indulging in the form of some sort of "violence" or "forceful position" in order to merely protect his/her ego and bring back his/her mental balance despite the fact that such violence or forceful position merely accelerate his/her thirsty of seeking some pain in feeling dark mal-conditioned self-destructive - nature of harming others. The core of this film is, I assume, that the dark feeling Tony expressed. Lam was about to soak into the sea of irrational excessive hate at the verge of humanity as if Lam was tired of being only moderate and good. I suspect that Lam had felt useless in solving/helping something/someone or situations - say, at the beginning of this film- if Lam was being only humane good and gentle, which may have had undermined his sense of direction of his life. Lam was, however, somehow, recovered from the verge. Lam completed his job and brought back his confidence then recovered his damaged ego and reputation in his carrier.
But psychological pressures and some shadows in Lam's character seemed to have remained, which is enough cruel to torn Lam's humane goodness apart and to bring him back to the indulgence into the pain in harming which is, in fact, a simple biological chemical response in human brain to the stimuli of seeking some sort of feeling of achievement in fact doing harms by violence is not anything achievement but is merely a result of simple physical power from body movement - nothing more than that. However, unfortunately, some people are wrongly confused by malice-manipulation AS IF some violence to others or harming others are only tangible unattainable achievements which are only be able to be done by someone who can be real cruel only with non-humane sense, which utterly wrongly puts force on people to the verge of humane, which inevitably devastatingly completely destroys his/her humane goodness in its original nature. That humane goodness is, nevertheless, only key to survive on this globe. That humane goodness only made people humane. However, somehow, people are/were forced to be put on the helpless non-exit unnecessary competition in "achieving" such simple violence and non-humane sometimes when people feels something helpless in his/her situation in seeking self-destruction or seeking numbness in pain in harming others which means harming himself herself with 'spotless mind' in recognizing/analyzing what s/he does as in this film Lam did. (well, besides this film and Tony, I should say though Some people who are not able to understand or say who are not even trying to find out what s/he is doing in harming others cannot be seen as same as Lam or someone like that. Such people are simply lacking in courage of facing with what harming others irrationally unreasonably only for fun meant to himself/herself and others at the end of the day) ...then What would happen to Lam - Tony's expression in Raiders series- in next Raiders????
The subdued and thick darkness in the Tony's expression in Seoul Raiders about the risk of human nature was, that was why, essential core in this film as a warning to anyone who never thought of being indulge into any violence.
If there is any another version without the last plane battle, the onsen scene....for dialog between Tony and other actors actresses in order to concentrate on deepening the Lam's character because Tony expressed that tone (and other actors/actresses too) although I think I can imagine how much and how far action scenes are hard and difficult for any stuffs, not only for actors/actresses. But I just felt that this film could have shown something more than the film shown.... Deepening the Lam's character is, I strongly believe, a quite right direction of this film in maximizing and enhancing the prospective attractiveness in this script and film by the excellence in the depth in expression as always by Tony that differentiates the series from any other 'action' film.
All in all, a lovely dark quick wit film Besides the drama nature of the film, what I was impressed was that I simply love many scenes in this film since those Tony's real quick wit and genuine parody of "action film" I will not tell which scene it was but I especially loved one parody sequence in the film very much. All in all, I think the Raiders series and this is lovely and dark.
SHU CHI (as she was in Gorgeous) and Ritchie added the tone of drama as well, as Hiroshi Abe (impressive caricature of Yakima as a human with humane weakness that was very memorable co-play with Tony)(and Toru Nakamura) did in Tokyo Raiders I guess.
I guess if someone who is found of tasting the later series of Detective Crusou, you may like this darkness as well.
But psychological pressures and some shadows in Lam's character seemed to have remained, which is enough cruel to torn Lam's humane goodness apart and to bring him back to the indulgence into the pain in harming which is, in fact, a simple biological chemical response in human brain to the stimuli of seeking some sort of feeling of achievement in fact doing harms by violence is not anything achievement but is merely a result of simple physical power from body movement - nothing more than that. However, unfortunately, some people are wrongly confused by malice-manipulation AS IF some violence to others or harming others are only tangible unattainable achievements which are only be able to be done by someone who can be real cruel only with non-humane sense, which utterly wrongly puts force on people to the verge of humane, which inevitably devastatingly completely destroys his/her humane goodness in its original nature. That humane goodness is, nevertheless, only key to survive on this globe. That humane goodness only made people humane. However, somehow, people are/were forced to be put on the helpless non-exit unnecessary competition in "achieving" such simple violence and non-humane sometimes when people feels something helpless in his/her situation in seeking self-destruction or seeking numbness in pain in harming others which means harming himself herself with 'spotless mind' in recognizing/analyzing what s/he does as in this film Lam did. (well, besides this film and Tony, I should say though Some people who are not able to understand or say who are not even trying to find out what s/he is doing in harming others cannot be seen as same as Lam or someone like that. Such people are simply lacking in courage of facing with what harming others irrationally unreasonably only for fun meant to himself/herself and others at the end of the day) ...then What would happen to Lam - Tony's expression in Raiders series- in next Raiders????
The subdued and thick darkness in the Tony's expression in Seoul Raiders about the risk of human nature was, that was why, essential core in this film as a warning to anyone who never thought of being indulge into any violence.
If there is any another version without the last plane battle, the onsen scene....for dialog between Tony and other actors actresses in order to concentrate on deepening the Lam's character because Tony expressed that tone (and other actors/actresses too) although I think I can imagine how much and how far action scenes are hard and difficult for any stuffs, not only for actors/actresses. But I just felt that this film could have shown something more than the film shown.... Deepening the Lam's character is, I strongly believe, a quite right direction of this film in maximizing and enhancing the prospective attractiveness in this script and film by the excellence in the depth in expression as always by Tony that differentiates the series from any other 'action' film.
All in all, a lovely dark quick wit film Besides the drama nature of the film, what I was impressed was that I simply love many scenes in this film since those Tony's real quick wit and genuine parody of "action film" I will not tell which scene it was but I especially loved one parody sequence in the film very much. All in all, I think the Raiders series and this is lovely and dark.
SHU CHI (as she was in Gorgeous) and Ritchie added the tone of drama as well, as Hiroshi Abe (impressive caricature of Yakima as a human with humane weakness that was very memorable co-play with Tony)(and Toru Nakamura) did in Tokyo Raiders I guess.
I guess if someone who is found of tasting the later series of Detective Crusou, you may like this darkness as well.
Typical But Entertaining!!
buddybhupender17 May 2012
Well i would like to start with the screenplay..like the previous part the story also somehow remains the same..two guys n one girl..guys fight and girl well she too..but on the other hand...the whole storyline was good but the only thing that was lacking is the climax..could have been much better like the previous one so a total letdown in the end but otherwise the director somehow manages to keep the audience engaged till the end.
I would like to also talk about the cinematography. though HK cinema or any other cinemas are famous for their experimentation in the fight scenes and no matter where you go one will always find that Asian Stunt Directors always does superior jobs compared to Hollywood..but some times too many cooks spoils the broth..that's what happened here..i found that at some places fight scenes were not enough creative for which HK cinema is known for and moreover the camera angles in some fighting sequences were not great and i was not feeling at ease while watching them throw punches and kicks without proper lighting or too much slow motion spoiled the mood. so the action lets you down some where but still good situational stunts keeps the interest alive.
Now the performance part..like previous part the Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Lam steals the show with his comical performance and daring stunts..and QI SHU as JJ stole the show..she was like a fresh air which entertained with her looks and performance and kept the movie entertaining during the whole time..Richie Ren as Owen Lee does OK..though there was nothing much to do for others!!
It was overall a good experience..Tony and Richie Ren's comic scenes keeps the Pace alive so you don't feel the shortcomings of this annoying.. So one time watch but don't expect anything extraordinary..!!
My Rating 7/10.
I would like to also talk about the cinematography. though HK cinema or any other cinemas are famous for their experimentation in the fight scenes and no matter where you go one will always find that Asian Stunt Directors always does superior jobs compared to Hollywood..but some times too many cooks spoils the broth..that's what happened here..i found that at some places fight scenes were not enough creative for which HK cinema is known for and moreover the camera angles in some fighting sequences were not great and i was not feeling at ease while watching them throw punches and kicks without proper lighting or too much slow motion spoiled the mood. so the action lets you down some where but still good situational stunts keeps the interest alive.
Now the performance part..like previous part the Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Lam steals the show with his comical performance and daring stunts..and QI SHU as JJ stole the show..she was like a fresh air which entertained with her looks and performance and kept the movie entertaining during the whole time..Richie Ren as Owen Lee does OK..though there was nothing much to do for others!!
It was overall a good experience..Tony and Richie Ren's comic scenes keeps the Pace alive so you don't feel the shortcomings of this annoying.. So one time watch but don't expect anything extraordinary..!!
My Rating 7/10.
Hong Kong action in Seoul...
paul_haakonsen11 May 2012
"Seoul Raiders" is a great sequel to the "Tokyo Raiders" movie. Why? Well because it has what you need in a Hong Kong movie; action, comedy, martial arts, and of course a good story.
The story starts out in Hong Kong where Lam (played by Tony Leung) meets JJ (played by Shu Qi) during a robbery for some plates to make money. US government agent Owen (played by Richie Ren) is to take the plates into custody, but someone gets tricked. The trail leads to Seoul, Korea, and the chase is on. But who tricks who, and who can you trust?
The action scenes in "Seoul Raiders" were nicely choreographed and with just enough comedy to make it great - and by that I mean it is not Jackie Chan action comedy (eventhough that is awesome, by the way). But "Seoul Raiders" manages to mix in comedy in the action, and it works out well enough. And the dialogue is full of funny remarks as well, which helps it along. However, it is sort of odd that there are very little use of guns in this movie. You would assume that Korean mobsters or criminals would be carrying and using guns. But no, it was all handled by hand and foot here, in displays of good martial arts. Don't expect the martial arts scenes to be in the scales of Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen, then you will just be disappointed. But still, the martial arts was great and nicely choreographed.
However, the movie was carried by two of the bigger stars of Hong Kong cinema, that being Tony Leung and Shu Qi. It should be said that Richie Ren did a great job as well, but to know who he is, you must really be into Hong Kong cinema, as he is not as established outside Asia as Tony Leung and Shu Qi are. The Korean recruited cast also did great jobs with their roles.
"Seoul Raiders" is good entertainment both story-wise, action-wise and comedy-wise, as it merges all three genres quite well.
The story starts out in Hong Kong where Lam (played by Tony Leung) meets JJ (played by Shu Qi) during a robbery for some plates to make money. US government agent Owen (played by Richie Ren) is to take the plates into custody, but someone gets tricked. The trail leads to Seoul, Korea, and the chase is on. But who tricks who, and who can you trust?
The action scenes in "Seoul Raiders" were nicely choreographed and with just enough comedy to make it great - and by that I mean it is not Jackie Chan action comedy (eventhough that is awesome, by the way). But "Seoul Raiders" manages to mix in comedy in the action, and it works out well enough. And the dialogue is full of funny remarks as well, which helps it along. However, it is sort of odd that there are very little use of guns in this movie. You would assume that Korean mobsters or criminals would be carrying and using guns. But no, it was all handled by hand and foot here, in displays of good martial arts. Don't expect the martial arts scenes to be in the scales of Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen, then you will just be disappointed. But still, the martial arts was great and nicely choreographed.
However, the movie was carried by two of the bigger stars of Hong Kong cinema, that being Tony Leung and Shu Qi. It should be said that Richie Ren did a great job as well, but to know who he is, you must really be into Hong Kong cinema, as he is not as established outside Asia as Tony Leung and Shu Qi are. The Korean recruited cast also did great jobs with their roles.
"Seoul Raiders" is good entertainment both story-wise, action-wise and comedy-wise, as it merges all three genres quite well.
Could this movie suck even more?
pembriar1 September 2005
I'd give this a lower rating if I could, and that's not because I don't "GET the Asian genre." I love Asian films (being Asian myself), even during times when the story lines become overbearingly sentimental, cute or cloying.
But this one... I could barely get past the first 15 minutes. Each time I saw that smug face of Richie Renn's character I wanted to punch him in the nose. No offense to the actor himself (as I know there are many of his fans probably reading this), but I really hated the character. And his entourage of 3 Korean "babes" -- give me a break! All they did was follow him around and display the worst martial arts skills this side of Kung Pao.
I like Tony Leung, and Qi Shu always makes nice eye candy, but c'mon -- couldn't they have come up with something better than this? It's like they're all sleepwalking through their roles. And the ridiculous subtitles? Who distributed this? I've seen more coherent sentences coming from a 3-year old preschooler.
Movies like this make films like the incredibly bad "Dream of a Warrior" instant classics by comparison. What next? Calcutta Raiders? Mercy, please...
But this one... I could barely get past the first 15 minutes. Each time I saw that smug face of Richie Renn's character I wanted to punch him in the nose. No offense to the actor himself (as I know there are many of his fans probably reading this), but I really hated the character. And his entourage of 3 Korean "babes" -- give me a break! All they did was follow him around and display the worst martial arts skills this side of Kung Pao.
I like Tony Leung, and Qi Shu always makes nice eye candy, but c'mon -- couldn't they have come up with something better than this? It's like they're all sleepwalking through their roles. And the ridiculous subtitles? Who distributed this? I've seen more coherent sentences coming from a 3-year old preschooler.
Movies like this make films like the incredibly bad "Dream of a Warrior" instant classics by comparison. What next? Calcutta Raiders? Mercy, please...
Huh !?
ebiros214 June 2009
One thing I can say about this film is it's not entertaining except for watching the landscape around Seoul which is one of the cleanest city I've ever seen. Action is one of the worst I've seen, with characters I get to hate watching, and pretty bad music.
Director just wasn't into putting in details that makes movie compelling. Movie is often a reflection of director's personality, and this guy either is a very boring guy, or wasn't into it when he made this.
Owen character was pretty annoying to me. Yeah I would want to punch him in the face. That bad. With the main antagonist being of this caliber, there's no hope of movie getting off the ground.
Rating this movie is a no win situation. The plot is totally boring which was seen many times before on other movies of counterfeit money plate being the plot ploy to keep the story going. I watched this movie till the end because I wanted to see more of Seoul's city scape.
Director just wasn't into putting in details that makes movie compelling. Movie is often a reflection of director's personality, and this guy either is a very boring guy, or wasn't into it when he made this.
Owen character was pretty annoying to me. Yeah I would want to punch him in the face. That bad. With the main antagonist being of this caliber, there's no hope of movie getting off the ground.
Rating this movie is a no win situation. The plot is totally boring which was seen many times before on other movies of counterfeit money plate being the plot ploy to keep the story going. I watched this movie till the end because I wanted to see more of Seoul's city scape.
Huh...
cfbot5 July 2006
Yeah, the comment above is very well worded and deep. This movie, while contains some fun dialogue, is certainly not deep. Perhaps in the English or Japanese version things come across differently but I watched it in Chinese, and Seoul Raiders is a run of the mill Hong Kong style action/comedy. That is not to say it was not enjoyable! Leung is superbly funny, and all of the gags that are pulled are hilarious. It definitely has a Stephen Chow feel. Also, i'm not sure if they translate well into English, but the jokes are nuanced and witty. I'd highly recommend this movie for a fun, up beat evening. But if you are looking for a dark character study, this is not the place to start.
The film is meant to be ultra cool and unrealistic, not to be taken seriously
thebeautifulones9 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
8/10 because TLCW acts well when his characters are wisecracking and look cool. Honestly, I preferred his wisecracking character in Dr Mack.
Shu Qi and the 3 Korean babes provide excellent eye candy. I actually like the 3 Korean babes because the way they spoke their Mandarin (I saw the dubbed version, which might have been quite inaccurate) sounded so cute beyond words.
Ritchie Ren's portrayal of Owen was quite believable, complete with the rather American accented Mandarin (for those who saw it in Cantonese, the effect might have been different, I didn't catch it on DVD). I actually thought he was the evil character at first, and when the twist came that Lam was actually his partner, that came as a bit of a shock. The so-called victim, Lam, was playing a trick on Owen to lure out Polar Bear, and not the other way around. That bit was quite cool.
To see 4 babes fight just screamed Charlie's Angels. In short, unbelievable. But hey, the film wasn't meant to be taken seriously, right? It's film! It's fantasy.
The trick played on Owen, with the wasabi was fun, the effect believable (did Ritchie Ren actually eat the wasabi when acting out the scene? If he did, it was quite good!).
Other than the eye candy and fight scenes without guns, which again screams Charlie's Angels, it isn't a totally bad film. I'd give the film 8/10 because I'm feeling generous, that's all.
Shu Qi and the 3 Korean babes provide excellent eye candy. I actually like the 3 Korean babes because the way they spoke their Mandarin (I saw the dubbed version, which might have been quite inaccurate) sounded so cute beyond words.
Ritchie Ren's portrayal of Owen was quite believable, complete with the rather American accented Mandarin (for those who saw it in Cantonese, the effect might have been different, I didn't catch it on DVD). I actually thought he was the evil character at first, and when the twist came that Lam was actually his partner, that came as a bit of a shock. The so-called victim, Lam, was playing a trick on Owen to lure out Polar Bear, and not the other way around. That bit was quite cool.
To see 4 babes fight just screamed Charlie's Angels. In short, unbelievable. But hey, the film wasn't meant to be taken seriously, right? It's film! It's fantasy.
The trick played on Owen, with the wasabi was fun, the effect believable (did Ritchie Ren actually eat the wasabi when acting out the scene? If he did, it was quite good!).
Other than the eye candy and fight scenes without guns, which again screams Charlie's Angels, it isn't a totally bad film. I'd give the film 8/10 because I'm feeling generous, that's all.
formulaic thriller barely makes the grade
J_Charles28 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The storyline has potential. Stolen plates to make counterfeit money that's nearly untraceable. A suave, cool, sophisticated detective (Leung Chiu Wai) who's assigned to get the plates back and who has a bit of a vendetta against the guy who tricked him in the first place (Richie Ren).
And then they start throwing in the cornball humour. Leung combing his hair with a giant comb. Leung surrounded by Korean models fawning at his every move. Shu Qi constantly trying to up her share of the take. Richie Ren playing a bad guy who constantly outsmarts Leung, and yet gets totally taken in at the end by Leung. Can't divulge too much more than that. But don't worry, you'll see the plot twists coming a mile away.
5/10 for the movie, +1 for surrounding Leung with beautiful Korean girls.
not worth rewatching.
And then they start throwing in the cornball humour. Leung combing his hair with a giant comb. Leung surrounded by Korean models fawning at his every move. Shu Qi constantly trying to up her share of the take. Richie Ren playing a bad guy who constantly outsmarts Leung, and yet gets totally taken in at the end by Leung. Can't divulge too much more than that. But don't worry, you'll see the plot twists coming a mile away.
5/10 for the movie, +1 for surrounding Leung with beautiful Korean girls.
not worth rewatching.
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