Heroic Duo (2003)
Reviewed by: magic-8 on 2003-10-13
Summary: Heroic Hokum
"Heroic Duo" is a big budgeted action movie, from director, Benny Chan, featuring Ekin Cheng, Leon Lai and Francis Ng. The plot hinges on hypnology: the study of sleep and hypnotic phenomena. Ekin Cheng plays a cop called in to investigate a fellow officer's break in of the department's safe and burning the contents. The clues lead to the possible use of hypnosis on the officer to perpetrate the crime. Cheng enlists the help of an inmate, Leon Lai, who holds a double Ph.D. in hypnology, and is serving time in prison for murder. Francis Ng is in the fold as the catalyst to bring all things together.

The filmmakers attempt to generate interest through an intricate plotline, but the writing team of Yuen and Kwan gets a little too convoluted and cute with the story. Ekin chases Leon, who is set up by Francis, who is using Leon, who teams with Ekin, but is chased by Raymond Wong…. Benny Chan does an admirable job in trying to keep things well paced, but the plotting gets so thick that the water gets muddied by not giving the viewer the time to absorb all of the shenanigans. Things start to fall apart without any build up. The scenes flow together without any tension, leaving the second half of the film to dangle in apathy.

The cinematography was well handled, but the score was not effective in punctuating the scenes, especially during the denouement of the characters as they face their own demons. Bereft of any tension, the movie becomes a technical exercise that is well crafted, but dull.

After the scripts demonstrated by "Infernal Affairs" and "The Colour of the Truth," the bar has been raised to have a good tight story, but "Heroic Duo" overdoses. While an entertaining film for the most part, playing one character’s wits against the others, the script doctors should have edited the draft to take out the redundant elements that create confusion. Leon is a bit more animated in this film, while both Francis Ng and Raymond Wong make the best with the little time they have on screen. Benny Chan made a good decision to have Ekin express his character through a more physical portrayal, particularly when he is being questioned as a suspect by Wong.