Film review: Cold Eyes

Cold Eyes
Starring: Sol Kyung-gu, Jung Woo-sung, Han Hyo-joo
Directors: Jo Ui-seok, Kim Byung-seo
Category: IIB (Korean) 

There is nothing inherently wrong about retelling a familiar story. After all, few bemoan the almost 30 screen adaptations of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers that are out there. Given the amount of sequels, prequels, remakes, reboots and adaptations that are flooding cinemas, we should remember it's really the half-hearted, opportunistic attempts among them that make people weary and sceptical.

All that pessimism surrounding the perceived creative bankruptcy in world cinema can temporarily recede with new South Korean film Cold Eyes, which turns out to be a perfectly sustained and thoroughly superior remake of the 2007 Hong Kong crime-drama-thriller Eye in the Sky. At least those of us who shook our heads involuntarily and vigorously at Song Hae-sung's 2010 remake of John Woo's 1986 classic A Better Tomorrow can comfort ourselves with the realisation that originality can be, god forbid, at least a tad overrated.

Produced by Johnnie To Kei-fung's Milkyway Image company and directed by Yau Nai-hoi from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Au Kin-yee, Eye in the Sky was a decent film charting the dogged pursuit of a crack police surveillance team - with Simon Yam Tat-wah as its leader and Kate Tsui Tsz-shan as the rookie - to track down a seasoned gang of armed robbers orchestrated by Tony Leung Ka-fai.

In Cold Eyes, that central trio of characters are now, respectively, veteran detective Hwang (Sol Kyung-gu), rookie cop Ha Yoon-ju (Han Hyo-joo) - who is blessed with the astonishing ability to accurately remember every person in her surroundings - and the elusive criminal mastermind James (Jung Woo-sung), who seems to be growing increasingly murderous as he prepares to wrap up the customary one last job before leaving town for good.

While both films share the same, simple premise, what sets the remake apart is the audacious and ultimately effective endeavour by co-directors Jo Ui-seok and Kim Byung-seo to improve on almost every aspect of Yau's effort - whether that is its larger production scale, the tighter pacing of its narrative progression or a better sense of humour about its characters.

The slick cinematography and hi-tech presentation of this lively cat-and-mouse game, set in the urban landscape of Seoul, also help to provide more of a metropolitan feel than the Hong Kong original accomplished with its gritty street scenes - the bread and butter of Milkyway productions that, for once, pales in comparison to its much more stylish South Korean counterpart.

Bigger budgets rarely guarantee better entertainment, although Cold Eyes, having upped its intensity with an extra dose of violence, explosions and multiple car crashes, largely manages to stay in the realm of plausibility while consistently entertaining. Nothing if not a technical showcase, the remake is a thrill ride even for those who know the story of Eye in the Sky inside out - and there's possibly no higher compliment than that.

edmund.lee@scmp.com

Cold Eyes opens on October 3