Film review: Overheard 3 has a garbled story
Bigger is not necessarily better. That's the message filmmakers may take away from this latest instalment of the Overheard surveillance series, the budget of which reputedly exceeds that of the first two combined.
OVERHEARD 3
Starring: Lau Ching-wan, Louis Koo Tin-lok, Daniel Wu Yin-cho, Zhou Xun
Directors: Alan Mak Siu-fai, Felix Chong Man-keung
Category: IIB (Cantonese and Putonghua)
Bigger is not necessarily better. That's the message filmmakers may take away from this latest instalment of the Overheard surveillance series, the budget of which reputedly exceeds that of the first two combined.
By including so many actors and actresses in their cameo-filled blockbuster, writer-directors Alan Mak Siu-fai and Felix Chong Man-keung have overcomplicated matters and ended up with a bloated work whose 131 minutes feels way too long.
There are characters and subplots galore in this crime drama, set in the near future. But the main story centres on three people whose surname is Luk, and a New Territories villager who doesn't share their surname, yet has personal ties to all three.
Traditional village supremo and property tycoon Luk Hon-to (Kenneth Tsang Kong) is getting on in years. So even as his NT Land Group seeks to push through a massive property development that involves the wholesale purchase of land rights from other New Territories villagers, his daughter, Yu (Michelle Ye Xuan), and the company's business director, Luk Kam-keung (Lau Ching-wan), vie for control and his inheritance — with Yu deciding to ally with "connected" mainlander Wan (Huang Lei) and Keung calling upon his hing daai (sworn brothers) for muscle and other support.
