Shamo

Starring: Shawn Yue Man-lok, Annie Liu Hsin-you, Francis Ng Chun-yu

Director: Soi Cheang Po-soi

Category: IIB (Cantonese and Putonghua)

It might have worked on the page, but Shamo falls flat on the big screen. Izo Hashimoto's popular manga, adapted by Hashimoto and Szeto Kam-yuen, lacks the audacious spirit and perverse sense of fun to transform its far-fetched shenanigans into guiltily pleasurable theatre of the absurd.

Director Soi Cheang's earlier films, from New Blood (2002) to Dog Bite Dog (2006), have a way of growing on one, but that isn't the case with Shamo, which starts with the murder of a couple and the arrest of their teenage son, Ryo (Shawn Yue; left) followed by 1 1/2 hours of bloodletting. It isn't outrageous enough to make for compelling viewing, nor are the characters sufficiently engaging to make you care about what happens to them. It's made worse by the polite but empty interactions between Ryo and his family, friends, and foes.

The picture is devoid of logic, even on its own terms. The fight scenes are skilfully staged, but dull shooting saps them of vitality and they're too bitsy to be believable. Ryo's would-be master, Yamasaki (Dylan Kuo Pin-chao) doesn't look like he'd know how to wrestle his way out of a Prada boutique, let alone the seedy gym he supposedly heads.