1Excellent Acting but full of Plot holes and stupid decisions by an Elite
Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75-8.0Objective Rating: 7.5
I was lucky enough to watch this movie at the theater, which probably increases the suspense and excitement. As I finished watching the movie, I had one big question and one production value complaint. But as I thought more about the movie and read some other comments, there are more and more plotholes.
The acting of the cast is this movie’s strongest point. I am already a big fan of Zhu Yi Long and never really question his acting performance. Jackson Yee acts in more movies than dramas, but his acting is just as good and more subtle than Zhu Yi Long’s more expressive and explosive acting. Rounding up the cast are the veterans Song Jia and Lei Jia Yin, and supporting roles in Yang Mi, Liu Shi Shi and Lin Bo Yang.
If I don’t use my brain much, this movie is full of action, suspense and emotional outbursts. With great acting, time went by really fast. I was engaged and followed along the story, tried to see who the mole was and then looked forward to the decisions made and the ending of the mole.
But once I start to use my brain, then things don’t act up. Why did the mole finally act on being the spy and do bad things? Yes, it might be a scandal since he used his genitals instead of his brain. But that should not force him to act on continuing being that spy. He actually hasn’t done anything horrible yet when he figured out he was set up in the beginning. For someone who is an elite, the dumb decisions made by him are incomprehensible. You knew who set you up, yet you continue to protect her (and think with your genitals) instead of reporting everything to your supervisors to save your ass. Where is his brain??
Women in this drama are resorted to side characters. Yang Mi might have a slightly bigger role. She’s pretty and sexy, and was selling her sex appeal in a way. Liu Shi Shi has a much smaller role. All she did was cry. What a waste of talent. Even Song Jia as the female lead has a lot less screen time than the two male leads. She also didn’t do much aside from a few conversations here and there. Lin Bo Yang disappeared after the initial 10-15 minutes of the movie.
My initial production complaint is the inconsistency of the depiction of this future world. Aside from some fancy drones, fast technology in locating criminals, fancy security cameras, the general feel of this world does not seem very futuristic. The taxis look like regular slow pokes. The cop cars look like regular cars these days. Even when one of the male leads is stalking the other one, it was done in such a low-tech way. Disguise is putting on a wig, mask and changing clothes. Leaving cell phones wrapped in plastic inside trash bins everywhere is child’s play. I guess the janitors don’t really do a good job with emptying trash linings.
To end on a positive note, the OST is great. The songs are appropriate and complement the events on screen. The songs all have a very melancholy sound to it but beautiful.
If it’s not for the excellent acting and the interesting suspense and cat-and-mouse chase (and when I didn’t use my brain much at the theater), I would have rated this movie a little lower. But I was entertained throughout and did find the movie “fun” when I came out of the theater. Therefore, I am giving this an 7.75, rounding up to 8.0. I just wish the script was better and the plot holes are smaller.
Completed: 3/5/2026 Review #672
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This review may contain spoilers
excellent spy story
I will actually try not to spoil the movie. After alot of drama watching a film seems as fragile as a butterfly's wing, and I dont want to ruin it.Just finished the show and it is the real deal Zhang Yi Mou. Very beautiful.
Classic double and triple crosses.
No holds barred, no sentiment.
It is a movie, so not every end is tied up in a bow (his pregnant wife? and the ex-girlfriend?).
Patriotism, as in most serious spy stories, is a pretty bleak state. There are quite a few C-movies that I will never watch, but everything in the spy world is already a shade of grey, so you can feel secure watching it.
Straight-up, a movie about double-crossing spies and moles has got to be difficult to figure out. (I can hear the complaints already! For spy shows, if you cant stand the heat....) My wits seem to have been dulled by long dramas, so I may have to watch it again, but as with most good action movies, things seem to be settling into mental place in this hour afterwards.
Excellent sound and visuals, the lazy crawl of traffic on the elevated highways is a recurrent motif, with the focus on one big circular interchange. I do not think I saw a piece of red or orange in the entire film -- it is mostly blue and black, with some green and yellow for relief.
I really liked it. I was captivated by Jackson Yee. Want to see the next film he is in, sequel to this or no.
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Editing was annoying…..
I’m usually not someone who pays too much attention to technical issues, but I have to agree on one thing about this movie, the editing was kind of annoying. At times, it felt like I was watching one of those dramatic Chinese clips that randomly pop up on my Facebook feed.Other than that, I actually enjoyed the movie… even though I didn’t fully know what was going on at first. I arrived a little late, so I missed the first 5–7 minutes, which probably explains my confusion.
But one thing about Chinese movies, they always have amazing soundtracks. I was the only person in the room, and it honestly felt like they were trying to hypnotize me with those poetic songs… even though I didn’t understand a single word.
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