accordchiang
Joined Jan 2022
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Reviews18
accordchiang's rating
This film featured a star-studded cast, such as Hong Kong film veteran Sammo Hung and Louis Koo, while TVB drama fans would be familiar with Raymond Lam and Wong Tak Bun. Heavenly King Aaron Kwok made a minor appearance as a guest star.
Those who love kungfu fighting and gangster movies, this may be suitable for you. Fight scenes are aplenty, especially after the 2nd half and towards the ending. Since this movie's original sources was from a novel and comic ("manwa"), there are fight scenes which are over the top and illogical. But I wonder, wouldn't it be better for the overall movie if they just made the entire show more realistic by omitting those fanciful effects?
Main strengths of the movie:
1) The main setting of the movie featured the Kowloon "walled city"/slums which was depicted in a realistic manner, and camera angles were panned well. This area has historical significance in Hong Kong. I thought it was a unique idea to bring these to the big screen.
2) The beginning part of the movie was done well too, with the main characters in the "walled city" being quickly introduced and building up the suspense between the various factions of power.
3) The main theme of loyalty and brotherhood was consistently emphasised and showcased. The movie direction was clear.
Flaws of the movie: The lack of a solid ending was the Achilles' heel. It was just too convenient to resort to the conventional style of good vs evil. Too many fighting scenes led to deprivation of screentime for character development, especially the villain played by Philip Ng, who could had offered more.
Conclusion: It is an interesting film if you're longing for some Hong Kong martial arts movie. But this isn't near Hong Kong's best.
Those who love kungfu fighting and gangster movies, this may be suitable for you. Fight scenes are aplenty, especially after the 2nd half and towards the ending. Since this movie's original sources was from a novel and comic ("manwa"), there are fight scenes which are over the top and illogical. But I wonder, wouldn't it be better for the overall movie if they just made the entire show more realistic by omitting those fanciful effects?
Main strengths of the movie:
1) The main setting of the movie featured the Kowloon "walled city"/slums which was depicted in a realistic manner, and camera angles were panned well. This area has historical significance in Hong Kong. I thought it was a unique idea to bring these to the big screen.
2) The beginning part of the movie was done well too, with the main characters in the "walled city" being quickly introduced and building up the suspense between the various factions of power.
3) The main theme of loyalty and brotherhood was consistently emphasised and showcased. The movie direction was clear.
Flaws of the movie: The lack of a solid ending was the Achilles' heel. It was just too convenient to resort to the conventional style of good vs evil. Too many fighting scenes led to deprivation of screentime for character development, especially the villain played by Philip Ng, who could had offered more.
Conclusion: It is an interesting film if you're longing for some Hong Kong martial arts movie. But this isn't near Hong Kong's best.
The first movie, "Believer 2018" was quite interesting due to its suspense & plot twist. This sequel, unfortunately, was a total let-down. Not even A list stars like Cho Jin Woong, Han Hyo Joo or even veteran supporting actor Jo Han Chul could save this film.
The continuation of the storyline was lame. Han Hyo Joo just acted like a madwoman. Cho Jin Woong's character behaved like a rookie policeman, a downgrade of the heroic cop from the first film. Cha Seung Won was still the same villain as the first movie.
The characters spoke so much Mandarin but unconvincingly as the Korean accent was still obvious. There's even a guy who looks like Xi Jin Ping here.
The standout performer of this show has got to be Oh Seung Hoon, who replaced Ryu Joon Yeol as Rak. He played out the backstory of Rak well and performed as good as his predecessor. I was about to give up halfway, but Oh Seung Hoon carried the show well.
In a nutshell, don't bother watching this, unless you have too much time to kill.
The continuation of the storyline was lame. Han Hyo Joo just acted like a madwoman. Cho Jin Woong's character behaved like a rookie policeman, a downgrade of the heroic cop from the first film. Cha Seung Won was still the same villain as the first movie.
The characters spoke so much Mandarin but unconvincingly as the Korean accent was still obvious. There's even a guy who looks like Xi Jin Ping here.
The standout performer of this show has got to be Oh Seung Hoon, who replaced Ryu Joon Yeol as Rak. He played out the backstory of Rak well and performed as good as his predecessor. I was about to give up halfway, but Oh Seung Hoon carried the show well.
In a nutshell, don't bother watching this, unless you have too much time to kill.
"No More Bets" is actually a documentary-style movie based on real-life events. Think Oppenheimer. It presents a uniquely entertaining film revolving around online betting scams.
The greatest strength of this movie lies in its originality. It offers us a glimpse into the unsettling world of atrocities committed in online betting scams. We were quickly introduced to the modus operandi of how syndicates lure victims to become forced labour & how victims suffer various hardships once they're trapped in it.
"No More Bets" creates the right amount of suspense to keep viewers at the edge of their seats. You'd always want to know what happens next. The idea to showcase the film from the different perspectives of those involved in online betting scams, such as the advertisement spammer, the dealer, the gambler, the gambler's family, the enforcement officer, was a great one. The main protagonists, Pan Sheng (by Lay Zhang) and Liang Anna (by Gina Jin) were pretty decent. The supporting cast of Darren Wang & Sheren Tang were at their usual high standards. But the truly outstanding performance was from Manager Lu (by Eric Wang), the fiendish leader of the online betting scam.
Perhaps the film, being a Chinese film, has to adhere to strict censorship standards in China, hence some scenes had to be toned-down. (the violent & sexual ones) Although toned-down, the film hints that, in real-life, the forced labour of online betting scams suffer much worse than those in the movie.
On another note, "No More Bets" is not flawless. It clearly lifted one scene from "Wolf of Wall Street". (you'll know it when you see it). Cantonese is abruptly spoken in certain scenes, and what made it worse was the character speaking it was not fluent in Cantonese at all. (Note: Cantonese & Mandarin are slightly different) Some characters' dialogue seemed like it was from an anti-scam campaign instead of a film. The scene transition & camera angles could've been better.
In a nutshell, "No More Bets" is a one-of-a-kind film that is worth your time. It stays focused to its core plot of online betting scams' operations. Its central message of advising viewers against participating in illegal online betting, and to beware of online investments is the main takeaway. (for most of them are scams anyway). This could be an iconic classic for the years to come.
The greatest strength of this movie lies in its originality. It offers us a glimpse into the unsettling world of atrocities committed in online betting scams. We were quickly introduced to the modus operandi of how syndicates lure victims to become forced labour & how victims suffer various hardships once they're trapped in it.
"No More Bets" creates the right amount of suspense to keep viewers at the edge of their seats. You'd always want to know what happens next. The idea to showcase the film from the different perspectives of those involved in online betting scams, such as the advertisement spammer, the dealer, the gambler, the gambler's family, the enforcement officer, was a great one. The main protagonists, Pan Sheng (by Lay Zhang) and Liang Anna (by Gina Jin) were pretty decent. The supporting cast of Darren Wang & Sheren Tang were at their usual high standards. But the truly outstanding performance was from Manager Lu (by Eric Wang), the fiendish leader of the online betting scam.
Perhaps the film, being a Chinese film, has to adhere to strict censorship standards in China, hence some scenes had to be toned-down. (the violent & sexual ones) Although toned-down, the film hints that, in real-life, the forced labour of online betting scams suffer much worse than those in the movie.
On another note, "No More Bets" is not flawless. It clearly lifted one scene from "Wolf of Wall Street". (you'll know it when you see it). Cantonese is abruptly spoken in certain scenes, and what made it worse was the character speaking it was not fluent in Cantonese at all. (Note: Cantonese & Mandarin are slightly different) Some characters' dialogue seemed like it was from an anti-scam campaign instead of a film. The scene transition & camera angles could've been better.
In a nutshell, "No More Bets" is a one-of-a-kind film that is worth your time. It stays focused to its core plot of online betting scams' operations. Its central message of advising viewers against participating in illegal online betting, and to beware of online investments is the main takeaway. (for most of them are scams anyway). This could be an iconic classic for the years to come.