Feb 27 2009
Will Sniper be on target?
Just to get this out of the way, I’m not posting about the 1993 actioner that starred Tom Berenger, ‘kay?
I’m writing about the 2009 Hong Kong Sniper directed by Dante Lam, a fellow who’s made about thirteen other films since 1997 — a pretty impressive tally — amongst which are the excellent Chinese mob satire Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone and the gritty policier Beast Cops, which more than lives up to its name.
Sniper may be best known amongst the H.K. cinema fan community, however, as one of the last films to star pop-idol/actor Edison Chen. Chen dropped out of the limelight many months ago after an embarrassing sex scandal in which some rather “private” photos of himself in flagrante delicto with some of Hong Kong’s best known female starlets were leaked to the public. Only time will tell if the public “forgives” Chen for his transgressions, or if the negative publicity from the scandal might actually boost ticket sales.
Nevertheless, director Lam has a great track record and I have to say that I’m looking forward to this action yarn about an ace shooter and his young trainee who have to take down a deadshot killer — who naturally happens to be an ex-colleague of the top sniper.
Check out the brand-new, English-subtitled trailer for the film over here.
