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The New Option: Run and ShootYear of release: 2002 AKA: The Teahouse Murder, The Tea House Murder, The New Option 2 Genre: cop action/drama Director: Gordon Chan Stars: Michael Wong, Suki Kwan, Shawn Yu Version reviewed: Panorama DVD |
Boy, talk about beating a dead horse into the ground. Michael Wong's "Stone Wong" character from The First Option was so popular that they brought him back for a prequel, and now we have a new line of shot-on-video straight-to-DVD quickies. The problem here is that these movies are basically the same thing over and over again, and The New Option: Run and Shoot doesn't offer anything different.
The slim plot once again has Stone leading a group of rag-tag group of SDU recruits (is the force so hard up that they're allowing their cadets to go around with spiked and dyed hair?), while his squeeze (Suki Kwan) is working on a kidnapping case. After Suki loses her gun, her squad is taken off the case, and it's up to Stone and his boys to save the day.
Like the other films in the series, The New Option: Run and Shoot concentrates just as much (if not more) on the off-duty problems of the cops. In particular, a lot of time is spent on one very skinny and dorky-looking SDU officer trying to get a date with a girl who works in a local shop. Character development is all very well and good, but I would have preferred more action. There are bits and pieces, and it's pretty good for a cheapie production, but overall, only die-hard SDU movie fans will enjoy this film. Most other viewers will be put off by the no-budget values, by-the-numbers script and average acting present here.
RATING: 5
