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Unarm 72 HoursAKA: Lose Gun 72 Hours Year of release: 2003 Genre: crime Director: James Ha Stars: Danny Lee, Lam Wai, Ellen Chan, Ken Lo, Shing Fui-on, Law Koon-Lan Rated IIB for violence and language Version reviewed: Modern DVD |
Sometimes I think that even if Danny Lee died, there would some kind of clone waiting to take his place. I mean, he must have at least a couple running around now -- how else can you explain him popping up in so many cop movies? It doesn't seem to matter what the budget is; if you need a cop, Danny will be right there.
Anyway, Unarm 72 Hours has him as a cop just about to retire, but (of course) there is one last big case to crack. The case involves a group of Mainland robbers, and Danny gets some information that will hopefully lead to a bust. However, the bust goes wrong, and one of the robbers (Lam Wai) gets away with Danny's gun. Now, it's up to Danny to catch the robber before he can use the gun for any nefarious means.
The plot lends itself to your usual cops-and-robbers stuff, but Unarm 72 Hours takes an interesting turn that seperates it a bit from the myriad other Danny Lee cop movies. Lam Wai ends up kidnapping a taxi driver (Shing Fui-On) and hiding with his family. For most of the movie, we actually focus on the family and their squabbles, rather than the main plot. Normally, this might have killed the movie, but I really enjoyed Shing Fui-On's performance -- it's was cool seeing him play against his usual tough-guy type as a harried father.
This is yet another in the long line of Danny Lee cop movies, so it pretty much means that you've seen it before, but things are handled well. But one has to wonder how many times Danny can go to the well. Unarm 72 Hours is pretty cheap stuff; shot on DV with no obvious budget. Maybe it's time for Danny to hang up his fake badge and let someone else take over. In the meantime, I'm sure he'll just keep cranking out movies like this, which are enjoyable but ultimately forgettable.
RATING: 6
