Rating:

4

Year of release: 2004

Genre: drama

Director: Wong Ka Fai

Producer: Tony Leung Hung-Wah

Writer: Aric Lung

Editor: Cheng Keung

Stars: Ken Wong, Lam Suet, Elle Choi

Not rated; contains II-level violence

DVD Information

Company: Times Production

Format: widescreen

Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin

Subtitles: Chinese, English

Extras: trailer

Notes: The picture and sound isn't bad for a no-budget movie, but the subtitles are horribly translated.

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Money Kills

To be honest, the only reason that I checked out Money Kills was because Lam Suet starred in it. He does a good job in the movie, but even an Oscar-winning performance from him couldn't save this picture from the depths of mediocrity which the film-makers dive into within the first few minutes. From beginning to end, there's nothing to distinguish Money Kills from the dozens of similar movies of this type that pop up every year from all over the world -- except for a lot of footage of a shirtless Lam Suet, but, frankly, I don't think that would really appeal to anyone.

The movie has Ken Wong, Lam Suet and Elle Choi as a trio of life-long friends who stumble upon a large bag of cash in the woods. They decide to hide the money away, but none of them can keep the secret for long, and eventually other people in their small village find out about the booty. This leads to a series of double-crosses, and matters only get worse when the bank robber who initially stole the money shows up to collect his loot.

Money Kills could have been a decent movie, but it is stopped almost before it starts, hampered by an ultra-low budget. This is one of those movies that was filmed in the Mainland in about a week (if that) with a bunch of no-name actors, and shipped to video stores soon after. There's nothing wrong in and of itself with a film having no-budget (just look at something like El Mariachi or The Evil Dead), but Money Kills just feels rushed. The movie's supposed intent is to create drama and suspense, but it does neither. It just seems like the film-makers were just trying to get the movie done, with no thought of actually making it good.

It's well-known that the Hong Kong film industry has been in a downturn over the last few years (to say the least). Which begs the question, why do film-makers still waste their time with boring, pointless crud like this? And even more importantly, why did I watch it? Sitting through this movie took away ninety minutes of my life that could have been better spent playing "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", drinking several beers, cleaning out my hard drive, cutting my toenails, or even just staring at a blank wall. Take my advice -- save your time and money and skip this one; you're not going to be missing out on anything.