A policeman loses his service gun, and he only has one night to find it. He gets help from a police patrol, but there are many obstacles in the way.
A policeman loses his service gun, and he only has one night to find it. He gets help from a police patrol, but there are many obstacles in the way.
Johnnie To is or was one of Hong Kong’s best directors, and he almost always delivers quality movies. PTU is a good movie, but it has its flaws, even though the runtime is very short.
PTU doesn’t have many action scenes, only one when the movie is almost over. And it’s not very impressive when compared to other gunfights found in other Johnnie To movies. I didn’t sit and smile during this action scene, because there isn’t much happening during the short gunfight. It didn’t have any memorable highlights that you expect from Johnnie Too.
PTU is what I would call a smarter Johnnie Too movie. There’s a lot of details and humor that I liked. The first act is excellent, and also the third act, even though the gunfight disappointed me.
But something happens in the middle of the movie that slows down the pace, and it gets a little empty and boring before the plot moves forward again. I liked the atmosphere and the score in the first half. But then something happens, and the score doesn’t fit with the scenes and you wonder if Johnnie Too suddenly became tone-deaf.
I love the way the group of cops moves in the streets. This is a movie with good camera movement and several fun scenes where central characters come and go in the background when the movie focuses on other characters. It’s so seamless and fun for movie fans who appreciate these details.
What’s special about PTU is that most of the characters are not very sympathetic. They don’t speak much, they are hard and cold and I like it. We also don’t get under the skin of the characters. It’s all about work and solving problems.
PTU focuses on having fun with a small universe where most of the characters are around each other all the time. There aren’t many action scenes here at all. This is a Hong Kong police thriller that is exciting and well-crafted, and that has good actors. Especially Simon Yam is a man you can always trust, he’s an amazing and versatile actor. And even though the gunfight was a disappointment, it was so fun to see what happens with the characters that get out of the taxi and then all hell breaks lose. That’s what you call having a bad day!