Motorway

8000RPM, 2km/h.
This movie is SWEET!!!

But honestly, Motorway reflects Hong Kong's infamous street racing and crime. Director Soi Cheang combines his neo-noir photography + voyeur camera angles with high performance. The Chinese(HK) are sophisticated regarding cars, and this film reflects that accurately with BMW E86 Z4 M Coupe, Audi A4 2.6, Honda AP2 S2000, Nissan RS13 180SX, Silvia S15, Audi TTS, Nissan Z32 Fairlady Z, & Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R. Plus, small automotive details are highlighted to show technical sophistication like left foot braking, aftermarket fuel injectors, clutch control, engine management/tuning, side turning, and downhill racing. If you love cars and racing, this film is a privilege.

The plot is not super complex but simply cops and robbers. However, Motorway features a very cool, dark photography/tone of the streets and crime. It makes HK's dim, claustrophobic streets even shadier with Cheung's style of directing. Similar to Nicolas Winding Refn's...

motorway
Motorway is like a 70s car movie, minus any kind of memorable, high stakes, pulse-pounding, well-shot climactic chase scene.

The plot is as simple as they were back then: a veteran cop and a rookie cop are trying to hunt down a seasoned getaway driver who has come back into town after over a decade away to help out a fellow crook in need.

Which is actually quite a lot more than most iconic 70s car movies. However, it lacks both atmosphere and that automotive punch.

First, for the atmosphere -- the film just felt too tame. I was never too involved with the characters, and even a dramatic turning point halfway through the film felt more like a plot point being checked off a list than something meant to shape the characters I was watching. It didn't carry any kind of distinctive flair the whole way through, it felt like a hundred other movies, nothing special.

So, with little story, characters who are failing to engage, what remains is the...

Boys and Their Toys Clutter the MOTORWAY
Anthony Wong has been a part of so many clever and classy action films that it actually hurt watching him play a veteran cop (on the verge of retirement, nonetheless) in this mostly anonymous picture. Still, there's nothing wrong with a harmless diversion, and I suppose you could do a lot worse than a single viewing of MOTORWAY ... though, at the moment, I'm a little hard-pressed to come up with a worse suggestion.

(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and characters. If you're the kind of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I'd encourage you to skip down to the last two paragraphs for my final assessment. If, however, you're accepting of a few modest hints at `things to come,' then read on ...)

Cheung (played by Shawn Yue) is a rookie cop too big for his britches. Recruited to serve as part of a stealth police patrol that keeps reckless street racers from doing harm, he finds...

Click to Editorial Reviews