Mu ji zhe (2017) Reviews

• What a mess with this Hitchcock stuff...

  thomaspans2017-09-05

  I actually expected to see a well made thriller like Hitchcock but there is no Cock Tobin in this film at all. The title misguides audiences who anticipated Cock Robin in this film... And the story is split around in the casts members. It is hard to keep track of the story if there is a story at all. I hope standardised story structure is needed for this local blockbuster. 1 out of 10.

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• Often intriguing and always gripping, this whodunit that bears no relation to the English folk song of its name is surprisingly dark and twisted

  moviexclusive2017-03-19

  If you have heard the titular English folk song, you'll do well to know from the outset that this Taiwanese whodunit has nothing at all to do with the rhyme or its interpretations; and if you have not, then just know that it matters not. At most, the relation is intended to imply how different persons recounting the same crime will have multiple accounts of it, and the fact that each has a vested interest one way or another to conceal their involvement or worse culpability means that the truth is often elusive. Indeed, that is how the narrative of Cheng Wei-hao's sophomore feature film has been structured, i.e. as enactments of events past recounted by so-and-so, which may or may not have been embellished or even completely fabricated. It does therefore demand two hours of its audience's patience to unravel the entire mystery, but we guarantee it is time well worth spending on a cautionary tale of greed, vengeance and buried sins. The gist of the story is that of a hotshot journalist Chi (Kaiser Chuang) who decides to look into a hit-and-run that he had personally witnessed nine years ago on a stormy night after a present-day car accident reveals that the second-hand car he had bought not long ago was in fact the very one involved on that fateful evening. The longer version of that tells of the survivor, Ai-ting (Ko Chai Yen), who had escaped from the hospital not long after being admitted for her injuries and has since gone off the grid – worse, after Chi uses his investigative skills to locate her, she is abducted by someone who had been following Chi without his knowledge. Chi's initial digging through the newspaper archives during that time period also unearths the kidnap of a wealthy businessman's young daughter at about the same time, which relationship to the persons involved in the accident only becomes clearer much further down the road (pun intended). Any whodunit is as good as its list of suspects, and there is an intriguing list here – beginning with Chi's mentor Chung-wen, whom Chi suspects of deleting some photos off his old camera nine years ago of the accident; to Chi's editor-in-chief Chiu (Christopher Lee), whose previous car's license plate number is one of the possible matches of the hit-and-run vehicle which Chi makes out in one of the deleted photos he eventually manages to retrieve; to Chi's mechanic and buddy Ji, whom Chiu claims borrowed his vehicle and was behind the wheel that night; and last but not least to a young unsmiling junior police constable Wei (Mason Lee) who works at the station where Chi's police contact resides and coincidentally stays in one of the units of the dense housing complex where Ai-ting could be held captive. In case you haven't realized, there are two related mysteries here – the identity of the hit-and-run driver and Ai-ting's kidnapper – which may or may not lead to the same culprit(s). Though it isn't obvious right from the start, Cheng's technique is to play out each possible suspect's account of what happened that night, not simply whether those accounts which are genuine and accurate. As confusing as it may be to some, it demands that the audience pay attention to the inconsistencies and contradictions as Chi goes further down the rabbit hole, and trusting that the truth will emerge by the end of the two hours. The reassurance here is that it eventually does – and without ambiguity, we should add – so as much as some of the accounts are mere red herrings, it isn't that (or because) Chi and his two co-writers doesn't know where they want the story to lead to. Despite the manifold twists and turns especially in the third and final act, all the pieces do fall into place at the end, and in fact in grimmer and more perverse fashion than we had expected. Oh yes, those looking for a happy ending best look elsewhere – there is none to be found here by the time the deeds and motivations of each one of the protagonists are laid bare. Not even Chi will emerge unscathed, and it suffices to say that it wasn't an altruistic pursuit of the truth that triggered his own investigation in the first place. Because each individual is ultimately harbouring some dirty, dark secret that he or she would rather not see the light of day, every one of them is in fact driven by their own self- preservation to one extent or another, the only difference being how far or committed they are to ensuring that their own selfish interests. These qualities are also what defines the characters here, and the actors do a decent job of fleshing them out, savoury or otherwise – of particular mention is our very own Lee, who exudes cold-hearted pragmatism in his portrayal of the grizzled journalism veteran with political ambitions. Nevertheless, 'Who Killed Cock Robin' is admittedly less character- driven than plot-driven, in that its storytelling is based on unravelling what these respective characters were up to that fateful night when their lives collided in unfortunate manner. Even so, it does not sacrifice character consistency for plot surprises, so you can be reassured that none of the characters do stuff that is too illogical with their nature or credibility. Frankly, we were pleasantly surprised by how this crime thriller turned out. The setup is a little rushed at the start, but it settles down quickly to its own pace and rhythm once Chi starts getting into the thick of the mystery. Not that it slackens mind you; in fact, it is quite a gripping watch from start to finish, topped off with an ending that goes right to the darker side of human nature.

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• Good script and compact movie

  pqteru2017-10-27

  The film Who Killed Cock Robin is through the classic nursery rhyme behind the implication, echoing the heart of the film plot, because the robin symbolizes the conscience, but unfortunately killed by violence, the rest of the animals are representing of different roles, each one have their own sinister motives, wishful thinking, and make a devoid of conscience behavior.

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• It's not bad film. As for me, it's a good one!

  silvermistvio2018-03-15

  I didn't had a high hope for this movie even though it has high rating here on IMDB. Some films have high rates but they are not good, such as Blade Runner 2049. So, I even though this would turn out like Blade Runner 2049, but it didn't. And I must admit that It's kind of rare to see that an Asian film gets high rating like this, that's why I watched it. The plot is so simple. The lead character, a journalist investigates a cold accident case happened nine years ago. The film mainly includes about the accident, how it happened and who the culprit was. As the movie goes, it gets interesting even though it's a little boring. But not as boring as Blade Runner 2049 and it didn't make me sleepy even when I was feeling sleepy because I was about to go to bed when I watched this film. But the film kept me awake. The main thing I like the most is they presented the accident one by one. As the film goes, you'll know how the accident happened one by one. Even though it almost arrives to the end, the story is not complete, but it fits. When the movie is coming to the end, all things become clear and you know the truth about that accident. It's a kind of film that you won't know who the responsible people are if you don't watch to the end. They really made the film to make people excited. Well, it worked on me. Some scenes are so exciting because of the background sound. So, nice work with sound editing and mixing. There are four things that I don't like. One is the main character actor. I mean everybody likes handsome boys are on leading role. But it doesn't mean that the actor is terrible. The performance of that leading actor was great. Also all other actors and actresses'. It'd be great if there were pretty boys. It's just my opinion. Hehe. Second is the background sound. I accept the fact that they should make the audience excited while watching the film. But they also made other unexciting scenes too. I found a scene which wasn't that much exciting, but they made it to excite the audience. What a waste! Thirdly, the apartments. But I don't know how it seem to the other people. But as for me, according to the video quality of the film I've got, the apartments looked creepy and haunted. When I saw those apartments, I was afraid. Not to mention living there, just seeing made afraid. They should have made the environment a little bit warmer. The final one is sex scenes. I mean do people really like a film only there are kissing and sex scenes? I think Asians have also considered like that. So, they put kissing and sex scenes in the film just to get high rates. As for me, it's really a bad idea and also it reduces the standard of a film. You can call me old-fashioned or whatever, but I rather like normal films without such scenes. All in all, it's wrapping with mysteries. And it's reveal method is part by part. It's like watching the flower blossom petal by petal. But before the last one reveled, the story also fits. It's like a camouflage. That is the only thing that made me like this film. I don't know why some people thought this film was a bad one. Even it's not great to those people, it should be a fine film. I saw some reviewers don't give their best to an Asian film but they give to American films. I don't know why they do that. But all films deserve equality. So, I'd say it's a good one for me. As for you all, even it's not your favourite, it should be enjoyable.

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