Manhunt
Description
Doves fly again in master director John Woo’s return to the action film world that made him a global superstar with films like The Killer (1989) and Bullet in the Head (1990). After an unexpected encounter at a swank reception for a powerful Japanese pharmaceutical company, attorney Du Qui wakes up next to a dead body. As he tries to solve the murder to prove his innocence, he is pursued by a relentless police officer. A pair of female assassins, tongue-in-cheek references to cinema history, and vigorous action set pieces enliven this playful trip through Woo’s signature territory.
“Manhunt zooms and crashes along like a stick-shift car, with Woo at the wheel careening between action set pieces, broad comedy, champagne-swilling party scenes, flashbacks, and swoony emotional moments. Of course it is a little absurd . . . But this film offers something that is never in sufficiently plentiful supply: fun.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“If the script defies you to take it seriously, there’s no messing about with the superbly choreographed action, which takes in a motorbike raid on a country mansion, a speedboat chase through Osaka, a cliff-top collision with — what else? — a dovecot and a climactic showdown in a pharmaceutical lab that’s this film’s equivalent of the traditional Bond villain lair.” – Jonathan Romney, Screen International
John Woo started out as an assistant director for Shaw Brothers Studios before making his feature directing debut The Young Dragons in 1974. Among his films are A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (Festival 1990), Bullet in the Head (1989), Once a Thief (1991), Hard Boiled (1992), Broken Arrow (1996), Face/Off (1997), Mission: Impossible II (2000), Windtalkers (2002), and Red Cliff (2008). Among the honors he has amassed during his long career are a Shanghai International Film Festival award for Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema in 2009, a Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion in 2010, and Tokyo International Film Festival Samurai Award in 2015.
Film Details
Language Japanese, English, Mandarin
Year 2017
Premiere US
Runtime 111
Country Hong Kong/China
Director John Woo
Producer Gordon Chan, Chan Hing Kai
Writer Gordon Chan, Chan Hing Kai, James Yuen, Itaru Era, Ho Miu Ki, Maria Wong, Sophie Yeh
Editor Lee Ka Wah
Cinematographer Takuro Ishizaka
Music Taro Iwashiro
Cast Zhang Hanyu, Masaharu Fukuyama, Qi Wei