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Cast:
Ronald
Cheng
Charlene
Choi
Raymond
Wong
Qin
Hailu
Yuen
Wah
Hui
Shiu Hung
Asuka
Higuchi
Tats
Lau
Bonnie
Wong
Writer:
Joe
Ma
Sunny
Chan
Director:
Joe
Ma
Soi
Cheng
Score:
  
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HIDDEN
HEROES
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2004 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
In
retrospect, having viewed 'Dragon
Loaded 2003' and 'Hidden Heroes' since enjoying 'Super
Model', it is safe to conclude that I started with easily
the best Ronald Cheng film first. While 'Super Model' was
energetic and often amusing, 'Dragon Loaded 2003' was patchy
and uneven - perhaps to be forgiven considering it was Cheng's
official vehicle. 'Hidden Heroes', though, has no excuses for
being the turgid mess it eventually becomes.
Craven
and incompetent policeman Chi (Cheng) is assigned to a
stakeout operation along with a number of other, far more able
officers. When the target escapes from the trap, Chi
accidentally finds himself face-to-face with said criminal.
Unfortunately, a bizarre blunder means that the target is
blown up along with an innocent bystander (Choi) and Chi
scrambles back to his dump of a flat in shock. Just when
things look as if they cannot get any worse, Chi is confronted
with a young woman who is the spitting image of the deceased
bystander and who informs him that she is a robot from the
future sent to kill him. Although a self-confessed coward, Chi
manages to escape only to be arrested by his colleagues for a
murder. After another successful evasion - this time from the
enraged police team he works for - Chi heads to Chungking to
buy a fake passport and leave his troubles behind. On meeting
his potential saviour Mei Ling (also Choi), Chi is stunned to
see that this contact is the spitting image of his huntress
and, according to what he has learned, will eventually marry
the brother he never had. Naturally such a tangled web proves
to be far more than Chi can cope with and he decides to team
up with Mei Ling to reveal the answers to his questions.
As
the rest of this review will hardly be complimentary, it might
be pleasant to mention some of the 'highlights' before
anything else. Firstly, and encouragingly, Charlene Choi plays
three roles here that are all devoid of the moaning, obnoxious
'little girl' that she seems to have patented recently. As the
robot, Choi doesn't exactly need the range of Bette Davis, but
does appear to enjoy this departure from the norm. It is as
Mei Ling, however, that Choi finally plays a character who
doesn't deserve to be bludgeoned by a not-necessarily blunt
instrument. Mei Ling may be feisty and moody, but she's still
infinitely more charming than the 'kooky' nightmare that
passes for her characters recently. You may notice, though,
that this commendation shows how difficult it is to find
anything particularly praiseworthy about 'Hidden Heroes'.
Ronald
Cheng found exactly the right platform for his style of antics
in 'Super Model', but here his over-the-top gurning and
cowardice is rather distracting. Just as Chow Sing-Chi's early
career was littered with as much mediocrity as it was quality,
it seems Cheng is stuck in a rut after only three films.
Whatever film is next on his agenda, it is vital that he
strikes a balance between storylines that are rushed and
uninteresting ('Dragon Loaded 2003') and the convoluted
nonsense on offer here. The latter is fine if you're the
greatest comedian who has ever lived (whoever that is), but
Ronald Cheng isn't said person.
Directors
Joe Ma and Soi Cheng take the lion's share of the
recriminations for 'Hidden Heroes' failure though. Most
time-travel storylines are full of chasms of logic, but most
film-makers know how to work around this and use the concept
to their advantage. The two directors here - both of whom are
usually far more capable than 'Hidden Heroes' would have you
believe' - stuff the screen full of half-baked ideas and
concepts that fail to register even the slightest iota of
interest in the viewer. The few moments of promise early on
are mercilessly flattened by tiresome comic routines (such as
Hui Shiu Hung's wearisome cameo) and the baffling narrative.
If
there was one fatal flaw in 'Hidden Heroes' though, it would
be the running time. At nearly two hours long, 'Hidden Heroes'
is an ordeal that only those versed in S.A.S. survival tactics
should ever attempt. The good moments (including a priceless
allusion to Chan Hui Man) are cut short while the frustrating
ones (which are in the majority) go on and on and on... The
fact that the directors and editor could actually think that
there was enough entertainment in the film to warrant its epic
duration is a traumatic thought. Quite simply put then, avoid
'Hidden Heroes' and, as the old song to 'Why Don't You?'
suggested, "do something less boring instead".
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