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As action-psychological thrillers goes, this isn't that bad. Quite
good, in fact. If you're into the action, that is. Hong Kong tends
to be rather good at producing some slick action movies that doesn't
rely overly on special effects and plot on a big scale. In fact,
there isn't much of a plot in Double Tap, just some cool action
sequences that will keep your pulse pounding for the entire duration.
Rex
(Leslie Cheung) is a famous gunshooter, having won all of the major
competitions in the past consecutive years. He is now retired, and
owns a small workshop which specialises in modifying guns for competitive
use.
He
enters an upcoming competition after being cajoled into it by the
hotshot cop, Cole (Alex Fong). The both of them shoot their way
to the last round of the competition, only to be stopped when one
of the competitiors goes gun-crazy, and starts shooting innocent
bystanders. We discover that this maniac has lost a fortune on the
stocks, and now wants a way out. Cole finds himself in a dilemma,
the man is his colleague, and one of his friends, therefore he hesitates
in pulling the trigger.
Rex
finds no restrictions, and with one shot to the head, kills the
poor man. Rex later receives therapy for his action, but realises
that he actually excited by the killing of another human being.
This triggers off something inside Rex's mind, which changes him
into the coldblooded professional hitman he is a few years later.
Cole tracks him down, wanting to conclude the competition they had
left behind.
There
are some fabulous shoot-outs in the film, and the action is pacy,
as well as getting some good indications to the characterisations
of Cole and Rex. Rex is suffering from pyschological imbalance;
he doesn't want to kill, but finds himself unable to do otherwise.
His long suffering girlfriend once tries to kill him; to stop his
suffering, but she just couldn't do it. Cole sees himself in a constant
state of competitive activity; knows he can beat Rex, and will do
anything to prove that.
One
of the better films of the year 2000.
('Double
Tap' is a terminalogy which means firing off two shots in quick
succession and hitting the target.)
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