The Midnight After (2014)

recommended

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Many people have expressed their opinions regarding the screenplay and director's intent regarding this mystery in Hong Kong. As someone who loves watching international movies to gain insights into other cultures, I was looking forward to watching this movie. I was pleasantly rewarded.I wouldn't say that the movie answers every question, or that the ending ties up everything in a neat bow. However, the acting ensemble is extremely good, and more than one viewpoint can be argued for threads throughout the film. It definitely provides insight into Hong Kong culture post-GB.Highly recommended.

Certainly not a film for an average American used to seeing the marvel "super-hero" movies that proliferate Hollywood. If you need action, guns, and 5th grade plot structures then you won't be able to follow a film that has atmosphere, characters and the need for Intellect. A good film is one that needs many viewings and asks questions that can't be answered. Also, there is such a culture divide for china it takes many years living their to even begin to understand (been there, done that). With this all said i would still give this film a try, it's much better than most others.A closing comment, another reviewer of this film degraded himself by actually ridiculing the director's name! Exactly like a fifth grader would do, which is probably the limit of his intelligence.

there are many schools of thought out there about this being an allegory of the state on Hong Kong. balderdash. while this film may be based on a web-novel, it's clear the director took too many liberties and destroyed what was originally intended by the author. if the book is a political message, the film is basic - - - 17 astronauts are trapped in hypersleep. they wind up being lost in space for 6 years and are slowly realizing that they must find a way home. they were all chosen for the mission because they all needed large sums of money. while the film has no ending whatsoever, this is what can be determined from all of the images and personal stories we see in the film. some things are still unanswered (why does one girl appear somewhere when she is not really there? an alien doppelgänger perhaps?). the film started out great, and fell flat before the final inconclusive scene. be clear here - this is a film directed by a guy named Fruit based on a novel by a guy named Pizza. there you have it, in a nutshell. a senseless directionless film. don't invest your time.

Unambiguously SciFi and/or supernatural, Fruit Chan's latest offer, ironically, is less surreal than many of his earlier works. "Red Van" is a "screenplay based on material from another media" (for those who must have Hollywood jargon), an Internet novel, to be precise. What director Chan did was to take the template of the plot (which is quite familiar, as a matter of fact) and populated it with statements on the current political environment of the Hong Kong SAR (not the lethal disease, but Special Administrative Region, of the PRC). With the anything-goes plot and the assortment of characters as weird as he fancies, Chan has complete free rein to do whatever he wants, and the only limit is his imagination. With his previous works, director Chan has demonstrated that imagination is not something he lacks. Still, there are some borrowed inspirations – by sheer coincidence, I watched the DVD of "Murder on the Orient Express" just a couple of days before I saw "The midnight after". If you have seen both, you know what I mean.Seventeen people in a public passenger transportation van coming out of a tunnel after midnight find that the world as they know is no longer. No, this is not about post-nuke devastation – the places are all intact. It is the people who are gone (a little bit like Stephen King's "The Langoliers" but not the same), except for some "masked people". From here on, as I mentioned, it's everything goes.The interesting cast should be well hailed: international star Simon Yam, local favoruite Lam Suet, teen idol Janice Man, old time "Shine" duet Chiu Tien-you and Wong You-nam, hottest local sort of "Step Up 3" discovery Cherry Ngan (wonderful in "The way we dance"), Fruit Chan's "picked up from curbside" discovery from his acclaimed debut "Made in Hong Kong" Sam Lee, iconic and talented Vincci Cheuk who shocked Hong Kong's broadcasting world nearly (but not quite) two decades ago as the youngest (something like 16) DJ with an immensely successful show, and veteran Kara Hui who won best actress in the first ever Hong Kong Film Awards in 1982.By all indications, this movie is going to be among all time local favourites.