Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

From my favorite movies..

A Masterpiece!

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

Fallen Angels feels like an art house film made by a young director trying to find his voice. The fact that it was made by the same established director that had in the previous few years released Days of Being Wild and Chungking Express made it all the more surprising, and frankly, disappointing.But don't be misled - this film has KWW's signature all over it. While the nostalgic aspect of some of his historical flicks is completely absent, the sense of unrequited love, alienation, and tragic inefficacy of human communication are central themes. Doyle's cinematography is creative as always and for the most part it contributes, rather than distracts. The music is quite good.The main problem with Fallen Angels is that it is awfully difficult to feel a connection for the characters. The plot does not move forward with much intention and the disjointed mini vignettes were a detriment to getting the audience emotionally involved. The characters are very difficult to relate to: The partner is a character that is drawn too sketchily and is not given enough dialog for the viewer to relate to deeply. The mute is meant to win us over with his innocent charm, but it is at times an overacted role which makes the character somewhat annoying. Blondie adds some comic relief (though also in an overacted manner) but is a bit easier to relate to and feel sorry for. Lastly, the killer is very apathetic about his life which does not endear the viewer to him. He is more "cool" than likable. Though that his inability to make decisions ultimately does not serve him well in life is a message that may resonate strongly with some viewers. There are moments of tenderness between characters, though few and far in between. This was undoubtedly KWW's intention as a mechanism for underscoring the loneliness of urban life. I can't help but think his point would have been better made with more realistic, normal characters as he has done so effectively in his other films. Overall definitely worth a viewing for all KWW fans, though this is certainly not where I would start if I were just discovering the director.For reference, this is how I rate some of this other films:Chungking Express: 9/10 (the second half 10/10) ||| 2046: 9/10 ||| Days of Being Wild: 9/10 ||| In the Mood for Love: 8.5/10 ||| Happy Together: 8.5/10 ||| Fallen Angels: 6/10

Although I had seen several of his films before, it wasn't until I saw Chungking Express a few months ago that I encountered a Wong Kar Wai film I found above average. Fallen Angels is loosely connected to that work and it uses a similar structure but it always feels original and unique.The most impressive part of Fallen Angels is the cinematography. Wong, working again with the great Christopher Doyle, breathes life into the garish urban nightscape of modern Hong Kong. Exhilarating shots such as the high speed motorcycle trip through a tunnel lit by green neon are so great on their own that they almost overshadow the visual mastery of the more stationary shots.The characters are less successful in their attempts to make connections here than in Wong's previous film; coupled with the violence, this makes for a darker, less optimistic viewing experience. The most effective scenes here deal with loss as when He Zhiwu, one of the film's two male protagonists, makes a spectacle of himself in front of his ex-girlfriend who completely ignores his antics.With Chunking Express and Fallen Angels, Wong established himself not only as one of the most eminent film-makers of the 1990s but also as the single greatest visual chronicler of modern urban malaise. Not since the heyday of Michelangelo Antonioni has a film director examined alienation with such skill.

Strapping neon lights in the dark underbelly of Hong Kong sets the stage for this uber-hip tale of isolationist tragedy of love-shorn, fallen heroes as they try to make their way amongst the cold heartless throngs of civilization. Where connections of life are hostile, our players literally create from scratch a method to link a distant humanity to their otherwise meaningless lives. The result is pure visual bliss. To not be pleasurably mesmerized by this flick is a treason best left without a conviction. The story is a haphazard scramble of lost souls loosely linked by a cinematic art form best left undefined. The direction is just as indescribably perfect, like putting into words the puissance of Mona Lisa's hinting smile. The camera man must have enjoyed a cocktail of methamphetamines washed down with steroids, the result being a wonderfully frenzied complex of voyeuristic energies and incongruous situations whose symbolic import are indelibly brought together in this flick's perfect ending. The only problem was that, as in all of life, the good times all must come to a painful end, a lustful need for more conjugated to an emptiness that life verite' seems unwilling to fulfill. Genruk of Evil Eye Reviews

Fallen Angels is an exhilarating rush of a film, with all manner of go-for-broke visual bravura that expresses the free spirits of bold young people. A disillusioned hit-man and a former convict look for love amidst the frenetic street life of Hong Kong.The film is a speedy, adrenalin-filled journey though neon-drenched Hong Kong, and encounters with its beautiful people. Its style trumps its story and fittingly, first impressions count for everything. Fallen Angels can be seen as a companion piece to Chungking Express (1994). On January 21, 1998, the film began a limited North American theatrical run through Kino International, grossing US $13,804 in its opening weekend in one American theatre. The final North American theatrical gross was US $163,145.