Simply A Masterpiece

Better Late Then Never

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is along the lines of classic disaster suspense movies. A bus full of people discover they are the only ones left in the world. There are a few scenes that'll make you bend over with laughter. Some scenes that you just go "yeah right". Some of the dialog is forced and corny, some of it interesting. The acting however never really carries over. A remake with better acting and script might be a really interesting movie. I give it a 6 just because of some of the scenes are worth watching just for those scenes and the general idea of the movie even if it never really gets there, is a good one. The movie was probably inspired by stories and movies like The Langoliers, Vanishing on 7th st, and so on. Same basic concept. Everyone is gone except them and the attempt to solve the mystery.

This movie is incomplete, this story is from a book and the movie just told the half of it. The director added his political view in the movie. In the end, the red rain = Communist China (Hong Kong is Capitalism with free speech, freedom...but after 2047, the "one country ,two systems" will be gone, it's what Hong Kongers worried. Hong Kong is a crowded place with so many tourists from China every day, we are not happy. So, we are happy to see Hong Kong with a few people in the movie as it's impossible to happen in reality. The Hong Kong democracy protest (umbrella revolution) this week reminds me of this movie, the protesters wear mask,plastic wrap,rain coat. The police is the gas mask man, many protesters are from high school and university(this movie is targeted at them). I'm happy that Hong Kongers finally fight for their dream in reality. I hope we will win it!

The first 30 minutes of the story is very suspenseful. In the second half, the story stagnates real quick and goes no where for the rest of the movie because Fruit Chan decides to insert hidden political messages about Hong Kong's society or whatever the hell that no one cares for except the director. Worst, 3 quarters of the story is riddled with empty dialog and filler scenes that doesn't flow or do crap; very annoyed to see the film go no where, especially since the story is an adaptation of a popular online fiction that was actually enjoyable.The movie had no climax and no resolution. At the end, I was like...What the F did I just watch? Was the director f-ed up? How can anyone in the production team approve this trash of a film? This movie is an epic failure and an utter disgrace to film making.Oh, please just stop directing movies, Fruit Loop. You suck, just like your actual name.

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.