This movie is much more jovial than John Woo's other movies. There characters seem to be much more light hearted towards each other. The entire atmosphere of this movie is more light hearted; the theme music being the most obvious. Though this movie does begin in Hong Kong, it plays out in Vancouver (Canada) and thus has a more American outlook to it, and though it was directed by John Woo, it was not written by him so some differences can be seen.
This movie is about three guys who are all in love with the same girl. One of them is the son of a Hong Kong crime lord, the other is the adopted son who fled the underworld and has become an undercover agent, and the third is a cop. This plot is what the movie revolves around and thus makes it a little different to the typical cops and robbers type movie.
This movie is sort of about salvation and redemption. The themes are not strong but there are some interesting aspects. I guess the main aspect is how two of the characters come to realise that crime is not as fun as they thought it was when one is assigned to be in charge of gun running and the other is forced to marry somebody she doesn't love. It begins with the three breaking into a high security building but soon two of them come to see that what was fun is not fun any more. This can in a way be translated to sin, how sin seems to be fun at the start but in the end it is not; it hurts not only other people but oneself as well. This idea is not too strong though.
Once again there is little distinction between the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys seem to have a real bad attitude towards each other, and one of them just continues to refuse to cooperate. The bad guys seem to be more noble, but we know that they are bad. All three guys are torn apart by jealousy for the same girl, and thus they come to seem to be the same.
There is a little bit on redemption as well. When one of the characters is sitting in gaol, he is given a choice, he can either work for the agency or he can go free. He is a little sceptical but he knows that going free means death anyway. This agency has come to him and given him a chance to escape the situation he is in, and even though he resists it he knows that without it he will be dead, not because the agency will kill him but because others will. The boss of the agency comes across as a God-like figure. She is not God and I don't think she is supposed to be God but there are allusions there. She does rescue the man and she does give him a choice: follow her or go your own way and die. God does that as well. We either follow him and serve him and thus he is master of our lives, or we go our own way, become master of our own destiny, and thus die and face his wrath. The characters always have the option of leaving, as do we, and the characters know what leaving means. We do to but unlike the characters, we chose to leave and thus die.
This movie is about three guys who are all in love with the same girl. One of them is the son of a Hong Kong crime lord, the other is the adopted son who fled the underworld and has become an undercover agent, and the third is a cop. This plot is what the movie revolves around and thus makes it a little different to the typical cops and robbers type movie.
This movie is sort of about salvation and redemption. The themes are not strong but there are some interesting aspects. I guess the main aspect is how two of the characters come to realise that crime is not as fun as they thought it was when one is assigned to be in charge of gun running and the other is forced to marry somebody she doesn't love. It begins with the three breaking into a high security building but soon two of them come to see that what was fun is not fun any more. This can in a way be translated to sin, how sin seems to be fun at the start but in the end it is not; it hurts not only other people but oneself as well. This idea is not too strong though.
Once again there is little distinction between the good guys and the bad guys. The good guys seem to have a real bad attitude towards each other, and one of them just continues to refuse to cooperate. The bad guys seem to be more noble, but we know that they are bad. All three guys are torn apart by jealousy for the same girl, and thus they come to seem to be the same.
There is a little bit on redemption as well. When one of the characters is sitting in gaol, he is given a choice, he can either work for the agency or he can go free. He is a little sceptical but he knows that going free means death anyway. This agency has come to him and given him a chance to escape the situation he is in, and even though he resists it he knows that without it he will be dead, not because the agency will kill him but because others will. The boss of the agency comes across as a God-like figure. She is not God and I don't think she is supposed to be God but there are allusions there. She does rescue the man and she does give him a choice: follow her or go your own way and die. God does that as well. We either follow him and serve him and thus he is master of our lives, or we go our own way, become master of our own destiny, and thus die and face his wrath. The characters always have the option of leaving, as do we, and the characters know what leaving means. We do to but unlike the characters, we chose to leave and thus die.