SET UP (2005-HK)
review by Neo


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Yet another bad movie in 2005!
Christy Chung has made a lot of movies, and perhaps all kinds of movies. Despite being stunningly beautiful and sexy, Chung is not contented with the huge amount of flower glass roles that filled her resume in the mid and late 90s, but instead challenging herself with unique roles in the last 5 years. Perhaps it is a good thing, or perhaps, it is a bad thing. The erotic roles that Chung shot in Thailand reflected and reinforced one thing – Chung is damn hot and even hotter in the nude. But the bad news is that her acting is by no means great and at best, in my honest opinion is that she is an improved actress. Therefore it is no surprise that Chung began to star in thrillers nowadays – Astonishing and now – Set Up. However, it is a shame that she is no longer a bankable actress and perhaps she never really was, but to star in such a B-grade thriller is just wasting Chung’s time as well as her male’s lovers.

The movie goes like this: Horror story author Moon Siu is just days away from getting married when she undergoes LASIK eye surgery. When the operation leaves Moon near-blind for days, she returns to her secluded home under the care of younger sister Yan, only to have heavily-armed robbers show up on the first night back.

The premises of the movie are damn silly and the real problem of the movie lies in its overtly-predictable script and absolutely ridiculous scenarios. Sure there are plenty of hot chicks in the likes of Christy and also newcomer - Winnie Leung Man-Yi, but a movie can not just depend on how hot the chicks are, but whether the movie is an enjoyable ride for the audience. The movie started of quite promising, but as soon as the bad guys appear, it all goes down to hell. Yes, it is a stupid thriller that isn’t really thrilling at all, but then again maybe it is just a drama with bad acting. I seriously do not know, as this year I have seen so much bad HK movies that I have almost lost hope in HK cinema, but it won’t stop me asking one simple question – why do they bother filming a movie like this? It won’t make money and it doesn’t sell. So why waste the actors and why waste costly films? This is a question I simply do not know how to answer and is not prepare to think about at all. Yeah, just call me stubborn.

However, despite my ongoing criticisms, there are bright moments, especially the cuteness of Winnie Leung as she confronts her attackers, as well as Christy Chung outsmarting her attackers in the toilet scene. But in the end, the movie is just damn stupid and too cliché to have any remorse for the characters. If not for Christy being such a sweet girl to look at, perhaps I would not have continued the flick. Yes, this movie disappointed me, and yes this movie is by no means good even in the poor state of HK cinema in 2005. Calling this a thriller will be insulting to the genre, but calling this a drama would be just disgraceful. Whatever it is, the movie is a failure, and it is also a sad thing to realize how far Christy has fallen from her hey day, perhaps her nude roles was a bad career move, but all in all, this movie is so damn set up in an obvious manner, that even someone who is stupid can figure it out. Yes, Billy Chung has done better works - Colour of Truth, but Set Up is just a shame to remember about...

I rate it 4/10

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Genre: Thriller?
Director: Director: Billy Chung Siu-Hung
Cast: Christy Chung Lai-Tai, Michael Tse Tin-Wah, Winnie Leung Man-Yi, Roy Cheung Yiu-Yeung, Tony Ho Wah-Chiu
Reviewed by Neo (Andrew), September 2005