Flushed Away

A Hong Kong police chief saves the identities of all his undercover agents and deletes them just before he gets murdered, this way he can protect all files. However, this also means that a number of them continue to work with no knowledge of the body of the Force. Flushed Away is an animated comedy about a pampered pet rat who gets accidentally flushed into a bustling underground sewer city. Teaming up with a street-smart rat, he embarks on a wild adventure filled with humor, action, and quirky characters. Agent Ding Siu-ka and her handler Inspector Q have been doing a superb job with their winning names, otherwise everyone else apart from Blackjack who has been an undercover agent within the largest drug cartel in Hong Kong.

After working with them for two years on research, they start getting messages from him even as they trace a man called Shiu. He, together with his shady gang friend Lam is attempting to appeal to higher levels of the triad hierarchy, and the sociopath Pak-ho’s boss tries to use both them and several other ‘officers’ as pawns in a quest to find a mole. While the base transfers to Macau and Brazil the matter gets worse and worse.

Jazz Boon is a lesser figure than Johnnie To or John Woo whilst Cat Kwan’s skill as a script writer does not resemble the likes of Alan Mak or Felix Chong. So to put it plainly, this film did not compare favorably to their equivalents due to cringy and pathetic writing. However, with that being said, it would not be fair to say that the film overall was a horrid experience, and there were no enjoyable moments.

Firstly, the entire backstory behind who Blackjack was, which seems to be frustrating to everyone involved, is fun to see with great dramatic scenes, especially near the end of the film. And then we go back to Q, and Siu-ka who is very comedically more than just friends or work colleagues, adding some funny bits to the film overall. At the same time, as the story progresses, this even becomes part of the dramatization, which makes the story more complex.

As Q, Francis Ng works with Charmaine Sheh as Siu-ka adding the most to this aspect as they both have great chemistry working together.

In addition, the tension surrounding the capture of moles and non-moles and which one of the Mongol Boys will be executed in the chaos that envelops the triad of Tung Pak Ho is quite captivating. This has somewhat kept ‘Line Walker’ interesting from start to finish. Similarly, in Hong Kong crime action thrillers, cops and other brave characters do suffer and even get killed thereby leaving the audience constantly on edge over the next possible target.

In conclusion, the production quality of the film, which style we mentioned in the introduction, is arguably very good. A combination of the first-class action scenes expertly choreographed by Chin Kar Lok, the outstanding slow motion, and Chung Wai-Chiu’s sharp edits always provides us with an action-packed new movie. Not forgetting the variety of dramatic scenes as well, and as I mentioned, several slightly more humorous scenes are included. As for Clara Lee’s performance in the role of the assassin, it superbly completes the whole idea of the ‘girls with guns’ theme.

The artwork of Kenny Tse is eccentric to watch since it captures a myriad of angles, closely paying attention to the impression and the entertainment. Besides that, some of his panoramic pictures remain embedded in his memory.

Nick Cheung in the role of Lam and Louis Koo as Shiu Chi-long stands out with their chemistry, especially in this one scene where their interactions are highly entertaining. Also, Li Guangjie in the role of Tung Pak-ho is about the most evil and sociopathic role imaginable, and this character also showcases great acting and casting.

While ‘Line Walker’ may not qualify as genre-defining, due to the illogicality of the plot, and horrific misuse of boundary lines, it is a fun movie to watch especially for the fans of HK action flicks.

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