Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? OK.
Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? No.
Score: 3.0/5
Secret ending? Yes.
Running time: 106 minutes (~1.75 hours)
“Bounty Hunters” is a Chinese-Hong Kong-South Korean action comedy about a group of good-looking young mercenaries who team up to investigate a series of bombings. It stars Lee Min-ho (Lee San), Wallace Chung (Yo), Tiffany Tang (Cat), Karena Ng (Swan), Louis Fan (Bobo), and Jeremy Jones Xu (Tommy).
“Bounty Hunters” is actually a pretty decent film, despite the seemingly lack of sophistication in the trailers. It boasts a wonderful looking cast, and while the plot might not be a masterpiece of intelligent writing, it’s an enjoyable popcorn flick that doesn’t ask too much of you. It’s a surprisingly good offering!
Highlights
Easy chemistry amongst the main characters
The five main characters feel so comfortable with each other so quickly that it’s easy to forget that they met just a few days ago (within the world of “Bounty Hunters” itself). They feel so natural with each other, and their exchanges and interactions are entirely organic. The chemistry of the ensemble cast makes the film seem like “Friends” as mercenaries.
Good-looking cast
Given that most of the cast members are famous models in their own right, it’s no surprise that the entire show is pretty easy on the eyes. It’s essentially a teen idol drama with heavy doses of action and some romantic comedy thrown in. The deliciously palatable eye-candy is one of the major strengths of the film. Despite the number of beaches, there are surprisingly no beach scenes with the cast.
Letdowns
The male leads are introduced as idiotic buffoons
Lee San (Lee Min-ho) and Yo (Wallace Chung) are shown repeatedly bungling whatever they’re assigned to do in the first few scenes, causing you to doubt their competency as supposed elite bodyguards. In fact, it takes a good half of the film to establish that they’re not as inept as they’re first depicted. By the end, you’re confident of their skills and abilities – but it takes a lot of convincing to make them seem like believable bounty hunters.
Taser guns that look like they’re from a cartoon
Cat’s (Tiffany Tang) taser guns shoot bad CGI electricity in strange blue bolts. Later, multiple taser/laser weapons appear that make you wonder which cartoon they pulled it out from. While it’s a fictional film and they’re fictional mercenaries, having such high tech weapons in a world of contemporary technology makes the film seem a little childish.
Illogical plot holes
“Bounty Hunters” sees the cast make convoluted detours to do nonsensical things, like going for a makeover before going undercover at a bazaar. Then there’s the contrived way that the team is formed, and the copious number of times they get poisoned, tasered, and blown up. A sentence or two acknowledging that these things don’t make sense would have gone a long way to addressing the problem.
“Bounty Hunters” is strong on visuals, but weak in logic.
“Bounty Hunters” opens in cinemas 14 July, 2016 (Thursday).
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