Moonlight Express (1999)


	Moonlight Express		Return to Review Archive - M
	Year:	1999	Takako Tokiwa and Leslie Cheung
	Director:	Daniel Lee Yan-Kong
	Cast:	Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing, Takako Tokiwa, Yuka Hoshino, Austin Wai Tin-Chi, Liu Kai-Chi, Jack Gao, Sam Lee Chan-Sam, Bak Ka-Sin, Mars, James Wong Ka-Lok, Michelle Yeoh
	The Skinny:	The winning Takako Tokiwa shows us why she's just hot stuff in Japan, but the movie proves to be an entertaining and beautiful exercise in inconsequence.
	Review by Kozo:	This romantic cop thriller comes with superior atmosphere and cinematography, but is ultimately a mixed bag. Leslie Cheung is Kar Bo, a dour undercover cop who’s a dead ringer for Tetsuya, a Japanese Hong Kong resident who perished only weeks before. Tetsuya was about to get married to Hitomi (Japanese soap opera queen Takako Tokiwa) but a ringing cel phone and poor driving put an end to that fantasy. Hitomi’s left to pick up the pieces, which she does by visiting Hong Kong to settle Tetsuya’s affairs. Wouldn’t you know it: she and Kar Bo meet by happenstance, and from there we’re taken on an unlikely and downright creepy road. What follows is a mixture of pining romance and murky cop mystery as Kar Bo’s job crosses paths with his connection to this innocent Japanese tourist. The big plot device - that he’s Tetsuya’s physical twin - allows for the film’s fairy tale-like atmosphere, but it also proves to be a little distracting. Moonlight Express isn't just a crime movie, it's a tragic "love is forever" weepie that hinges on a character's virtual resurrection. Over-examination aside, this is meant to be well-mounted, suitably intense and yet fluffy date movie. Strangely they pull it off, mostly due to Daniel Lee’s solid direction and the presence of Tokiwa, who’s photogenic and absolutely charming. Cheung fares well, but his “bad boy” act can get a little tiresome. Only in Wong Kar-Wai films does Cheung’s attraction to dark characters pay off. In movies like this we are constantly reassured that he’s a nice guy despite his intense and occasionally boorish behavior. However, I truly did enjoy this movie even though it made little to no sense in reflection. The two plots have a hard time coexisting - they seem to intrude on one another, and the denouement is just perfunctory plot closure. (Kozo 1999)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mei Ah Laser 16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.
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