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List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 39277
Category: DVD
Directors: Ka-fai Wai, Johnny To
Publisher: Tai Seng
Studio: Tai Seng
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
Label: Tai Seng
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Cantonese Chinese (Original Language), Chinese (Subtitled), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 93 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
UPC: 601641401548
EAN: 0601641401548
ASIN: B00016RNPS
Release Date: February 17, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-9 of 9 |
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 A well made movie March 30, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I like this movie a lot because it symbolize a lot of things in life. Makes you think twice before doing something wrong and why things are like they are. I was going to assume this is going to be another "Wham Bam makes no sense Andy Lau movie" but i was wrong.
Enjoyed much more than I thought I would March 15, 2004
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I thought this would be a write off, Andy Lau in another body suit. But the movie was a lot more than I bargained. How does karmic retribution work and who deserves or doesn't deserve their death are questions lightly grazed over in this movie. Some people carry too much sin. They must pay in this life. That's a hard pill to swallow. Cecilia and Andy aren't perfect in the movie (neither is the script), but it's still pretty good. Please. Compare that to Wesley's Mysterious File and the other crap that came out last year or so? Meh.
Point of view March 15, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First off, I liked this movie, although I agree with everything the other viewer said. The movie starts off fantastically well. Andy Lau (Big) and Cecilia Cheung (Lee Fung Yee) have great chemistry, and the special effects are very well done. It's a lot of fun all around. Then, in the last Act, everything comes to a head as Lee goes looking for Sun Ko, who murdered Big's friend Jade, is killed by him, on that same mountain where he killed Jade.
Big had been a monk and left the Temple (at the foot of the mountain) after Jade was killed when, in a frustrated rage, he (Big) had killed a sparrow and been endowed with an ability to see Karma. Now, he was back on the mountain seeking revenge. He ends up chasing Sun Ko back to a sacred cave with obscure graffitti on the walls and buddhist statuary around its external perimeter. Here he finds that he has been chasing his own karmic self and, if he didn't come to grips with it, he was doomed to creating a cycle of death and revenge (which was the motivation behind the first murder which brought Big and Lee together).
If looked on in that light, the ending becomes sadly poetic as Big accepts the deaths of Jade and Lee as part of their karma, dons the old robes he had discarded on the mountain five years previously and continues his search. Now, however, when he and Sun Ko meet (after another 5 years), instead of revenge, there is compassion and the karmic imbalance is resolved.
Like I said, I liked this movie. Although, like the other reviewer, I too would have wished for a sweeter ending for Lee and Big.
 Good for the first two thirds February 28, 2004
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The story begins with Big (Andy Lau in a muscle suit) strutting his stuff for the ladies at a male strip club. It's just another night on the job for the big guy until he and the rest of the club are surprised by a police raid led by an undercover Lee Fung Yee (Cecilia Cheung). When Big, wearing only a smile, makes a break for it, he literally runs into the main suspect of a murder and we quickly discover Big's rather unusual talent: his ability to see how people will die.
Big is hauled away by the Serious Crimes Unit but is soon rescued by Fung Yee. Feeling that he can trust her, Big reveals to her his gift and that he was once a monk with extraordinary physical abilities. The two join forces to hunt the murder suspect, but all the while, Big sees horrific images in Fung Yee's karma, which he knows point to her inevitable and untimely demise.
The first two thirds of Karma are great fun as Fung Yee gets to know and like Big. There are elements of The X-Files mixed with superhero standards and some laugh-out-loud comedy. Had the movie kept this formula and not attempted to jump the tracks, I would have been able to recommend it.
Unfortunately, the creative team opted for a bizarre third act that has some rather dark moments and goes into philosophical territory in a clumsy and amateurish fashion. This change in tone is, IMHO, far too drastic; in fact, I would go so far as to say that the final act belongs in a different movie.
This sudden shift is really unfortunate as both the Lau and Cheung are incredibly likeable in their roles and deserved a much better script. I would really like to see Big and Fung Yee in a story that's focused and not so eager to shift from genre to genre.
In short, Karma has a really promising start but derails towards the finish. My recommendation would be to watch the first two thirds of the movie and then write your own ending for it.
2.5 out of 5
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