On C List of Movie Reviews

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Chinese Box (1997)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 4/16

4/16: Chinese Box looks like it should be a winner, but the story is uninteresting and choppy to follow.

Jeremy Irons is great as always. Gong Li is beautiful, but I think she should've been better utilized with more dialogue to take advantage of the romance. Otherwise, she's a mannequin.

Maggie Cheung isn't bad. However, I fail to see what she has to do with the grand scheme of things; is it to show the demise of Hong Kong during the takeover? I understand that director Wayne Wang wanted to create a metaphor, but I'm not sensing the connection. The abuse of her character would've happened, regardless.

All in all, Chinese Box lacks clarity despite the excellent location shots in Hong Kong.

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