“There’s only one thing to do when the world turns her back on you: Fight!”

I’ve got the privilege to be at the Gala Premiere of The Kidnapper, the latest Malaysia-Singapore co-production movie, thanks to Wai Ting who offered me the entrance tickets. Meeting the two handsome stars were thrilling, but the movie itself was quite a disappointment. The story was too predictable and some of the mini plots were simply unrealistic.

The Kidnapper tells of the story of a taxi driver, Ah Huat, who struggles to earn enough to feed himself and his teenager son. In his strive to provide for the family, he often neglects his son, Wei Siang. One day, Wei Siang didn’t come home after school. Initially Ah Huat was upset that his son has been disobedient for coming home so late. He only realised that his son was kidnapped when the kidnapper called him to ask for a hefty ransom. Thus begins the journey of a father doing everything he could to save his son from a psychopath who keeps demanding for more and more from him.

This is probably the first thriller chinese movie produced in Singapore and Malaysia. For that, I’ve got to say that film director Kelvin Tong have it a pretty good shot. It has just the right amount of groggy effects and atmosphere settings to the entire movie with the actions nicely captured by the camera, but the story just wasn’t quite there yet. It is unbelievable for the audience to believe that a man can run up and down buildings after going through a major surgery less than 24 hours ago. Or the fact that one can still run despite losing 500ml of blood on a daily basis. I would suggest the entire story needs a little more research to buff-up the storyline into a more believable one. The more realistic it is, the more engaged the audience would be. With the current storyline, I was sitting there unsure if I should sympathize the characters or laugh at the lack of realistic to the entire adventure. And my neighbours were thinking aloud just the same.

Kudos, however, to Christopher Lee, who once again proved to be a worthy actor. His role as Ah Huat, the father, was impressive and different from the many roles which he has played in the past. He successfully brings out another side of him which we seldom see in his other acting roles. His expressions were genuine, his appearance was fitting and his voice was fatherly. He fitted the role perfectly. Well done, Chris!

Note: Reviews are based on foundations stated HERE.

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