ko_hy
I will list three major reasons why this film should rock your world: 1. (The action.) It is a mixture of Chinese-martial and superhero choreography. The protagonist and the various "villains" he encounters are over-the-top, their abilities are by all means supernatural, there's nothing believable about them. All this exists in a contemporary Hong Kong setting. The film isn't even about kung-fu or wild action sequences. This is brilliant.2. (Andy Lau showing off his skills with a piece of tissue.) The most original way of demonstrating martial art skills of all time.3. (Unconventional genre mixing.) It has action, it has comedy, and it has philosophical depth. It features Andy Lau in a goddamn body-suit. There's a love story. It's a tragic love story. There's a tragic love story involving Andy-freaking-Lau in a goddamn body-suit. He does kung fu. There are cops. There's mystery. There's a detective story. This is very brilliant.I find this film brilliant. There's no other adjective I find more fitting. Every word of that screenplay and every movement captured by the director (Johnnie To), is goddamn brilliant.Along with One Nite In Mongkok, this was my favourite HK film of 2004.
Leung Kwanpang
3 types of people in this world: 1st, try to explain this world, and got the good/right/bad/wrong answer. 2nd, not trying to explain this world, just live in it. The first type, we call them intellectuals, they use their intelligence and logic to explain this world, maybe they got a totally wrong answer, but at least they used the right way(reason) to explain it. The second type of people are common humans, are most of us, maybe they know their abilities, so they don't try to, or they just don't eager to explain it. AND... there is the third type of people, who have no much wisdom, but still wanna show their "wisdom" to others, try to explain the world with their stupid way... These kind of people made this movie: Running On KarmaI thought this is a Kung fu/Comedy. I was totally wrong, it's nothing, it gots no laughing( or got some cheap ones), no real actions, fake romance, and a lot of disgusting scenes(with only commercial purpose)... And, all of these are ok, i've seen too many movie got these elements, and i still enjoyed them. (I never expect too much on movies, any kind of cheap movies, if it has any kind of spark, i will still watch it to the end). But, Running on Karma, it got more than these...The movie tried to tell you a truth about the world... a Buddhism concept: Karma. I really love to listen to a philosopher talking about it, but I really really hate to hear it from a crazy writer/director who knows nothing or little about it then filmed a movie tell their nonsense "idea" and "truth"... Please, show some respect to human intelligence, not only others, your own too!Sorry, maybe i used too much bad words, but i think any modern educated human will feel what i felt when they watched this movie. Sick, disordered, stupid...Worst movie this year.1/10...
buffylover1985
No doubt about it, Running On Karma is an excellent film. It diverts into every conceivable genre and gets them perfect while retaining an excellent mood. However their is one "BIG" problem with the movie, Andy Lau's fake muscles. They look horrible and distracting and detract from the mood of the film. However the movie is so good it is hard to dwell on this. 9 out of 10
Mark Greene
I did not expect the depth that this film mines when buying tickets yesterday for "Running on Karma" starring Andy Lau. In fact, when it began, I cringed wondering how campy it could possibly be. This first impression quickly transformed as some special effects were artfully used to convey that I was in for fast and thought-provoking ride.The violence in the film stops just short of being gratuitious. In fact, it is quite purposeful and well done. As a whole, the film has a little of everything that attracts me: the supernatural, special effects, humor, love story and surprise, surprise, an actual heartfelt message that provides the viewer with 'the big picture' on life. I wanted to give the flick an 8.5/10 but opted for the 8 since this system does not take half points.By the way, seeing this film is Hong Kong has the added effect of illustrating one of the film's points: there are many layers to our day-to-day 'reality.' This may not have such a strong effect for the viewer who lives elsewhere.
AD
