NYAFF REVIEW: ‘Saving Mr. Wu’ finds actor facing violent kidnappers
Saving Mr. Wu, which recently played the New York Asian Film Festival, is a kidnapping thriller based on a true story. In fact, according to the festival’s website, the real-life actor involved in the case portrays a police officer in the film. Following this realistic, methodical retelling of the kidnapping tale is one of the thrills of Saving Mr. Wu, even if some of the drama seems underdeveloped.
Andy Lau plays Wu Ruofu, an actor who is abducted while meeting with a producer at a swanky restaurant. The leader of the culprits is Zhang Hua (played by Wang Qianyuan), a deranged and slick man who always seems two steps ahead of the authorities. His kidnapping capabilities are simple but effective: He flashes a fake police badge and tells the soon-to-be victim he is being brought into custody. This technique works on Wu and fellow kidnap victim Xiao Dou (played by Cai Lu), a man who has a tougher time holding everything together during the ransom proceedings.
Saving Mr. Wu, directed by Ding Sheng, has a fast pace and pitch-perfect procedural feel. One of the issues in the storytelling, though, is the odd choice of jumping back and forth in time. The actual kidnapping, ransom demands and police investigation are fairly straightforward, as far as cinematic crimes go. However, the needlessly complex time jumps make the simple plot too difficult to follow and too jarring to appreciate. Ding’s script would have been better served as a chronological story.
The acting from the two leads — Lau as Wu and Wang as Zhang — are precise and powerfully thrilling. They often go head to head, toe to toe, although Zhang is clearly in the dominant position. He is a ruthless kidnapper and violent criminal, someone who wants millions in money to buy more guns, presumably to wreak more havoc. One gets the feeling that Zhang is in the business of criminality for the twisted thrill of being chased by the police. The actual dollar figures and larger goals don’t phase his actions. In fact, his brazenness is one the reasons Saving Mr. Wu is so engaging at times. Zhang is willing to get close to his police pursuers, so close that part of the film finds the leader of the bad guys in custody himself.
Lau is a more subtle actor than Wang. He tries to use his character’s acting skills to calm down the captors and remind them of their last shred of humanity. It’s an interesting wrinkle in the thriller genre to have an actor be the victim in a kidnapping case. The character has a unique set of tools — mostly verbal — to combat his foes.
Saving Mr. Wu is not an earth-shatteringly quality thriller that must be seen. It is an interesting character study with better-than-expected acting, a needlessly complex chronology and some moments of true cinematic energy.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
- Saving Mr. Wu
- In Mandarin with English subtitles
- 2015
- Written and directed by Ding Sheng
- Starring Andy Lau, Wang Qianyuan, Cai Lu, Lam Suet, Liu Ye and Wu Ruofu
- Running time: 106 minutes
- Rating:
