Movielogr
The Big Call (2017)
Directed by Oxide Pang Chun
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
With telecom fraud cases going increasingly rampant, it’s a war in the air against invisible enemy in digital network era. The Ministry of Public Security has established a special center focusing on telecom fraud crimes, criminal mastermind Ah-hai and his gang become the key target. Female SWAT team member Xu Xiaotu is sent as an undercover agent to penetrate into Ah-hai’s den in Thailand. They has also recruited Ding Xiaotian, a town policeman who has come to Beijing alone for catching criminals. The center is led by Captain Tan Sirong, an experienced police officer who has cracked many telecom fraud cases before.
Length 125 minutes
Actors
Kwai Lun-Mei | Joseph Chang | Cheney Chen | Cheung Siu-Fai | Jiang Mengjie | Jiang Chao
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/26/2021 | TV | DVD | Library | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
I’m a legit fan of Oxide Pang (and the Pang Brothers) but also don’t love everything they’ve done. This movie falls somewhere in the middle. Gotta say, making a thriller about phone scam / con-artists takes some guts bc, despite the serious nature of this crime, it’s not compelling when translated to the screen. So Oxide Pang really pumps up the drama and action to make it appear more compelling. Sometimes it works and kept me engaged but most of the time it’s just not interesting (“lets track where the calls are coming from and monitor these calls and trace where money is being deposited and and and and… “). Fortunately you have Gwei Lunmei to liven up the screen as one of the primary baddies. I don’t like her as a villainess but she’s damn good at it, of course. Also there’s no reason for this movie about telecom fraud to be over 2 hours long. It makes those less interesting sequences feel even longer.
What’s most amusing is after 1:45 of a paced crime drama it goes completely batshit for the finale. So over the top esp. given this premise but also kinda redeems itself for dragging on for so long. This DVD was a Malaysian release so likely a bootleg which again makes me wonder how this library (Fremont / Mundelein) got it.
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