Weekend In Taipei: Pure Escapism and a Bit of Fun
Image: Supplied image.
Even before the opening credits of this action thriller finished rolling, it was quite obvious that ‘Weekend In Taipei’ was not going to compare to the Hollywood blockbusters.
Welsh actor Luke Evans, the star of countless diverse movies including Beauty and the Beast, Fast and Furious 6 and Disney’s live action Pinocchio, is the new action hero John Lawlor, an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent happily wedded to his job.
He travels to Taipei for a weekend to gather evidence which hopefully should put the leader of a drug cartel behind bars forever. He states, “I’ll find incriminating evidence that will put him away behind bars for 2 lifetimes.”
Circumstances reunite him with Joey the love of his life whom he hasn’t seen in 15 years. Long kept life-changing secrets are revealed but ultimately, will he get the bad guy, and more importantly will he be reunited with his lost love?
Oddly this is a low-budget co-production between France and Taiwan and is the brainchild of George Huang who directed and co-wrote the project. Taiwanese actress Gwei-Lun-Mei who portrays Joey may not be a household name in Australia, but she paired well with Luke Evans commanding presence on screen.
There are many high octane charged car chases, death defying stunts and violent blood splattering sequences, which should prove quite entertaining for lovers of these style of films.
The electrifying martial arts sequences are playfully choreographed, and audiences may find they’ll be laughing one moment and then turning away from the screen during the extremely violent sequences.
Much of the dialogue is humorous, especially those lines delivered by Joey’s young son who seems to get himself in all sorts of mischief. Ultra cheesy moments in the finale are hilariously bad, so bad in fact that they’re good!
Ultimately this feels like a cheap film, the low budget affecting various aspects of production, and the story also lacks originality.
There is a market for these C grade style of action flicks which are basically ‘straight to streaming’ quality. It’s pure escapism, a bit of fun and not to be taken seriously.
Take the wild drive through the streets of Taipei and as long as you don’t compare it to the Fast and Furious movies you may be pleasantly surprised.
Weekend In Taipei
**1/2
In cinemas now
