SAVAGE
(2018)
Starring
Chen Chang, Ni Ni, Fan Liao, Jue Huang, Yicong Zhang, Hua Liu.
Directed by Cui Siwei. (113 min)
ON
BLU-RAY FROM WELL GO USA
Review
by Tiger the Terrible😼
Somewhere
in this movie is a truly great thriller. But while Savage is
certainly watchable, it’s marred by some unnecessary story elements
and convoluted character development.
It
starts off great, with a trio of bad guys who hijack a gold-carrying
armored truck by causing a snowy avalanche. They shoot two cops on
the way down the mountain, killing one of them. The other manages to
get away.
At
this point, one would reasonably expect a cat-and-mouse thriller,
pitting a lone, outnumbered cop against heavily-armed killers.
Instead, the story flashes forward a full year. Wang (Chen Chang) has physically recovered but still hasn’t gotten over the death of his
partner, Han. Complicating matters is the fact both were once vying
for the same woman, local doctor Sun Yan (Ni Ni). Guilt-ridden, Wang
can’t bring himself to commit to her. This dynamic is of little
interest and really only exists to put her in peril, because...
 |
| Never make snow angels in the road. |
...it
turns out the robbers didn’t take the gold off the mountain with
them. I’m not certain why, since they had a truck that could do the
job. Instead, they stashed it in the woods and have now returned to get it. Naturally, Wang is on-hand to try and stop them, as well as
avenge his partner. What the narrative doesn’t need is Ni Ni
driving up the mountain to find him during a massive blizzard, which
eventually strands all of them in a snow lodge. The movie was doing just fine without her.
Still,
it’s a tense little thriller at times, especially during the
Reservoir Dogs-like stand-off in the lodge. It also makes
great use of its snowbound locations, to the point the viewer can
practically feel the cold. However, writer-director Cui Siwei seems
uncertain what to do with his primary antagonist (Fan Liao). First,
he’s a cold-blooded killer, then introspective and philosophical –
even threatening to appear empathetic - before reverting back to
being a cold-blooded killer. It’s as if Cui briefly tried to give
him some complexity before second-guessing himself.
As
it is, Savage is entertaining and suspenseful enough to
warrant a watch, but the viewer has to wade through some irrelevance
and plot contrivances to get to the good stuff. If Cui Siwei could
have tightened things up a bit, he’d have a pretty damn good
movie on his hands.
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.
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