The Bullet Vanishes

While deriving inspiration from Guy Ritchie’s popular Sherlock Holmes films, Lo Chi-leung’s The Bullet Vanishes makes its own indelible mark on the period crime action genre. Lau Ching-wan stars as the Holmes-like Song Donglu, an investigator in 1930s China who teams up with cop Guo Zhui (Nicholas Tse) to solve murders involving “phantom bullets” that elude forensic analysis. Deaths at a munitions factory are blamed on a spectral curse even though factory owner Ding (a sneering Liu Kai-chi) and corrupt police chief Jin (Wu Gang) are obviously up to no good. But Guo and Song aren’t buying superstition as the cause of multiple homicides. Along with junior cop Xiaowu (Jing Boran), the intrepid duo tackle the mystery with dedication and playful gamesmanship.  Song’s quirky demeanor and penchant for trying out murder methods on himself make him a seeming copy of Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock Holmes, but there’s a history to Lau Ching-wan’s casting as an oddball detective. Lau turned in a lighter version of the character in Johnnie To’s Running Out of Time films and took the archetype to darker and disturbing places in To and Wai Ka-fai’s Mad Detective. Lau’s detective in Wellson Chin’s early ‘90s Thou Shalt Not Swear and its sequel are perhaps the closest Lau has ever come to Downey Jr’s Holmes, except he created the character nearly 15 years earlier. Bottom line: Calling Lau Ching-wan’s Song Donglu a Hollywood rip-off is an inaccurate assessment.

Besides, The Bullet Vanishes succeeds as an entertaining commercial film. Key to its success is the pairing of the two leads, who play off each another beautifully. Tse is more intense than the relaxed Lau, and gives his justice-seeking cop a strong yet shaded integrity. Lau may be better, however, delivering an affecting and charismatic performance despite being called upon to supply occasional comic relief. Both actors defer to each other when required, and each takes command with equal conviction. Mini Yang (as informant Little Lark) is barely more than ornamental, but Yumiko Cheng (as the local precinct’s coroner) and most especially Jiang Yiyan (as an imprisoned love interest for Song) turn in good support.  The Bullet Vanishes also features a cleverly crafted and smartly paced storyline. The film sets up each mystery with relevant clues, with the exposition neatly handled via the characters’ ongoing investigation, not to mention the requisite flashbacks illustrating what they’ve deduced. Potent details, like the film’s multiple games of Russian roulette, are interspersed throughout, and when plot holes and story omissions crop up, the confident pacing smoothes things over. The script from Lo Chi-leung and Yeung Sin-ling is fast and smart but occasionally awkward.

The climax, a winner-takes-all face-off between two characters, also gets too explanatory and stagey. However, the strong performances and Lo’s deliberate tension more than compensate.

Li Chung-chi’s action is expertly staged, with set pieces never dragging on or getting too over the top. At the same time, the action is entertainingly hyper-realistic (e.g., Guo Zhui’s impeccable marksmanship or the occasional slow motion sequence) and the elements match well with the film’s pronounced visual style and coy self-awareness. Add the top-notch production and excellent visual effects, and you get Lo Chi-leung’s best film since his 2004 thriller Koma.

The Bullet Vanishes may threaten goodwill with its multiple climaxes, which toy with audience expectations by moving in a direction that many may not like. But the final, uncompromising twists also propel The Bullet Vanishes beyond also-ran filmmaking – where pandering to the audience is paramount – making the film exceptional among commercial films from Hong Kong, and indeed anywhere.