Reviewed 25 Aug 2002             Hey, if Tomb Raiders worked at the box office, why wouldn't a Chinese Gong-Fu movie of the same blueprint work?   --Oh, and lets stir in a little Raiders of the Lost Arc, while we are at it.   As reasonable as that might sound over after-dinner drinks, Michelle Yeo should have left it there.    She, instead, decided to produce The Touch, AND have a hand in the screen play, AND to top it all off, be "Laura Croft" in her own movie.    Although directed by Peter Pau, one suspects that Michelle Yeoh had a heavy hand in that, too.
       Getting off to a running bad start like that is not particularly auspicious, however Michelle Yeoh found ways to make it even worse.   -- The cast of bad guys looked as vicious as a bunch of Singaporean disco revellers; the gong-fu was "modern dance", which, if professionally edited, could have still been salvaged.    It, regrettably, was NOT professionally edited, in fact it was not even semi-professionally edited.    Many of the special effects were cheesey and artificial.   Much of the acrobatics was ridiculously unrealistic.   Hint: Ben Chaplin (as Eric) and Michelle Yeoh (as Yin) can't afford to make many more bad career moves like this one.
       With both the good guys and the bad guys carrying on in the glibbest of manners, it was hard to believe we were actually talking about murder and the preservation of ancient religious treasures of the greatest significance since the Arc of the Covenant.    On the bright side, that's the one great thing about going to see a movie at a cineplex -- if you decide to get up and walk out, you are still likely able to choose another movie and see it instead.
        Least Enduring Line Or Phrase:   "...I can do this."

Reviewed by Narada for Bangkok Eyes - 25 Aug 2002

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