User Reviews

They sure don't make films like these anymore. Back in the 1930's - 1950's the cinemas were filled with reels of gangster/detective films shot in black and white. The days of classic films such as "Double Indemnity", "Notorious", "The Maltese Falcon" and "Touch Of Evil" were long gone. In it's place we have, today, overbudgeted, overblown films that causes today's youthful audiences to have Attention Deficit Disorder and be bored at any film that is not filled with explosions every two milliseconds. In between then and now we had many homages to film-noir that stand out on their own. Roman Polanski's "Chinatown" for instance is the best "neo-noir" film ever made and many films directed by Michael Mann also have strong noirish influences. "Shanghai", while not excellent, manages to become a good, neat little thriller on its own right, but properly includes the classic noirish themes of the 40's - 50's that gave the classic films the reputation they have now.

Granted, the script by Hossein Amini has mostly nothing new apart from the noirish elements from those other classic noir films. It's an old- fashioned American murder mystery, but set in the Far East. Familiar plot revelations take place as our hero weaves his way through a web of lies, deceit/deception, betrayal, romance, murder, corruption, and in this film's case, war. What stood out in the film's screenplay is the number of languages used in the film: English, Japanese and Chinese, although I wished the latter two were featured more prominently than they were in the final film. And I have to admit, although unoriginal, the twists in the movie are intriguing and kept my attention.

The international actors are great and fit into their roles like tailor- made suits. John Cusack as the protagonist gives off his Bogie-like character a subtle and calm performance that is also charming. Gong Li, beautiful as ever, is the main dame of the film and she has that sultry, mysterious look in her eyes that you can't take your eyes off of her. Chow Yun-Fat, finally in a role worth watching him in, is the mob boss who may or may not be on Cusack's character's side, as he adapts an extremely charming yet secretive personality under that face of his. And Ken Watanabe has that sinister vibe in him as the film's primary antagonist, though he exudes a certain class to his villainous character. Fine supporting characters played by interesting actors such as David Morse, Rinko Kikuchi, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Franka Potente round up the very distinguished and diversified cast.

Production value and cinematography are top-notch as they transport you back in time to the glamor and grit of pre-occupied Shanghai, with its well-designed and furbished sets/locations filled with plenty of real extras instead of CG ones for a nice change, and crisp, properly lighted scenes with big and wide camera angles so to appreciate the settings even more. Klaus Badelt scores the film with a proper suspenseful element to it making it feel more at home with the noirish crowd without feeling to overdone, thus also making it easier to evoke emotions in the audience, especially to those who are new to the noir genre. Thanks to Mikael Håfström for his focused direction in bringing the best out of the actors.

This is, more importantly, a throwback to the noirish days of old. This film would be a great starting point for those new to noir, and people who like thrillers should give this nostalgic time capsule a chance.

Entertainment value: 9/10

Overall: 7/10

We've seen this in spy movies before: men do things because it is their duty, for whatever reason they feel it is, until they meet a woman. Then it all goes haywire. Most of the time, people love this kind of script and when you have the cast that you have: Cusack, Chow, Watanabe, Morse, Morgan, you expect to love a good old fashioned spy movie that also teaches about the period before the Japanese entering the second world war. Asian sensibilities in the romantic noir period: win!

However, the biggest sin of the movie was, believe it or not, the editing. John Cusack is not a fantastic actor, but he is good enough. Ken Watanabe is always good, no matter what kind of movie you cast him in, and all of David Morse, Yun-Fat Chow and Jeffrey Dean Morgan had marginal roles, yet well acted. However the editing of the material was horrendous, to the point where you didn't actually get what the movie was about, who was who and what were they doing. For Western audiences that do not know the history in the region - as myself - would be especially difficult to understand where the plot is going and what are the different factions and what their goals are.

I wanted to like the movie, a detective noir about spies in Shanghai before the Japanese declaration of war and the reasons why Americans might not have found out in time about the Pearl Harbor attack: women! :) but it didn't work out that way. Instead it felt a little bit like another bit of Asian/Cusack melange: Dragon Blade, which was just as epic and just as clumsy a production.

This is a fascinating movie in many ways, not least for its partially successful elucidation of a particularly dark period in Shanghai's colourful history. However, "Shanghai" comes across all too often as a confused mish-mash of other movies - Casablanca and The Third Man both spring rather too readily to mind - while offering little of its own in the way of an original plot or any intriguing character arcs.

Solid acting work all 'round. Franka Potente is probably the most watchable of the actors here, despite being less toothsome than Gong Li (who looks every bit her age in this movie but is still ravishingly attractive).

There are a few intriguing glimpses of Shanghai as it might have been in the early 40s, including one particularly well-recreated crane shot of the Bund - although I have to say the ships look just a tad too close to the imposing British-built buildings lining that famous boulevard. There's another shot from inside the Cusack character's hotel room showing a few of Shanghai's classic buildings through the window, clearly digitally composited as those particular buildings could never have been viewed that way from the one vantage point.

However, it seems (judging from the credits) that the vast majority of this movie was shot in Thailand, and thus most of the street scenes and interiors are fairly generic and not particularly evocative of Shanghai's history. For a much better rendition of this you need to have a look at Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" which treads similar territory (Shanghai, spies, Japanese occupation etc) with much more style.

Indeed I find myself wondering why this movie was made at all, given that pretty much 100% of its thematic territory had been covered by Lee's movie just a couple of years before, and with considerably more chutzpah.

Nevertheless...if you're a fan of any of these actors, it's worth a look.

This film is about the lives of several spies from America and China in the turbulent Shanghai in the 1940's.

"Shanghai" is a mesmerising film that successfully recreates the 1940's feel of Shanghai. The film is engaging throughout, with no unnecessary scenes. It is also straightforward and easily understandable, which is a rarity for spy dramas. It is also captivating, as it beautifully captures the stress of people living deceitful lives, not knowing who to trust, without any back up. Even your best friend can be someone entirely different, befriending you only for intelligence.

Gong Li is great in "Shanghai", she radiates beauty and charm, and yet at the same time her extraordinary elegance seems to be begging for pity and mercy. She is rightly cast for her role.

If I were to trace my lineage, then the city of Shanghai would feature only two generations away, and having been there for the very first time only last month, I marvel at the magnificence of the city, and just about how modern development have taken place in the last 10 to 15 years with shiny new skyscrapers sprouting up on the opposite bank of the river where Old Shanghai still stands, where it's quite the experience to just stroll along the Bund to marvel at architecture of old amongst thronging crowds; if you think Singapore is bad well, you ain't seen nothing yet!

Shanghai the film happened to be a somewhat troubled project, with the shoot being blocked just weeks before production was scheduled to begin, then faced with the abandoning of sets and the relocation to Thailand and London, followed by question marks on its release date. Well, it's finally here, and I'd think it was well worth the wait, given no scrimping on its production values, and director Mikael Hafstrom splashing plenty of noir in his approach to tell a tale of spy versus spy set against Shanghai in 1941, where the city has yet to fall to the Japanese, and thus becoming a hotbed for resistance movements, with plenty of foreigners still in country setting up protective enclaves for their own citizens.

While it may be a Hollywood production, the cast was predominantly Asian, assembling some of the largest names in the region for this project. John Cusack plays the lead character Paul Soames, a naval intelligence agent sent to Shanghai to investigate the death of his good friend Connor (Jeffrey Dean Morgan of Watchmen and The Losers fame), whose eyes from which we witness a series of intriguing events unfold, dealing with crossed loyalties and flimsy alliances. Going under the cover of a journalist with pro-Nazi sentiments, he works his charisma and know-how to get to the upper echelons of German society in the city, and from there, linking himself up with the German's new ally, Japan.

For Paul, there's more than meets the eye each step of the way in his investigations, and soon he finds himself on the teeters of discovering something large, with a hint on the sinister plans that might be hidden under the cloak of misinformation. History buffs may know what this will allude to, but for those not in the know, then it's time to read up, and to find out from the plot as it unfolds.

But the story happens to strike a parallel with a heavy examination into human relationships, and how the ties that bind can sometimes hurt, especially during a time where the environment is extremely tensed, and nobody is truly clear of one another's motivation, and deep dark secrets. For local triad leader Anthony Lan-Ting (Chow Yun-Fat), his wife Anna (Gong Li) seems to be there when needed, yet can disappear either to entertain his guests, or do so without qualms when he's in the company of his mistresses. There's always suspicion that she's hiding something and is more than the dainty seductress that she's made out to be, especially when Paul gets enamoured by her charms, and Ken Watanabe's Japanese intelligence officer Tanaka ever keen to break her cover.

Yes, this film looks more like an Asian film, which reunites Hong Kong's Chow Yun-Fat with China's Gong Li again after their collaboration in Zhang Yimou's The Curse of the Golden Flower, and Japanese stars Ken Watanabe and Rinko Kikuchi even given a small role. All of them recognizable names, all of them leading their star power to the film and delivering stellar performances mostly, dealing with the double crossing of one another through an intricate web of love and betrayal, and how emotions get the better of Man eventually.

There's no one dimensional character here, with supposed villains surprisingly having a heart when protecting their loved ones against harm, and how everybody will use everything within their power to ensure that family, friends and even strangers stay safe in a time of danger, although not always leading to their desired results. For romantics, Watanabe's Tanaka even opens up in a rare demonstration that he's not always that stoic, but can also be the unwitting victim of the complicated affairs of the heart, which the finale finally assembles all the broken pieces together, and we'd come to appreciate more on what motivates these characters.

The only let down will be Chow's turn as Anthony Lan-Ting the mob boss, as his role, together with Rinko Kikuchi's, is really playing second fiddle to Watanabe in terms of charisma, and screen time compared to what Gong Li occupied here. But this is still one recommended ensemble thriller that has a strong underlying romantic thread, beautifully crafted to highlight the frustrations of love, and that of survival in a black, white and grey world.

One of those movies when watching that I am not thrilled, but enjoying it enough to not stop half way through

So dont expect greatness and you could have an enjoyable experience.

The good: great actors are starring in it. It is beautifully photographed. The story is enticing.

The bad: it simply is lacking greatness. It's just....not there. Still an enjoyable watch!

Shanghai takes place just before Japan entered the World War Two. Paul Soames (John Cusack) comes to China to look for his friend who, like him, worked for the American intelligence effort. From that basic setting we end up getting a good mystery thriller, with all the usual good stuff. Glamorous women, elegant locations, the looming threat of war, betrayals, reveals, backstabbing and more.

One of the film's strengths are its actors. I haven't seen Cusack in anything for a while, but he's still in great shape and gives a good performance as your typical silent neo-noir investigator hero. Li Gong is also very good as Anna Lan-Ting, the resident femme fatale.

Truth be told, I kind of wish the script was a bit better so that these people could have really stretched their wings. As it is, it's not bad, but it's not really all that original either. You can figure out the mystery pretty early if you know anything about history, the biggest twist when it comes to characters also comes near the beginning, none of the romance subplots really surprise and as a whole, while I was entertained, I wasn't really that thrilled.

Shanghai is a good film to check out if you're a fan of wartime period pieces and want to see one that, for a change, doesn't take place in Western Europe. It has great actors, a decent script, excellent production values and a tight enough pacing to make up for its unoriginality.

Impossilbe to includespoilers; if you've seen it once; you've seen it all.

Zero surprises is an overestimate. In my case it seems to me I've seen this movie a half-dozen times. Each time the sets were different, the stars were different, maybe even some details about the end were different. But it was the same movie. Shanghai when WWII broke out. Nasty Japs. Mobs. Some unexpected heroes. Gorgeous oriental women (this time the leading lady appeared to have had some cosmetic work done on her breasts -- which in this movie were hardly seen. One difference: none of the women played Mahjjong.

Recommended only for bored people with nothing better to do.

Shanghai impressed me as a very well-made film. This tale of espionage and double dealing kept me hooked throughout. Shanghai compels the viewer to pay attention in order to piece together a jumble of unclear relationships and alliances. There are many acts of betrayal in the story and they unfold from start to finish. The film also gets high marks for its depiction of pre-World War II Shanghai. The audience get a good visual sense of the cosmopolitan characteristics of the city and in fact, even its delights, like its bars and casinos, compare favorably with those in other modern cities. The acting in this film deserves commendation. Though I am not much of a John Cusack fan, I found his performance believable and not overdone. Li Gong and Yun Fat-Chow are also well cast. Their demeanor came across as natural. I would recommend this film to anyone without reservation.

Shanghai was a decent movie about rebellion and political dissidence. The movie, set in China, shows political turmoil in Shanghai under Japanese rule. The acting in the movie was very well done and the plot keeps you watching. The movie was very violent and I couldn't wrap my head around the love interest the movie benefitted from a break in the action.

I expected a lot with an international heavy weight cast like this one. All the way to the smallest characters are filled with great actors.

The cinematography is excellent and successfully recreates the feel of 40's Shanghai, along with the a secretive atmosphere that enhances the film noir mood. The story moves at a good pace where there isn't a scene too many and you have to keep your mind working to uncover the mysteries Paul Soames is trying to solve.

The excellent cast doesn't disappoint, John Cusack is solid and believable as an agent posing as a journalist. It's not hard to understand he would fall for the insanely beautiful Gong Li who seems to have found a fountain of youth somewhere. She plays the role of Anna Lan-Ting with a seductive and secretive flavor which is a joy to watch. Her husband, mob boss Anthony Lan-Ting, is being played by Hong Kong icon Chow Yun Fat who exudes charm and power but still manages to walk the fine line of a character you feel attracted to but also know you should actually stay away from. His performance adds the right amount of flair the production needs. Ken Watanabe plays out his sinister vibe along with a human grace perfectly and Jeffrey dean Morgan is believable as the friend who ended up dead.

Instead of a movie about politics and war, it's more about human relations and the different side to people. How people are used and mislead at times like this, and matters of the heart play an important role in the decisions the characters make.

If you are open to a movie that makes you think and wonder, you will definitely love 'Shanghai'.

The only thing that I did not get into was the romance-angle between John Cusack and Gong Li.... but maybe that's how it's meant to be. It's easy to see why he would fall for her but she, on the other hand, might have a whole different agenda.

The plot takes place in Shanghai a part of China the Japanese didn't completely take over yet during the Japanese invasion and occupation of China in 1940's. Jeffrey Dean Morgan has a scene in the beginning a very short scene and you wonder why he would want to be cast for this movie. But he gets some flashback scenes which makes his decision sort of makes sense. Anyways the plot mainly revolves around Paul Soames(John Cusack) investigating a friends death while the Chinese and the Japanese are basically having something similar to a gang war between each other in Shanghai. Mainly between the Chinese resistance and the Japanese servants to their emperor. The movie also has spy elements to it and doing espionage on the Japanese and Nazis, mostly on the Japanese. The flaw of this film is that it just doesn't have good character interactions sometimes and not very clever and sometimes not all that believable. I could tell this movie is a homage to noir and even if the topic at hand is interesting, the movie as a whole just wasn't that great. The movie moves slowly and doesn't cover as much as it should with it's run time. both actors play a role they probably wasn't proud of. Not much is accomplished during the run time of this movie. This is a decent film and a good homage to noir, but I can see why this movie didn't do so well. It just isn't for mainstream audiences and and besides the performances it just seemed like a straight to DVD film despite the large budget. Even if the film to some degree accomplished what it tries to do to some degree. I was disappointed in a way since the movie didn't go the direction I wanted it to go, which isn't anything against this film but my own wants. Mainly because almost all the screen-time is on John Cusack despite it having well known Asian actors. The second most screen-time goes to Gong Li. The biggest reason I wanted to see this movie is because it has Chow Yun-Fat and Ken Watanabe and was expecting a face off between the two different characters these actors will play in a clever manner. Which would have been cool, but that wasn't the case. And another disappointment is how these two Asian actors hardly has any screen-time, their roles are small. The main element that drives this film is the characters impulses and intentions, which will keep you guessing and until everything is put together and everything comes together is a above average manner.

7.8/10

Somebody saw Ang Lee's "Lust/Caution" and sold the idea of making a similar film in English with an all-star cast.

As my movie-making friends say, "Nobody starts out to make a bad film, but it happens a lot" This isn't a horrible film, it's just bad. Historically inaccurate with holes in the plot you could drive a Japanese tank through and a cast that just seems to be going through the motions.

The first hour is bearable and then things go all to pot as one unbelievable thing after another fills the screen. Gong Li is the only cast member who does a credible job. This may be the first John Cusack vehicle I haven't liked, to say nothing of Ken Watanabe and Chow Yun Fat.

It's no wonder, it spent 2 years in editing. It boggles the mind to imagine what the editors left out. Definitely not worth leaving the house to see. If you hanker to see one director's idea of what Shanghai looked like in 1941, rent the DVD. Otherwise "fuggedaboutit"!

I've written before about the tendency in film to couple a love story with some radical political turmoil. The reason is simply that love is not inherently cinematic. Sex is and female attractiveness can be, but I'm talking here about the dimensions of love and in particular that dangerous love that swallows all else, bringing certain ruin.

We have many examples of this, including Ang Lee's amazing 'Lust, Caution.' I mention that film because it worked; it drew me in, made me re-experience my own love and terrified me. This is one thing a film can do, entangle experiences. When one is in control of a master storyteller, but out of control of the viewer, and the personal engagements of the viewer are also out of control, you get a mix of reliving a part of your life knowing *someone* is in control.

I also mention is because it is much the same story as in this film, involving the same events. But Lust works. This doesn't. Part of the problem is the director of course. We know the story works; it is based on a well understood cinematic dynamic. We've seen these actors be effective before. In this comment, I would like to focus on one error. It isn't the only one; the main problem is that the director is meek. The thing of interest to me is the attempt to build on noir.

Noir is simple: a random guy is manipulated by forces beyond his control, and those forces, by a few conventions, are merged with our identities as viewers. It has some indicators. It starts with the hero in a very bad spot, then establishes itself as a narrated story, with the hero as narrator. There are a few cinematic ticks as well and we get these early enough to get the message.

The basic problem, I think, is that these two cinematic traditions do not naturally mix. They grew over 60 - 70 years, each of them. Each has shortcuts to an implied contract between viewer and filmmaker.

What Lust did was place the viewer in the story. We suffer as the characters do, carrying angst against the unknown. What noir does is place the viewer outside the story as manipulator of fate, together with the filmmaker. Both can disturb, engage, reward but the machinery is different.

This film was primarily produced by Westerners such as Harvey Weinstein and others, and, as such, have some benefits of Western filmmaking of big pictures. However, despite an absolutely gorgeous set of Shanghai and detailed costumes and smaller sets, the film is only passable as entertainment. The casting was almost catastrophic for this film. John Cusack, a B American actor, has no business being in this role. His boss was excellent casting, but not Cusack. This is like casting Rodney Dangerfield as James Bond. Cusack is good in light comedies and such; not this kind of stuff. I was especially disappointed with Gong Li, who was fabulous in a dozen straight films before this turkey, but the role was not for her, either. There was zero chemistry (understandable) between her and Cusack. Gong is great at anything she tackles, but this role was almost impossible for any actress to succeed with. Because of the excellent action sequences and other very well-directed scenes, the film is passable entertainment, but not much more.

It's December of 1941. John Cusack is an American spy, masquerading as a reporter in the last major city in China not controlled by the Japanese.

It's a visually stunning movie, with the city reproduced on sets in Bangkok and London; it was supposed to shoot in China, but the government vetoed that weeks before the shooting was scheduled to shoot. The movie is well cast, with Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, David Morse and Ken Watanabe, but there is a mannered air about the whole story that tells you every moment that you are looking at a fiction. That makes it less than engrossing, as does the low lighting levels, which have become a bit of a cliche in the last decade or so.

This movie captures that period of 30's Shanghai quite well. Well I wouldn't be the best person to judge considering I know little about that time, but from what I had seen in this film, it was very intriguing.

This espionage/war film gets your attention. The plot is not too complicated, has a nice pace, good performances and an international cast. John Cusack is decent in this role, Gong Li is gorgeous as ever and her English seems to have improved. She captures the screen with her grace and beauty, but also a believable performance. Chow Yun Fat is equally as good. Ken Watanabe - a good performance though he really needs to work more on making his accent understandable as I still have a little trouble with him, but nevertheless makes a good icy character.

The last act creates the suspense very well, though I'll have to admit, though I found the ending dramatic and decent, it might have been more interesting if they actually filmed what happened instead of doing the voice-over, but hey I guess budget constraints and time can get in the way, so I'm alright with it I suppose.

This is a visual feast. It is good to see many actors of different nationalities blend in for what is a cross country story. Japan/China/Germany. Franka Potente has a role here too, which I enjoyed as well.

The only problem with the film, though it wasn't it's fault, was that the version I watched did not have English subtitles when they were talking in Chinese. At first, I thought that this was part of the movie, as you weren't meant to understand it, but there are important scenes near the end where I had no clue what they were saying. It didn't mean I didn't get the rest of the plot or what was happening, but that could have given me a bit more to work with and more juice as well. Oh well, it's not their fault.

This is an enjoyable movie, and it captures that sense of mystery, mistrust, betrayal and fear that you experience during an espionage/war film. Though this isn't essentially a war film in that it's main focus is about blowing up people etc, it is about the struggle of invasion and the effects of it. Recommended.

I hope it gets a wider release in the US and here in Australia because it is a good film.

Reading the other reviews, I can hardly believe I watched the same movie. While there were a few good scenes, on the whole this was a crummy movie.

So, we start with a reasonably believable premise for a thriller: Shanghai in 1941 definitely did have Japanese who were not nice. There definitely were Chinese collaborators who were not nice. There were large gambling establishments and a certain amount of glamour (along with a lot of horrible misery) in Shanghai at the time. Stuff was going on in the run-up to Pearl Harbor and the U.S. was not the entirely innocent, naive, passive bystander that U.S. elementary school textbooks portray. So... a U.S. Naval Intelligence guy undercover in Shanghai in late 1941? Great premise for a fiction movie!

Add a first class Japanese and Chinese cast and a good to excellent American cast. Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat are among the best China (Hong Kong) has to offer and they have done stellar work in other movies. Ken Watanabe is arguably the best living Japanese actor at the moment and was outstanding in "Inception", the "Last Samurai" and dozens of others. John Cusak was excellent in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" Mix in a large amount of effort, opulent sets, tons of money....

AND....somehow end up with a wooden turkey!

I ordered the DVD and we set it up with our projector at home. Primarily, it was my son studying history at the Naval Academy and speaks Japanese - very interested in the subject) and I watching while my Japanese wife dozed off happily on the couch.

The first clue was the subtitles. As a multilingual household we always check the options. We were surprised to find that this was an English language movie...OK...there was a certain logic to that. Should we turn on the English subtitles? Naw... that would be silly. We started the movie. One minute into the action we were stopping the movie to turn on the English subtitles. Why? Ken Watanabe was mumbling and unintelligible.

This wasn't the fault of Ken Watanabe. He did fine job delivering perfectly intelligible and compelling dialog in "Inception". Poor speech intelligibility is the symptom of sloppy production.

Next problem was the wooden script. The constant stopping for the Chinese or Japanese characters to apologize for speaking their own language might be believable for someone who has never actually been in the Far East. Real life is rarely like that. When you are the lone American in a room full of Japanese or Chinese, they are pleasant and polite, but by no means do they stop every 30 seconds to apologize for speaking their own language.

At first I thought that the stiff performances might be the result of forcing otherwise outstanding Japanese and Chinese performers to speak in English. However, as I continued to watch the rest of the movie, I realized that the native English speakers weren't doing much better.

By the end of the movie, the problem was clear: the script writer was desperately trying to scrape together every cliché in the history film noire and somehow stuff it into the movie. Less would have been more.

Ang Lee's "Lust Caution" (based on the semi-autobiographical short story by Eileen Chang) is a much better movie on roughly the same subject. By the way, I has the same reaction as the only other reviewer who wasn't enthusiastic: I thought this movie was "borrowed" from "Lust Caution". However, in poking around at the background, it looks like this one took almost 10 years to get produced...meaning the initial story predated "Lust Caution".

I love the subject material and all the performers...Too bad "Shanghai" wasn't a better movie.

I have really enjoyed this excellent movie, since i love war films. This one is about a pre-Pearl Harbor Shanghai, where Japanese, Chinese, Nazi, American intelligence services clash, and it's common people who make history. John Cusack is a great choice for the main role, and he delivers his part impeccably. Being a secret agent, he is deeply sensitive and sensible man, who wants to reveal some mysteries and he is right in the whirlwind of a war craze. Other actors include Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, among others, and they all do great jobs. Japanese soldiers fight the Chinese partisans, Americans try to find out what they think will help... and all this is a dizzying background to a deep touching story of love, hate, cowardice, friendship, bravery and valor. This movie is highly recommended

The subject matter is interesting. There is suspense and action and romance. Too bad it didn't get a bigger box office release and reception. Some slight imperfections are there.

The cast is good. All top notch Asian actors. Chow and Watanabe add stature. Gong Li is alluring if a little older. Cusack is a bit goofy looking but blends in to the scenes well. Heard Johnny Depp was interested probably would have been worse.

The sets are bit too theatrical and lacked a little on location feel.

The story is feel good old fashioned adventure romance and not irritating. Sometimes it was hard to catch some of the dialog and because of that got a bit lost.

Overall worth watching.

Before watching, this film appeared to have everything going for it. A great cast, an eve of WW2 setting, an exotic location and an old fashioned thriller. After the first hour I dropped off to sleep, but at least I had put the DVD on pause, so two hours later I woke up to finish it. By the end I was baffled as to what it was all about, so I watched it a second time being more refreshed by my nap. The plot still escaped me. John Cusack in a white tuxedo in a casino where he spots a beautiful mysterious woman in distress who has a husband and who manages to keep out hero guessing with various cryptic hints of what? Cigarettes proffered from gold cases, sundry Asians popping in and out, lots of shootings and bombings, lots of blood, pouring rain, dark wet streets, more killings - in other words a by the numbers confusing parody of film noir which could have been much better.

All I gleaned from the story was that John Cusak had been assigned to Shanghai and as soon as he got there, his friend was murdered while he was with a woman, who was somehow involved with a Japanese officer and addicted to opium. A couple of characters needed to be smuggled out of Shanghai, I know not why, and no one could catch a train or boat without struggling through hordes of extras. I only barely figured out why John Cusack, Ken Wantanabe, Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat were in the story, but the rest went over my head. I never did work out who was working for whom or which side they were on.