Caught in Time

Caught in Time

除暴

Director – Ho-Leung Lau

Writers – Leo Hong, Ho-Leung Lau

2020, China-Hong Kong

Star – Qianyuan Wang, Daniel WuJessie Li

 

Quite a mess of a film, all flashbangdazzle and propaganda. ‘Caught in Time’ is ostensibly based upon the true case of Zhang Jun, but not a note of it rings true. Not least the title, whose history according to Wikipedia speaks of political agenda over logic: “The film's working title was 限期破案; Xiànqī Pò'àn, literally "Solving the case in time", but in September 2020 the title was changed to 除暴; Chúbào, literally "Getting rid of outlaws", in support of the ongoing law enforcement campaign to crack down on underworld crimes.” At least the last one makes sense where the others don’t as many people are murdered and injured and the case takes at least a year, so the “in time” is surely arguable.

 

The veracity is unconvincing not just because of the usual liberties taken to bring a “true story” to the screen, but mostly because Lau Ho-Leung takes the approach that this tale is just an excuse for a director’s box-of-tricks, leaving the story secondary. It has bombast to rival Zack Snyder or Baz Luhrmann. And also, partly because it’s a vehicle for Chinese state propaganda, which is obvious from the moment they take time to peel fliers from a patriotic poster (and these must be the easiest fliers to peel), and then it ends with a state execution and text that the Chinese police force make the country one of the safest in the world.

 

It also falls to unintentional humour, not just the fliers raising an eyebrow but also when the cop stops a riot with some reprimanding words; when he finds himself dream-dashing through security camera footage; or when car lights shine on a patriotic salute.

 

For the propogandist element and turning the true crime casualties into just collateral damage in the bid for exhilarating set-pieces (there’s a rather good street battle and the bathhouse showdown looks suitably brutal and painful), its misjudgements and token depth-deprived characters make it hard to take it on just a superficial action entertainment level.