Running on Karma

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed much more than I thought I would
Review: First off, I liked this movie, although I agree with everything the other viewer said. The movie starts off fantastically well. Andy Lau (Big) and Cecilia Cheung (Lee Fung Yee) have great chemistry, and the special effects are very well done. It's a lot of fun all around. Then, in the last Act, everything comes to a head as Lee goes looking for Sun Ko, who murdered Big's friend Jade, is killed by him, on that same mountain where he killed Jade.
Big had been a monk and left the Temple (at the foot of the mountain) after Jade was killed when, in a frustrated rage, he (Big) had killed a sparrow and been endowed with an ability to see Karma. Now, he was back on the mountain seeking revenge. He ends up chasing Sun Ko back to a sacred cave with obscure graffitti on the walls and buddhist statuary around its external perimeter. Here he finds that he has been chasing his own karmic self and, if he didn't come to grips with it, he was doomed to creating a cycle of death and revenge (which was the motivation behind the first murder which brought Big and Lee together).
If looked on in that light, the ending becomes sadly poetic as Big accepts the deaths of Jade and Lee as part of their karma, dons the old robes he had discarded on the mountain five years previously and continues his search. Now, however, when he and Sun Ko meet (after another 5 years), instead of revenge, there is compassion and the karmic imbalance is resolved.
Like I said, I liked this movie. Although, like the other reviewer, I too would have wished for a sweeter ending for Lee and Big.

Rating:
Summary: Point of view
Review: First off, I liked this movie, although I agree with everything the other viewer said. The movie starts off fantastically well. Andy Lau (Big) and Cecilia Cheung (Lee Fung Yee) have great chemistry, and the special effects are very well done. It's a lot of fun all around. Then, in the last Act, everything comes to a head as Lee goes looking for Sun Ko, who murdered Big's friend Jade, is killed by him, on that same mountain where he killed Jade.
Big had been a monk and left the Temple (at the foot of the mountain) after Jade was killed when, in a frustrated rage, he (Big) had killed a sparrow and been endowed with an ability to see Karma. Now, he was back on the mountain seeking revenge. He ends up chasing Sun Ko back to a sacred cave with obscure graffitti on the walls and buddhist statuary around its external perimeter. Here he finds that he has been chasing his own karmic self and, if he didn't come to grips with it, he was doomed to creating a cycle of death and revenge (which was the motivation behind the first murder which brought Big and Lee together).
If looked on in that light, the ending becomes sadly poetic as Big accepts the deaths of Jade and Lee as part of their karma, dons the old robes he had discarded on the mountain five years previously and continues his search. Now, however, when he and Sun Ko meet (after another 5 years), instead of revenge, there is compassion and the karmic imbalance is resolved.
Like I said, I liked this movie. Although, like the other reviewer, I too would have wished for a sweeter ending for Lee and Big.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I bought this movie in the first place because Andy Lau is the main character. He didn't let me down in the movie. I do not want to say to much about the movie and ruin it for anyone who decides to buy. All I have to write is that somethings are meant to be no matter how much you try to make go differently. Hence the name of the movie Karma. What you did in your past life you pay for in the future.

Rating:
Summary: A well made movie
Review: I like this movie a lot because it symbolize a lot of things in life. Makes you think twice before doing something wrong and why things are like they are. I was going to assume this is going to be another "Wham Bam makes no sense Andy Lau movie" but i was wrong.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed much more than I thought I would
Review: I thought this would be a write off, Andy Lau in another body suit. But the movie was a lot more than I bargained. How does karmic retribution work and who deserves or doesn't deserve their death are questions lightly grazed over in this movie. Some people carry too much sin. They must pay in this life. That's a hard pill to swallow. Cecilia and Andy aren't perfect in the movie (neither is the script), but it's still pretty good. Please. Compare that to Wesley's Mysterious File and the other crap that came out last year or so? Meh.

Rating:
Summary: Good for the first two thirds
Review: The story begins with Big (Andy Lau in a muscle suit) strutting his stuff for the ladies at a male strip club. It's just another night on the job for the big guy until he and the rest of the club are surprised by a police raid led by an undercover Lee Fung Yee (Cecilia Cheung). When Big, wearing only a smile, makes a break for it, he literally runs into the main suspect of a murder and we quickly discover Big's rather unusual talent: his ability to see how people will die.

Big is hauled away by the Serious Crimes Unit but is soon rescued by Fung Yee. Feeling that he can trust her, Big reveals to her his gift and that he was once a monk with extraordinary physical abilities. The two join forces to hunt the murder suspect, but all the while, Big sees horrific images in Fung Yee's karma, which he knows point to her inevitable and untimely demise.

The first two thirds of Karma are great fun as Fung Yee gets to know and like Big. There are elements of The X-Files mixed with superhero standards and some laugh-out-loud comedy. Had the movie kept this formula and not attempted to jump the tracks, I would have been able to recommend it.

Unfortunately, the creative team opted for a bizarre third act that has some rather dark moments and goes into philosophical territory in a clumsy and amateurish fashion. This change in tone is, IMHO, far too drastic; in fact, I would go so far as to say that the final act belongs in a different movie.

This sudden shift is really unfortunate as both the Lau and Cheung are incredibly likeable in their roles and deserved a much better script. I would really like to see Big and Fung Yee in a story that's focused and not so eager to shift from genre to genre.

In short, Karma has a really promising start but derails towards the finish. My recommendation would be to watch the first two thirds of the movie and then write your own ending for it.

2.5 out of 5

Rating:
Summary: A funny movie about karmic debt and ignorance to undo
Review: This was a great movie about paying for ones Karmic debt, although humans do not know enough about experiences, being that karma is just as plastic as the created experience itself. But for the sake of human ignorance and its (belief system), this movie was a good movie showing how pass mistakes have a way of returning for closure. The main character was funny as a stripper lol as this movie revolves around him as he possesses the power of seeing things before they occur. Theres a seen with this Indian dude who seeks revenge for a wrong doing, which is way past cool! Great martial arts sequences although its over the top one can only appreciate what is being represented.

Rating:
Summary: Break the Cycle, or: the Superhero Samadhi
Review: While browsing through MidnightEye.com's best-of-2004 for Netflix recommendations, I chanced upon an entry regarding *Running on Karma,* a new film starring Andy Lau as an ex-Shaolin monk turned bodybuilder/stripper and karmic visionary. The premise sounded outrageously appealing, and the review suggested that the film contained a meditative subtext on the title-subject, so I instantly added it to my queue and, a few days later, settled down for a screening of this surreal, genre-defying little gem. Two hours later I emerged from the experience in a wholly different frame of mind, unsure of the film as a whole but certainly ~moved~, shaken up in a way that many films attempt - and usually fail - to achieve.

It's impossible to categorize *Running on Karma*. The film begins in ridiculously sleazy circumstances, segues into a murder mystery, shifts to romantic-comedy terrain, then enters into the philosophical sphere for the third act, a brain-bender sequence compounded by the undercurrent tragic nature of *Karma's* theme. I had some problems with this theme (see below), but overall the ease and control the filmmakers exerted over their content - especially content so borderline-bizarre and convoluted as this - made the film extremely enjoyable and refreshingly unpredictable.

Hong Kong heartthrob & box-office gold Andy Lau (*Infernal Affairs*, *House of Flying Daggers*) plays Biggie, a former monk who has abandoned his vows for a life of weight-lifting, wenching, drink and other debauched activities; moreover, he can somehow see the impending karma of those whose life is about to expire. Even swaddled in an obviously-fake muscle-suit (though it does come off more convincing than, say, *Hellboy*), Lau is effortlessly charming and sells the performance on sheer charisma alone - after awhile, one ignores the foam-creases etc. and allows suspension of disbelief to creep on in and take residence.

(SPOILERS: The muscle-suit ~does~ have an integral role to play, as well, for it represents the over-development of the ineffectual ego-aspect; when Biggie has reached transcendence, the bulk is shed before aesthetic leanness. But I'm getting ahead of myself...)

After getting busted in a strip club, Biggie meets Lee (Cecilia Cheung), a police woman whose main role in this film is to be as cute as possible (success!); he subsequently helps her work on a murder-mystery featuring dueling yoga masters engaged in a feud that extends back centuries. In a typical thriller, this murder-mystery would occupy most of the running time and climax with the usual nail-biting complications; in *Karma* it is solved before the halfway mark (!) and the romantic comedy aspects then dominate, as Lee falls hard for Biggie, investigating his past and, yes, being as cute as possible to draw his attention. Unfortunately she has already attracted his third eye attention: Biggie can see a miasma-shroud of disastrous consequences swarming about her shoulders, and he futilely resists the pangs of love against this harrowing vision of past-life crimes.

Enough of the basics. I'm not going to spoil the more overt aspects of the ending, but I do wish to comment on the use of religious/philosophical themes. Now, karma is one of the most misunderstood phrases of Eastern Philosophy: in the west it is generally associated with "what you do now will come back to you later", which is actually ~dharma~; ~karma~ refers to "what you did in a previous life effects your life now, and what you do in this life will effect your future lives." This misapplication of Hindu terminology is prevalent to the western mass consciousness and is a mistake doubtful to be rectified anytime soon, for no other reason that that 'karma' is the catchier word... Semantics aside, I had a conflictive issue with, yet admiration of, the rigid/fluid incorporation of karma in this film. My admiration stemmed the surreal construction of the third act as a whole and the pivotal decision of Biggie therein; my issues are seated in the deeper understanding of how karma has been corrupted - as all "holy doctrines", regardless of culture or theism, are eventually corrupted by man. For in certain Asian countries/cultures, the highest honor on the wheel of karma is to be born a man; women are relegated to the second-or-third tier status, in the same league as dogs or pigs. Naturally this is used to re-enforce patriarchal social-structures and to preserve the necessary evils inherent to humanity - sex slaves and prostitutes, beggars and landmine victims, the downtrodden and poverty-stricken - the plight of these awful existences is found fault in the actions of a previous life; the only course for the damned and destitute is to be humble and charitable in their fate-chosen place, and hopefully move up the ladder or overcome completely the cycle of karma upon death. In other words, karma is used as a "divine mandate" for man's tendency toward pecking-order social pyramids; it's control-oriented balderdash used to exploit, a corruption as pernicious as the original sin guilt-complex endemic to Catholicism. Having seen up close and personal the ramifications of this comfort-zone integration in SE Asia, I was conflicted by *Running on Karma's* ~initial~ literal interpretation of this quandary, yet still moved by the resultant denouement as Biggie transcends his murderous intent towards Sun Ko, striding away from the cycle of karma with a cigarette in hand.

One of the most unusual and original films I've seen to date, *Running on Karma* merits four ½ stars and my highest recommendations. Break the cycle.