The Movie

The one thing about a Johnnie To film you have to realize is that, there is always more than to it then it seems. To's work leaves you thinking and it is something you need to do to understand what is going on in a given movie. And some of the time, it will not be until the very end that everything starts to make sense. To's Running on Karma is a thinker with strong action and drama elements. As an overall movie, I was thought this was a pretty good movie if you are in the mood for a thinker that was made very well and has topnotch acting performances.

The story is about a fellow named Biggie (Andy Lau, Infernal Affairs). The reason his name is Biggie, is well, because he is a massively muscular guy! When I say muscular, I mean buff! In one scene, he participates in bodybuilding championship. Biggie is not your average muscle-bound jock. Until the age of thirty (five years prior to the movie's timeline), he was a Buddhist monk at the Grotto Temple. However, five years ago, something terrible happened. His friend Jade was murdered by a man named Sun Ko. The result was Biggie leaving the temple and searching for a different life.

In the opening of the movie, a preview of that life is given. Biggie, on stage, performs as a male stripper. He gets naked (there's naked costume butt, enjoy ladies or gentlemen if you are so inclined). It is here he meets someone who changes his life. That someone is Lee Fong Yee (Cecilia Cheung). She turns out to be an undercover cop in the midst of a sting operation (Biggie is working at an illegal strip club). She arrests him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the undercover CID (criminal investigation division) is at the scene of a terrible crime. A man was brutally murdered. As Biggie and Yee get to know each other, he reveals he can help her. And he does that just. Biggie has the ability to see people's karma and it gives him the ability to tell when someone is going to die. He works with Yee on a couple cases. Of course, after their first meeting, Yee falls in love with him and Biggie has a hard time trying to figure out his feelings... because well, there is the whole karma thing and his past. You will need to watch the movie in full to figure this out.

Despite the action (there are several wire-fu fight scenes along with the detective work) and drama (Biggie and Yee's relationship), neither is really the focus on the movie. The story takes a completely different direction and focuses on a different aspect entirely at the end. It brings together a bunch of pieces, or clues if you will, that To provides throughout the movie and it ties into the concept behind karma.

Overall, I was not greatly moved by this movie. What did not work for me was that I thought it was going to be more of a Chinese crime drama with triads and a Buddhist monk twist. What I should have realized is that it was a Johnnie To directed film and that I would be in for a completely different ride. Ignoring my misconceptions about what the film would be about, I did find it intriguing when things started to make sense at the very end (I was baffled at times trying to figure out where the overall story was headed). In the end, I think if you have enjoyed To's storytelling style, then Running on Karma will be an exciting watch.

The DVD

Video:
The video is presented in 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color. The picture quality is generally good. Colors are represented fairly well. The problem is that some scenes look overly compressed with far too much digital dirt and ghosting during high motion scenes. Overall, I was disappointed with how this movie looked.

Audio:
The audio comes in 5.1 Dolby digital surround in Cantonese, Mandarin, and dubbed English. There is also a 5.1 DTS track in Cantonese. I couldn't sample the DTS track, but the 5.1 tracks sounded great, although the dubbed English track doesn't fit the movie's tone well. Stick to the Cantonese track.

This release also comes with subtitles in English, traditional Chinese, and simplified Chinese.

Extras:

• Audio Commentary: stars Ric Meyers (Hong Kong Film Expert), Frank Djeng (Marketing Manager for Tai Seng), and FJ DeSanto (Senior Vice Production for Comic Book Movies, LLC). Meyers leads the discussion with Djeng and DeSanto offering comments here and there. The discussion is generally specific to the movie, but they also go on tangents.
  
  
• Making of Featurette (8:05): is an interview featurette with cast and crew. It stars Andy Lau, Johnnie To, Wa Ka Fai, and Yau Nai Hoi. The discussion provides a behind the scenes perspective about the Running on Karma and its production, e.g., Lau's muscle suit. There is also discussion about the characters, plotline, and other related aspects. The featurette is in the Chinese language, but has English subtitles.
  
  
• Trailers: are provided for Running Out of Time, Running Out of Time 2, and Running on Karma included.

Final Thoughts:
Running on Karma is a movie that has both action and drama elements. Both of which are used to progress a story that will probably only make sense to you at the very end. As an overall story, I think Johnnie To did an excellent job (albeit I was expecting a much different type of movie) and it should be an exciting watch for those who enjoy his style. But even so, I think this movie is best as a rental. It is worth seeing, but not over and over again.