Is Aaron Kwok a "Murderer"?

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Writer: Ezekiel Lee Zhiang Yang

Psycho method acting Christian Bale-style for Aaron Kwok

30 Jul – Fans of Hong Kong cinema are fervently waiting for the epic "Storm Warriors" to be released at the end of the year but here's an upcoming movie for those in need of an Aaron Kwok fix – new police-thriller "Murderer".

Billboard spotted in Hong Kong recently: Will people recognise the new madman look?

He's not quite Guy Pearce in "Memento" (or its Hindi copykitten rip-off "Ghajini" for that matter) but more like Koji Yakusho (best known to Malaysian audiences for his roles in "Babel" and "Memoirs Of A Geisha") in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Retribution". Remember that movie "Retribution"? Cinema Online had a contest for that two years ago in July 2007 and our readers who caught the movie thought it was pretty scary stuff – a detective who discovers that every new piece of evidence in his murder case seems to point to him as the prime suspect. In "Murderer", Aaron Kwok will spot the clichéd policeman stubble on his chin and he is going to be subject to the same.

Can this work and is this going to be a good movie? The movie trailer, exceedingly stylish and well-shot, suggests so.

Aaron Kwok's menacing madman look in "Murderer"

Online reports all mention how Mr Kwok has gone all out on a Christian Bale-type method acting just to prepare for this role. Some accounts have him reading criminology books, being depressed, getting nightmares and even going without sleep for three days straight, just to get that unshaven copper demeanour, complete with psycho bloodshot eyes. That's a far cry from the teenybopper pinup boy days of Aaron Kwok, who we can regard as one of the lesser of the HK's oft-called Four Heavenly Kings (next to Lai Meng of course).

Bagging Best Actor at Golden Horse Awards (for "Divergence" and "After This Our Exile") speaks well for Aaron Kwok's project choices. We can only hope he can carry the movie through.

Cinema Online will be having a contest with movie tickets to "Murderer" as prizes, not to mention some collectible premiums. Watch this space for more updates.

Cinema Online, 30 July 2009

Related Movies:

DIVERGENCE (Cantonese) (28 Apr 2005)
After This Our Exile (MIFFEST) (Cantonese) (28 Feb 2017)
RETRIBUTION (Japanese) (26 Jul 2007)
The DETECTIVE (Cantonese) (04 Oct 2007)
STORM WARRIORS (Cantonese) (10 Dec 2009)
MURDERER (Cantonese) (27 Aug 2009)