End Game

This movie entertained me . I found the general level of acting , script , action sequence and story line sufficiently intriguing .

However for me the ultimate joy of this movie was the presence and performance of maestro Andy Lau - while the story line/script and production on the whole may not have been exactly a grand production (not that it was meant to be ), there was sufficient platform for Andy's typical charistmatic personality and acting magic to spring forth , uplifting the movie to well above average .

Superb performance by Andy Lau which is flawless that bring u to its character. This movie mostly reflect Andy lau acting career and HK movie Industry highest peak era. But many thing seems force to add into it out of logic.Xiao Yang too exaggerating acting and relationship with Wan Qian not very convincing in this movie.Andy Lau deserve a better script as his contribution to Movies industry. There still a lot of laughter in the theater.thank u for the memories, Andy Lau.

Comparing Japanese and Korean version, I would rank JP first then this Later Korean version. Main characters personalities sculpting is good, but storyline contains some minor problems. 1 star to Andy Lau, 4 stars to base storyline, 2 star to the laughter it brings in upcoming new year. 1 star to encourage Chinese comedians.

Ren Chao Xiong Yong, internationally known as End Game, is the remake of Japanese movie Key of Life that had already been remade as Luck-Key in South Korea. This means that this film is already the third version of the same story. Let's hope that Hollywood won't desire to create a fourth movie. This film reminds of several Hong Kong action comedy films from the eighties and nineties starring actors like Jackie Chan, Samuel Hui and Sammo Hung. Genre fans will appreciate what they can watch here but this movie certainly lacks creativity, drive and novelty.

The story revolves around an unsuccessful actor living alone in a dirty apartment who has tried to commit suicide on a few occasions. His life changes radically when he coincidentally causes an accident that sends the visitor of a bathhouse into a coma. Upon discovering that the victim owns an expensive car, has lots of money and lives in an elegant apartment, the actor decides to change his identity and enjoys life to the fullest. After awakening from his coma, the victim is led to believe that he is indeed a poor actor and decides to organize some changes in his life. Problems emerge when the actor finds out the true identity and job of the person he is now incarnating and when the man suffering from amnesia slowly but surely remembers more and more details about his past and tries to go back to the life he once had.

While the plot sounds amusing at first contact and starts this movie dynamically in the first thirty minutes, the interesting concept fails to develop upon the interesting premise. Many jokes are extremely childish, others become quite predictable and some are exhaustingly repetitive. The movie's middle section in particular features significant lengths and fails to get to the point.

The performances by the two lead actors Andy Lau and Xiao Yang are very good. The former is a versatile veteran actor of Hong Kong cinema and the latter a popular comedian from Hebei. The supporting actresses and actors however fail to leave lasting impressions as they are unable to exploit their characters' full potential.

The movie's action scenes and special effects are also of meandering quality. The opening thirty minutes look quite impressive in this regard. The entire middle section overstays its welcome. The ending of the movie tries to quicken up the pace but it's too little too late.

In the end, Ren Chao Xiong Yong, internationally known as End Game, is based upon an interesting plot idea and features two great lead actors but everything else from side characters over elements of humour to special effects is of average to below average quality. Watching the original Japanese movie is a much better option than giving the South Korean or this Hong Kong and Chinese remake any attention. Another recommendable option would be to rediscover Hong Kong's action comedy classics such as Aces Go Places, Armour of God, City Hunter, Drunken Master and Police Story to only name a few examples.

Originally a Japanese comedy film released as 'Key of Life' in 2012. Then it was remade in 2016 by the Korean film industry as, 'Luck Key' and now 5 years later, forward to 2021, its China's turn to remake it as, 'End Game'. I am at odds to understand why it was deemed worthwhile to warrant three releases by three different nations? The story is not that impressive and the script lacks a comedic touch altogether but, I believe that is because this is a black comedy drama that would be served best as a purely live Theatre stage performance. It would have much more freedom to express both verbal and visual comedic expression. As a film its to restricted and hampered by less flexible rulings!

I love Andy Lau as an actor (I have done since I first saw him in film some 20 plus years ago) and he puts in a good, but subdued hands tied, performance. His costars are perfectly in balance with their roles but it just doesn't kick-start into top gear at all. In fact I found myself so bored with the first 15-20 minutes of the film that I almost stopped play (and I have never done that with an Andy Lau film...ever!). However it suddenly started to up the pace which helped keep my continued viewing but, it still had a lackluster flow to it...not a rubbishy film but rather a dragging its heels meander! Its a bit much when the star factors of a film turn out to be lighting, cinematography, camera work and editing.

Not the best film of the year and so I would hope we won't see another Asian country remaking it but, it could be worse I suppose...you could have some Hollywood idiot decide to give it a go, Oh HELL NO! Because we all know what happens when Hollywood tries to remake Asian films in a Western way, don't we?!