A fairly decent who dunnit type spy/murder movie

First, let me say the critics all seem to hate it. There complaints seem to fall in three categories. Long standing dislike of the actors. They don't like the locale. They want to see more sex scenes.

They are idiots. I have done investigations of this type and I enjoyed the heck out of it. No I don't think I have personally ever scene a case that exciting, but I never tried to cope with that kind of situation either.

The name of the movie is Shanghai. It is set just before WW2 in the city of Shanghai. An American Naval Intelligence Agent is dispatched to Shanghai to assist or replace his best friend who is also a Naval Intelligence Agent. The man is working on something and is not properly briefing his command. Upon his arrival in Shanghai the second agent learns the first agent has been murdered by unknown persons for an unknown reason. Gunned down in the street like a dog and his throat slit too. Why and by who is now the question.

Things I liked about the movie. The historical setting in what was arguably one of the most fascinating of cities of the time.

<Shanghai also had a reputation back then of being one of the most crime ridden and violent cities on Earth, with competing triads battling for control and the old pre-WW2 Shanghai Municipal Police Dept. was legendary amongst law enforcement for some of their cases and exploits.>

The use of subtitles, although it occurs is minimized and it looks like the Directors were careful so that scenes where white subtitle letters would be needed were filmed with enough contrast so it is all easily readable.

The various (many) uniforms worn by the different government entities there appear to be correct for the period, so too are their weapons. Nothing annoys me as a movie goer as much as seeing some guy in a Civil War era movie firing a Colt Peacemaker or seeing a WWI soldier spraying away with his Tommy gun. There is none of that nonsense here. The weapons shown are what they had back then. Armor is an old hobby of mine, so I wondering where on Earth did they find a working Type 97 tank for the movie? Maybe it is made up, but durn that is a recognizable profile and I don't even need to see the flag. Although I guess the younger folks in the audience might, so the director gave it one. LoL

It looks like someone spent some effort to re-create replicas of some later destroyed historic buildings. The movie is filmed in Shanghai.

The movie filming actually began in 2008, but there was a dispute with China over who would play what part so it went on hold for few years, then later investor squabbles delayed it's release.


Here is a preview.