Mr. Long

Reviewed by Xudong Li. Viewed at AFI Fest 2017.

The movie Mr. Long is a crime thriller that is written and directed by Sabu, Mr. Long (Ryu San). The film is filled with mixed emotions, as the first scenes are thrilling, and then followed with sweeter scenes. Ideally, the film is then finished on a high note with more thrills for the viewer. The story depends entirely on the audience and their perception of quality and purism in a movie. A Taiwan man who is a hitman suddenly gets into the lives of a Japanese family. Some moments follow which are hilarious and delightful for the eyes of the viewers. The writer reserves the ability to swing the emotions of the audience while watching it, with a mixture of funky fun and violence.

The director of the movie did not lose any grip on the film when he was mixing the scenes, and in fact, had an interesting effect on the audience. There is stylishness form the shots of various scenes and a beautiful picture of lighting used to produce Mr. Long. The story opens with the main character of the movie (Chang Chen), who is coming from a hit job and seems have been lucky in the venture. It opens up with his employer giving him another assignment. He performs poorly in the second job, and the trouble he faces leads him to a new family that would later change is life.

The director sees it fit to play the scenes with the main actor silent in most cases, providing an effect that is effective for the film. In the movie, other forces are employed by the director, which make the scenes more interesting for the audience. The different roles that follow the main actor change him, including the moment when he realized that he was playing as a father figure for Jun. Ideally, fans of the leading actor are expected to enjoy the film because it was well executed.

Having been in the film with other proficient actors, the leading actor was able to achieve humorous scenes without having to strain, and the actors complimented each other in most cases, giving the production of the movie much-needed appreciation from the audience. Despite that fact that the film has violent scenes, the writer and producer manage to place human warmth on the main actor, who otherwise plays a brutal and cold-hearted character. Such twists in the film make Mr. Long be an exceptional movie that is worth seeing.