Three

Hong Kong filmmaker Johnny To is one of the top directors of action thrillers and crime dramas. If Three is not one of To's best, it is still entertaining, consistently engaging, and executed with a precision that turns intriguing ideas into superb action sequences. Set almost entirely in a hospital surgical ward, Three stars Louis Koo as driven cop Ken, who crosses the line when he shoots ruthless gangster Shun (Wallace Chung) in the head. Ken accompanies Shun to the hospital where the latter survives. Vicki Zhao costars as the intense surgeon who clashes with the frustrated cop (who could lose more than his job if Shun lives to tell his story) while the manipulative Shun plays mind games with both of them and waits for his gang to rescue him. The director fills the enclosed space of the ward with numerous characters and stories that unfold in the margins and cross paths in intricate choreography, building to an explosive climax and astounding close-quarters shootout that throws dozens of characters into the beautifully designed slow-motion chaos in an impressive long take (accomplished with plenty of CGI). The clash of compromised heroes and a cocky criminal mastermind is clever without being dramatically resonant and the script is more engineered than written, but the direction here offers a master class in action movie filmmaking. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)