The Touch
The Touch
| 01 August 2002 (USA)
The Touch Trailers

A sister and brother, the last heirs of a family of acrobats, are called upon by a Buddhist monk sect to retrieve an artifact that their ancestors have protected throughout the ages.

Reviews
Wai-Yun Wong

As a fan of Yeoh's films, I desperately felt I needed to see this film, I was impressed with the trailer but then it all led to disappointment when I saw the film. I was aware that the film was receiving bad reviews but when I saw it, it was not as bad as I thought it was but there were some major faults.The use of incredible locations in the film was a plus, the story line sounded perfect for an adventure film and there was that wonderful combination of action, romance and comedyI felt that one of the main flaws with the film was the ensemble of actors; though they do look good in their roles, the way they portrayed their characters was rather poor.Yeoh's performance was not of a satisfactory level, but provided she got to use some martial arts in the film, I was happy.Ben Chaplin, who plays Eric,provides most of the comic relief for the film, particularly when he attempts to sing a love song in Mandarin Chinese but forgets the words half way through the song. I am still wondering whether the character Bob was even meant to be funny at all as he was just pathetic throughout the film.Brandon Chang and Margaret Wang who play Lily and Tong are newcomers, of all the actors in the film, their performances were the most disappointing; my reason is mainly that when they spoke, it sounded as if they were on a "lets talk English programme", they were expressionless and bland with their acting.Another flaw was the use of special effects in the film, particularly in the climax that takes place in the burning cave, at the beginning of the scene, the flames looked real, but whoever was in charge of the cinematography made a huge mistake after applying the flames because the fire looked incredibly fake afterwards as well as a list of other faults concerning the CGI.Despite the faults outweighing the good points, I did enjoy the film, but it was merely average.

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unbrokenmetal

"The Touch" is an adventure movie in the tradition of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". It tells the story of a Chinese family of artists who specialized in difficult jumps for many generations. Only such a jump, seeming impossible to anyone else, will make it possible to obtain a holy treasure. Two family members are kidnapped by a treasure hunter (Richard Roxburgh) to get the treasure for him. Yin (Michelle Yeoh), being the head of the family after the demise of her father, pursues them into the desert.Genre movie without big surprises, but well made (except for the final fight which looks like computer game inspired green screen effects), featuring a female star who successfully avoids any Lara Croft similarities and uses her scarf both as a weapon and a swing rope. "The Touch" was shot in places where nobody else was allowed to film before. The landscapes of Tibet are impressive and make the movie more memorable than the thin plot deserves.

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blncub

What's wrong with people? whoever started comparing it to "crouching tiger..."? of course you would be disappointed if you expect a similar film, but that's like comparing "the pianist" with the upcoming "king kong" just because adrian brody is in both of them.the touch is actually not even a typical hongkong movie. it feels more like a really good American adventure movie from the early 90's - at the end i couldn't even stop myself from thinking about indiana jones. the film has a nice flow, a great chemistry between the leads and some great goofy humor. and most impressive of all, some amazing cinematography. just those beautiful landscapes alone are worth watching "the touch".sure, the special effects in the final are really bad, they actually look like they have never been finished. some actors are pretty bad, too. but this movie is not about excellent acting but about harmless fun - just everything a nice action adventure should be. don't expect anything else and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

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NIXFLIX-DOT-COM

I guess it was inevitable that someone would remake INDIANA JONES with a female in the lead. Then again, American TV has been doing this for a few years now, what with RELIC HUNTER and the Angelina Jolie movie TOMB RAIDER.Essentially a starring vehicle for producer Michelle Yeoh, THE TOUCH isn't all bad. Yeoh is good as the Indiana Jones wannabe, and Ben Chaplin is not half bad as her love interest/adopted brother. The inclusion of the two siblings, though, brings the whole thing down.Also, a finale involving heavy CGI and a lot of ridiculous wireworks sinks the movie. INDIANA JONES was immensely popular, and it didn't need flaming arrows shooting all over the place or floors being engulfed by a sea of flames. In the end, the movie was just too bloated for its own good.5 out of 10(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie or full-length reviews of other foreign films)

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