Eye in the Sky (2007)

What a pairing: Simon Yam versus Tony Leung Kar-fai! Those names alone would have made this movie a must-see for me. While Leung Kar-fai may be the more acclaimed and versatile actor of the two, I always had a special place in my heart for Yam. I used to call him the "unsung hero of Hong Kong movies", but in the last couple of years he got more attention - especially because he got a string of very good roles in films by Johnnie To: PTU, BREAKING NEWS, ELECTION, EXILED – heck he becomes nearly as much a member of To's stock company as Lam Suet! And he deserves it!
Here he plays once more a cop (he must have played hundreds of them), but this time there is a difference: His "Dog Head" Wong looks like a slob with a potbelly and a stubble on his chin. But that is partly camouflage, because he is an inspector with the surveillance unit of the Honk Kong CIB: their specialty is to shadow and observe people without being seen.
Wong's new mission is to find a gang that robs jewelery shops.

EYE IN THE SKY is more a police procedural that shows the work of the surveillance experts, than a thriller. The film begins with new team member Ho Ka-po (Kate Tsui) who gets the flattering codename "Piggy". By Wong's teaching her the ropes, we learn of the inner workings of police surveillance and get gradually in the case at hand.

The robbers are masterminded by Tony Leung, of course, so the expectations are high. but unfortunately this is no battle of the giants between Yam and Leung like in the first ELECTION movie. The focus is much more on police work than on a cat and mouse game between the two antagonists. Everything is interesting and even exciting, but there is no nerve wrecking tension, and only in a couple of scenes there is the sensation of real danger. So don't expect another ELECTION. Relax, lean back and enjoy a skillfully executed, excellent performed little thriller by first time director Yau Nai-Hoi. The movie often looks like a minor work by Johnnie To and that is no coincidence: Yau has written a lot of scripts for To and the master himself produced EYE IN THE SKY.

A word about the actors: Leung and Yam are up to their usual quality and especially Yam seems to enjoy the role of the fatherly, potbellied slob, he plays. Lam Suet (who is for Johnnie To's movies, what Elisha Cook jr. is for film noir ) has one of the greater supporting roles and fills it as only he can. And new comer Kate Tsui - and Miss Hong Kong 2004 – is surprisingly good in a very central role.

EYE IN THE SKY is a promising debut by Johnnie-To-protegé Yau Nai-Hoi. No master piece but an enjoyable crime picture to watch, while you wait for the next picture by sifu To himself.