Breaking News Part 1
I just got finished watching a Hong Kong movie called "Breaking News." To say the least, I was shocked at the relevance of this movie as compared to events from the last five years. I will try to not provide a plot summary for those still interested in actually seeing the movie, but I would like to share my thoughts of it which will unfortunately incorporate some revealing of the plot. For that, please excuse me.
The premise of the movie is that a group of criminals are about to move to get their target. The police are already on the scene and waiting to arrest the criminals with a good number of undercover cops. Right before these undercover cops make their move, a couple of patrolmen pass by and stop the driver. One of the police officers is killed and the undercover cops chase the criminals right into a neighboring crime scene which is loaded with press. The criminals make it to a getaway vehicle but right before they leave the scene, one of them shoots and kills a second police officer. All of the above is caught by press covering the car accident. What ensues for the rest of the movie is a dynamic battle between the fleeing criminals and the police against the media which is covering the entire ordeal.
What facinates me most about this movie is the fact that the criminals never refer to the job they were about to pull, and on the other side the police (save an exception which will be mentioned in a minute) never talk about actually apprehending the criminals. For the duration of the movie, both sides are in a constant struggle to sway the media in their favor in order to manipulate their situation. The exception I mentioned earlier is a squad led by the typical hot headed main good guy cop who is almost fired for actually attempting to apprehend the criminals at large. At several points while he and his squad are always the closest to the trail of the criminals he is consistantly told to stand down or evacuate the area.
I want to talk more about this and I definitely have a lot more to say, but it's going to have to wait until another night.
~Yankii
The premise of the movie is that a group of criminals are about to move to get their target. The police are already on the scene and waiting to arrest the criminals with a good number of undercover cops. Right before these undercover cops make their move, a couple of patrolmen pass by and stop the driver. One of the police officers is killed and the undercover cops chase the criminals right into a neighboring crime scene which is loaded with press. The criminals make it to a getaway vehicle but right before they leave the scene, one of them shoots and kills a second police officer. All of the above is caught by press covering the car accident. What ensues for the rest of the movie is a dynamic battle between the fleeing criminals and the police against the media which is covering the entire ordeal.
What facinates me most about this movie is the fact that the criminals never refer to the job they were about to pull, and on the other side the police (save an exception which will be mentioned in a minute) never talk about actually apprehending the criminals. For the duration of the movie, both sides are in a constant struggle to sway the media in their favor in order to manipulate their situation. The exception I mentioned earlier is a squad led by the typical hot headed main good guy cop who is almost fired for actually attempting to apprehend the criminals at large. At several points while he and his squad are always the closest to the trail of the criminals he is consistantly told to stand down or evacuate the area.
I want to talk more about this and I definitely have a lot more to say, but it's going to have to wait until another night.
~Yankii