[2010.04.08] ANDY LAU TRANSFORMS FOR A BREAKTHROUGH

Andy Lau Tak Wa, Barbie Hsu (Tsui Hei Woon)

courtesy of singtao.com

Andy Lau Tak Wa in his new film FUTURE X-COPS (MEI LOI GAING CHAT) turns into a cyborg "future cop" who returns to the past for a mission. In order to handle the action, special costume special effect production and other tasks, Wa Jai honestly said that he expected to suffer and hoped to be able to make a breakthrough Hong Kong film.

The Wong Jing directed FUTURE X-COPS stars Lau Tak Wa, Barbie Hsu (Tsui Hei Woon), Xu Jiao and Fan Bingbing. In the film Wa Jai played a future cop who has a wife (Fan Bingbing) and daughter (Xu Jiao) but due to an accident his life is changed. He has to return to the past for a mission and turn into a cyborg "future cop". At the same time he has a relationship with Tsui Hei Woon.

The series of special effect action stunts, from action design to live action performance to post production, required a lot of time. Wa Jai after taking the role only kept a serious state of mind at work as he wanted to make a film that can rival Hollywood science fiction films. He said, "In the film had to wear a pair of 3 to 4 inch high robot shoes, which was not easy to control at all. I also had to fight in front of a blue screen in order to achieve the most realistic side. We tried to work as close to the Hollywood format and expected hardship early on. It was also a new experience."

A love for his job has become one of Wa Jai's trademark. He has a passion for film and also hopes that every one of his movies has certain quality. Working with Wong Jing again, their chemistry has been established long ago. As for a science fiction film, Wa Jai honestly says that he would like to achieve a breakthrough. "Hong Kong film is not just costume films. It also has many subjects that the audience can choose from. In the past many movies were about the future and had a lot of development space. In order to be fresh, we have to try different breakthrough. In FUTURE, my performance is much more open. I also know that the genre will lead to comparison and hope that Hong Kong special effect films will succeed." After over 100 films, Wa Jai's acting has long been recognized. He would not like his characters to repeat. He said, "In my old age, I won't give up my show business job. Maybe I will sing all over. I will only look at opportunities, time and capabilities." Due to the marital status revelation and the issues that followed, Wa Jai honestly said that he was unhappy for a short while but as time passed he adjusted. As long as he felt he was fine he was.

Using special effects to merge the virtual with the real, Wong Jing this time chose to make a science fiction film completely because he had a mentality of "ambition never dies". He also said that Chinese film with the science fiction subject made people optimistic about its development space. With time and ideas on the costume and special effect designs, and coordination from actors and other elements, FUTURE was finally completed. Wong Jing said, "I knew early on that I had to make this subject, which is more complicated than the average movie. I spent a lot of time on preparation. It had a lot of processes, which I also discussed with everyone. This film was shot at the coldest time of the year, almost 1/3 of the crew caught the flu because of working in 20 degrees Celsius below zero temperature. We worked even harder because we

wanted to make a movie that had less comedy and did not resemble past Wong Jing films."