“Like a good American, I kept my head low”.

An applause to Hossein Amini for having penned the understatement of the year.

With Amini’s subtly-woven twists in the plot and director Mikael Hafstrom’s artistic direction, Shanghai is not your typical war epic. Resurrecting journalism as a form of espionage, John Cusack (2012) as Paul Soames explores the 1940s version of the modern Orient through newspaper-cloaked intelligence gathering. Simply put, Shanghai is another movie which follows a conspiracy theorist on overdrive. However, the refreshing essence of this overused theme lies in the insinuations at America’s pre-knowledge of the Pearl Harbour attack.

What makes it even more invigorating is the fact that the movie never once made any references to Pearl Harbour. The hints were small but impressionable. This particular aspect is Shanghai’s edge over other war epics. Although Hafstrom’s cinematography employed appropriate (and quite accurate) historical sets as well as mellow-yellow lighting to reignite the nostalgic nuances of old Shanghai, the movie still fell short of the artistic benchmark, Shanghai Tang .It lacked the Asian touch. This absence is especially highlighted by Soames’s overwhelming familiarity of the city. Perhaps it is because we grew up on a diet of Asian movies, hence we have higher expectations of the portrayal of our Asian cities. A commendable effort, nonetheless.

Set in early World War 2, again we see a sympathetic portrayal of the Japanese. Reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima (2006), Ken Watanabe’s reprise of the Japanese soldier in Shanghai takes sympathy up another notch.

Other than Watanabe, Shanghai’s success is significantly dependent on the Chinese on-screen power couple of Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li. Collaborating again after Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower in 2006, Chow and Gong still got it sizzling on-screen. Veterans, indeed. If anything, the Asian cast in this movie is the one holding up the fort. Cusack and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Losers, 2010) are simply plot-drivers.

Going back to history books, taking the yet-to-be popularized or discovered theories and attempting to turn them into cutting edge films seems to be latest fad. I reckon Shanghai has started the ball rolling for more of such movies to come. Despite the oddities and mismatched common senses, Hafstrom and Amini have created a plausible alternate history to intrigue us for an hour and 46 minutes. On a personal note, I ended up at VivoCity’s old Chinese-themed Food Republic after the movie. Talk about lingering effects.

Our Critic’s Ratings:

I would say Shanghai deserves 4/5 stars. You?