Line Walker Review

Producer: Man Wai-hung
Genre: Police
Cast: Michael Miu, Raymond Lam, Charmaine Sheh, Elena Kong, Sammy Sum, Sharon Chan, Benz Hui

Review:
Move aside, Lives of Omission. Line Walker is taking the title as the ultimate undercover series. With the 10000000 UCs, I’m wondering why it took so long for the police to catch up to the bad guys. Oh, that’s because all the bad guys are cops and all the good guys are with the triads. Yikes!

Line Walker does a better job than Lives of Omission at exploring the life of an undercover. Their sacrifices and hardships are played out on-screen and can be felt by the audience. Line Walker also wins with its thick plot, which is laid out nicely with the way it keeps the suspense, from the 5th UC to the black cops to the final big boss. (insert momentum-killing comedic moment). Characters come and go, making up an insanely high death toll. (insert slow-motion action scene with sub song). Yes, there are logic flaws, but don’t you know you’re watching a TVB series?

Charmaine Sheh puts in a lively performance. I love her during the comedic moments. Even though I hated how the comedy ruined the serious atmosphere at the wrong times, Charmaine is cute during those moments. However, I did not enjoy her crying and screaming scenes. I did not feel sad for her, just annoyed. Is this a TV Queen performance? I concur Charmaine may be the most suitable candidate to take it, but I do not agree that her performance was the best of the year.

Raymond Lam can be a good actor when he’s not hiding behind his chok image. His character in Line Walker reminds me of Highs and Lows. He’s playful in the beginning, which is fun to watch, but then he starts losing control as his character becomes more serious. He sways his body too much when he’s talking and when he’s screaming, his eyes grow infinitely larger.

Next we have our lovebirds, Sammy Sum and Sharon Chan. It would have been so lovely if they had realized their love for each other earlier and eloped together, far, far away from this series. Actually, I didn’t mind Sammy too much. Handsome man and has the poise of a finance whiz when he's not being so lovesick. Sharon is the real problem here. Her character is supposed to be an intelligent madam-turned-unofficial UC who ends up saving the day.  But Sharon does not fit into this type of role. Watch The Ultimate Addiction and watch this and you will know what I mean. She doesn’t carry that brilliance on her and she only ends up looking pretentious.

Michael Miu and Elena Kong’s story was the truly touching love story. Not overbearing, not dumb, but a mature relationship, portrayed by two fantastic veterans. Michael, ever so fit at his age, is perfect for this type of good cop perhaps turned bad cop role. Michael can do what Raymond cannot, that is, look chok while still not forgetting to act. Elena also does a fine, fine job. Completely believable as an abused woman and then finding her strength as a lawyer standing up against injustice.

Never imagined Benz Hui could pull off this kind of role. Samantha Ko succeeds at being icy, but not much else. Her face looks really plastic in HD. Oscar Leung was trying too hard to act cool with the way he walks and holds out his arms. All Patrick Tang had to do was perpetually squint his eyes in anger until he died. Same old Toby Leung, whose status at TVB seems to be falling rapidly. They could have cut her out completely and no one would have noticed. Ankie Beilke appears to have taken the role as TVB’s new seductive heiress.

Rating: 4/5. That’s the number of UCs in a room at any given time.