A man with plans to propose to his girlfriend hides an engagement ring in the ancient underwater ruins off Japan's Yonaguni Island. However, the romantic underwater proposal soon goes horribly wrong when a freak accident befalls him.
by lee_santoso
on 08/08/2008 1 of 3 people found this review helpful
What I loved most: pretty actresses to look at?
What I really hated: The whole damn movie.
First hour, Tsui hark tries to be M. Night shamylan then before you know it, the second half becomes a korean MTV. Bad. Trust me all the buildup in the first hour....you would then realize its all for nothing. He should stick to kung fu movies
"Missing" is a story of romance and mystery that happens in a real life Asian Atlantis, Yonaguni, a sunken ancient city lying between Taiwan and Japan. The story started when Jing Gao met Dave Chen. Their friendship evolved into a deep love for each other and Dave Chen decided to propose to Jing Gao. The engagement ring was hidden somewhere in the mysterious underwater ancient ruins where he planned to propose to her.
It was supposed to be a happy ending but Dave disappears without a trace, leaving Gao Jing in a dilemma. She resorts to consulting spirits and phantoms in order to find Dave, but Dave's sister Helen does not believe that her brother is dead and insists on finding his head as proof of his death. At the ruins, they find a camcorder and a human head belonging to a woman who drowned at the mysterious ruins a year ago. Thus, the story begins.
Given the teaser in the trailer, scary and horrible scenes were anticipated. However, the story was more of a sentimental love story between Dave and Jing Gao, an emotional film about love and loss. It doesn't really chill us with creepy moments. However the relationship between Dave and Jing Gao was remarkable. It touches the hearts of the audience with Jing Gao's sacrifice at the end of the story.
This movie is a little confusing because in the end it was all just Jing Gao's hallucinations after the tragic loss of her memory. "Missing" may be a bigger disappointment than movies like "The Eye" or "Shutter" that managed to horrify and scare the living daylight out of their audiences. The spirits and apparitions in this movie weren't all that bloodcurdling compared to previous ghost movies.
“Missing†is a story of romance and mystery that happens in a real life Asian Atlantis, Yonaguni, a sunken ancient city lying between Taiwan and Japan. The story started when Jing Gao met Dave Chen. Their friendship evolved into a deep love for each other and Dave Chen decided to propose to Jing Gao. The engagement ring was hidden somewhere in the mysterious underwater ancient ruins where he planned to propose to her.
It was supposed to be a happy ending but Dave disappears without a trace, leaving Gao Jing in a dilemma. She resorts to consulting spirits and phantoms in order to find Dave, but Dave’s sister Helen does not believe that her brother is dead and insists on finding his head as proof of his death. At the ruins, they find a camcorder and a human head belonging to a woman who drowned at the mysterious ruins a year ago. Thus, the story begins.
Given the teaser in the trailer, scary and horrible scenes were anticipated. However, the story was more of a sentimental love story between Dave and Jing Gao, an emotional film about love and loss. It doesn’t really chill us with creepy moments. However the relationship between Dave and Jing Gao was remarkable. It touches the hearts of the audience with Jing Gao’s sacrifice at the end of the story.
This movie is a little confusing because in the end it was all just Jing Gao’s hallucinations after the tragic loss of her memory. “Missing†may be a bigger disappointment than movies like “The Eye†or “Shutter†that managed to horrify and scare the living daylight out of their audiences. The spirits and apparitions in this movie weren’t all that bloodcurdling compared to previous ghost movies.
From the trailer and synopsis of the movie, you would have expected the storyline to be a little more imaginative. Unfortunately, everything about the movie made the two hours in the cinema feel like a lifetime in a confined box with nothing but another box as entertainment.
The cast did very badly in the movie. I was half expecting them to suddenly burst out laughing and ask to do another take somewhere in the scenes. You could see that they were 'acting' which made the whole movie seem fake and boring.
The plot simply made the viewers confused and frustrated. In the beginning, we have ghastly ghosts trying to scare the heck out of Gao Jing, the main actress, and just when you thought the movie was going to end because everything was just a hallucination, they give you these long-winded love scenes of the girl and her dead boyfriend. Not only that, there were so many scenes that made the viewers go 'What? But I thought...' Yes, I thought so, too.
To assume that the special effects for this movie could have at least been acceptable would be wrong. The CGI for the scene of an old, grandmother ghost burning some 'hell money' looked like something that was made in the late 90's or early 2000's. The makeup for the more 'real' ghosts were just awful. You could see that they were covered in light blue paint, groaning and moaning with intentions to make it all seem scary.
Granted, the cheap trick of sound effects did make me jump in my seat a few times, but mind you, I have nightmares of Smeagol. So this would be nothing for horror film lovers. The dubbing for this movie actually made it worse. The acting was already bad but equipped with equally bad dubbing, it just left the viewers wondering what made them spend any amount of money on this movie.
Seriously, you're better off watching any other horror or slasher movie when compared to this.
