Divergence (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

Later, while following dispassionate criminal lawyer To (Ekin Cheng, in a humorously subdued performance), Sean spots someone he believes to be his girlfriend (Angelica Lee), who has been missing for the last 10 years. Is it her? Or does the woman, who is also To's wife, just happen to bear a striking resemblance to Sean's missing girlfriend, who vanished one night, never to return. And why does hired killer Coke seem to be intimating that he knows something about what happened to Sean's girlfriend? Add to this a subplot about a vigilante serial killer, the case of a dirty businessman's suddenly missing son (who is also a manufactured pop star, no less), and there are enough subplots in Divergence for two movies. Or three.

Divergence seems less concerned with the police angle than following the slowly self-destructing career of Sean - which is a good thing, because Sean makes for an interesting character, while the cop stuff smells of cop movie clichés. Divergence makes for very interesting viewing, even though there's nothing overly special about the film, and one finds it difficult to explain why it makes for worthwhile viewing. In a bit of false advertisement, the film opens with a good action scene where Coke dispatches of Sean's witness, followed up by a cat-and-mouse game between Sean and Coke that seems to go nowhere. There are other subplots, such as Sean's continued search for his missing girlfriend, his stalking of To's wife, and his visits to the mortuary where he converses with morgue guy Eric Tsang (doing cameo duty along with Lam Suet). There's also a final, violent gun battle in the rain to close things out, but it's interesting to note that the sequence doesn't involve any of the three main characters, none of whom appears on scene until the last shot has been fired.

Of the three main principals, Aaron Kwok gets most of the screentime, with Ekin Cheng and Daniel Wu slipping in and out of the film at random intervals, seemingly to remind us that they have something to do with the movie (but fear not, all is revealed at film's end). Divergence keeps its major question (Is To's wife Sean's missing girlfriend?) unanswered until the very end, which is a good idea from a scripting point of view, but a poor one if you are a fan of Angelica Lee, who is criminally underused. Coming off the excellent A1, and before that the equally excellent Koma, it's disappointing to see Lee in a supporting role that keeps her in the background with nothing to do.

Divergence is an interesting film in many respects. As an action film, it doesn't always deliver on the goods, and as a crime film, it's also a bit lacking. But as a character film, it's quite good, helped in no small part by Aaron Kwok's affecting performance. Ekin Cheng is mostly a non-entity, and Daniel Wu, fresh off his award-winning role in Jackie Chan's New Police Story, seems to be having a ball. Although hard to pin down, Divergence makes for intriguing viewing, if only because it's a very odd film, and it makes you wish there was about 30 more minutes of movie time available just to get everything in.

Movie Grade: 3.5 out of 5 stars

By Nix - BeyondHollywood.com