Some things should just stay on your TV. This new Hong Kong film is adapted from the popular TVB series, “E.U.,” about a police mole named Laughing Gor (Michael Tse) who infiltrates the rival gang of his old triad boss. Director Herman Yau might be a seasoned pro, but even his steady hand can’t save this film, which frankly has no place being made to begin with. The problems? Start with the clichéd storyline (star-crossed romance, moral conflicts of double agents and what-not), queer pacing and lame acting by the same old pretty faces on TVB—of course, this wouldn’t be out of place on TVB, but this is a feature film! It seems the producers realized that it was turning into basically an extended episode of the series, which is the only reason they would have called in veteran method actors Anthony Wong and Francis Ng to play the rival triad bosses. They utterly overshadow Tse, who is supposed to be the star here. You simply can’t help but feel ripped off—you’re paying for a ticket to see an overly long episode of a lukewarm TV series.

2/5 Stars by Winnie Yeung.

Hong Kong. Directed by Herman Yau. Starring Michael Tse, Anthony Wong, Yuen Biao, Francis Ng, Fala Chen. Continuing. AMC, BC, GH, MCL