Last Updated: 7:05am, May 31, 2014

Cast: Sean Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo, Daniel Wu, Zhou Xun, Michelle Ye, Gordon Lam, Alex Fong Chung-Sun, Huang Lei

Director: Alan Mak & Felix Chong

Ratings: 3.5 (out of *****)

Opening date: Now showing

A DRAMATIC espionage thriller on the controversial topic of Hong Kong's insider property trading, duked out with wiretapping, hacking and high technology, as the characters attempt to outsmart each other to be the last one standing.

Plot: Based before the Hong Kong handover to China in 1997, every native born male resident in the New Territories are granted the right to build a house. Headed by a fearsome Uncle To, the four Luk brothers are powerful figures in crime activities in the area.

When the government decided to gather all remaining land rights from residents with plans to build taller apartment buildings, it becomes a fight between property developers, including Uncle To's, to swallow an enormous property development project for New Territories. This results in Ah Zhau (played by Koo), who works for Uncle To, having to stage a fatal car accident for which he goes to prison.

Five years later, Ah Zhau is released and Uncle To's corporation has grown more powerful, but the Luk brothers, led by eldest brother Keung, are increasingly greedy and ambitious. Through wiretapping, their plans to double cross everyone begins to unravel.  

Best Scene: When the action finally shifts into high gear with the exposing of the four brother's activities to local residents via video, causing a funny reaction and at the same time tragic consequences.

Reel Thoughts: Overheard 3 is the third and final instalment of directors Alan Mak and Felix Chong (Infernal Affairs I, II, III) award-winning trilogy on espionage and corruption. It has been touted as the biggest and most daring climax to the series, centred controversially on Hong Kong's insider property trading.

Chong said Overheard 3 shies from the cops and gangsters plot of the first two films, moving into a more human psychology driven plot.

Describing it as a sensitive topic no one has dared to tackle, both Mak and Chong felt that insider property trading was an issue ripe to be made into movies, though they acknowledged a degree of risk.

Revolving around a land earmarked for development in Hong Kong for over 40 years but has undergone no progress due to "historical legacy" issues, the pair's realistic and rather ambitious approach initially took lead actor Koo by surprise, predicting uproar due to the controversial dialogue.

That would remain to be seen. However, the first thing audiences would notice in this film is that it is not shot in a contemporary setting. Although the timeline is not specifically addressed – one gets the feeling that it was deliberately so – the styles and other details are reminiscent of the 1980s or at the very least pre-millennium.

The initial synopsis released mentioned the 80s. This has somewhat slipped through nearer the film's release, and though the fashion and styles (Alex Fong's hairstyle almost steals the show, matched by a great performance) are dated, the other details are blurred.  

In short you are required to accept that slim laptops, tablets, smartphones and 3G technology exists, alongside App games and The Venetian Macau. CCTV footages are also seen in HD clarity.

Well, it is a film about wiretapping and hacking, to do so without technology would be difficult. That being said, it somewhat removes from the actors' strong performance in creating a believable world way back when – the reason this movie works.

It is thanks to a solid veteran cast and the directors' ability to richly capture and flush out the psyche, culture and issue that gives Overheard 3 depth and soul.  

Rather than explore the dangers and thrills of espionage, Mak and Chong simply presents the unfolding plot using wiretapping as a tool. Right from the onset, Wu's character as the tech genius had already set everything in place.

As a thriller, the movie presented many promising potential twists, holding us in suspense, and sometimes confusion, right till the climax scene, then unravels all too quickly with a bombastic kill-all car fight.

Personally, it wasn't satisfying. I was left wanting much more than what was promised, led on and strung along until they decided the time was up.

Overheard 3 is memorable and engaging as a human drama story, less so an espionage masterpiece. The verdict: Watch it for the actors.

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