A Gilded Game 猎金游戏 Review: Not Even Andy Lau Can Save Herman Yau’s Bland Financial Thriller
A Gilded Game — previously The Trading Floor when it was first in development in 2022 — marks a significant departure for the prolific Herman Yau since his financial thriller focuses primarily on verbal exchange and the inner workings of the IPO process, investment banking and stock trading. All without the added action set pieces and stunts commonly found in his movies these days. The only action we see here is Yau’s intention to incorporate market manipulation, shady dealing and investment fraud in the vein of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street and Alan Mak and Felix Chong’s Overheard 2. It’s all good on paper, but the execution tells a different story altogether.
But first, the plot: Yau, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zhao Wenliang and Gao Yuhui, follows top financial student Gao Han (Ou Hao), who got his six-month internship at the international investment bank Bluestone. His determination and can-do attitude eventually impress the company’s chief analyst, Todd Zheng (a grey-haired Andy Lau), where the latter subsequently takes him under his wing. Gao soon learn the ropes and gained experience honing his negotiation skills and closing deals with elite clients.
The story took a turning point when the company boss, played by the icy Huang Yi, entices Gao with an offer he can’t refuse: a promotion and a house. The offer proves to be too tempting for Gao not to accept, even if it means betraying his mentor. It looks to me that Yau wants to depict the cutthroat world of the high finance. But the way he executes Gao Han’s character arc from an inexperienced intern earning the trust of his eventual mentor, Todd Zheng, to the betrayal motivated by greed suffers from his usual mistake: perfunctory storytelling, coupled with the same old pedestrian direction that barely scratches the surface.
Even after Yau raises the so-called stakes halfway through his movie, the pace remains curiously flat, and the aftermath of Todd Zheng’s fate with the company feels like it’s glossed over, almost devoid of dramatic tension. It just meanders around with Yau injecting subplots surrounding Gao and Todd’s respective relationships with their loved ones, played by Jiang Mengjie and Ni Ni. Both actresses are nothing more than appearing as token female interests, who contribute little in their sadly undermined roles to the already tedious movie.
But nothing bothers me the most with a scene that must be seen to be believed. Let’s just say it has something to do with one of the characters seeking forgiveness and redemption. The kind of baffling moment that makes me wonder if Yau ever cares to revise his story and direction before finalising the result. Again, his typically haphazard approach to drawing conclusions or shifting the character arc remains his biggest problem. By the time he attempts to ratchet up the tension again in the battle-of-wits third act, it’s all too late and too little. This is especially true with the abruptness and little justification from the largely underwritten characters and the overall sloppy storytelling.
Ou Hao may look the part of an ambitious young man who wants to make it to the top of the corporate ladder. But Yau’s direction doesn’t do him enough justice, given how Ou Hao’s character is being hastily written. The same also goes for the otherwise charismatic Andy Lau, and while I appreciate he doesn’t resort to overacting, his attempt at a subdued performance barely made much of a lasting impression. It doesn’t help that the movie’s underlying mentor-protégé dynamics lack the much-needed depth.
Not to mention the movie’s protracted 129-minute length and given Yau’s extensive background in cinematography, I just can’t help but realise the visuals and camerawork (save for a few crane shots) seem like they belong to an uncinematic, made-for-TV drama. A Gilded Game is yet another creative fiasco for Herman Yau after his dismal Moscow Mission and last year’s big-budget letdown of Customs Frontline.
