bob the moo When watching The Hire: Ambush recently I hadn't realised that it was actually a series of films rather than just a specially made one-off. The second film in the series is Chosen, directed, to my surprise, by none other than Ang Lee! The plot here is essentially the same in that we are given sparse details to allow a chase sequence to be set up. This time the driver has a very young monk (clearly earmarked for a great destiny) and he has to evade capture again. Unlike Ambush though, this film has an odd tone to it as it plays out over classical music and is general shot with a still air of calm in contrast to the action.As a result i didn't find it quite as thrilling as I could have done but it did work pretty well. In particular I liked that it was at night and that the use of selected illumination in certain bits helped add the feeling of speed and danger. I also enjoyed the tight manoeuvring in small areas being the focus rather than speed – so it is still a chase but a rather different one. Of course as an advert this shows us the ability of the car to handle really well compared to the others (how they must have enjoyed outclassing and smashing that Mercedes) but it does still work as a chase sequence. The end of the film is perhaps a little weak, but I suppose it has to produce an "end" to the story, even if it doesn't really have much of a story in the first place. Owen is good again, although the little kid is an odd device that distracts a little bit by virtue of the situation. Ang Lee's direction is odd given the nature of the project but it actually works pretty well.Enjoyable little short though, it may well be selling me a car but I appreciate it trying to do it by entertaining me.

Kevo232 I'm sure many others will say this as well, Beat the Devil was my favorite, but this isn't given enough credit. I disagreed with a comment I read about this film, so I felt I needed to give it what it deserves. The comment I am referring to discounted Lee as "making action to poetic". This was a bad thing to him, thats where I disagree. The car chase scene in this is genius, it IS like the cars are dancing. It's choreographed so well and makes you think of action in a whole new light. There is plenty of action directors you can go to if you want to see the same thing over and over. If you want something new and revolutionary in the action genre, watch this short film. I loved it, 8/10.

TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews I know that many think of Ang Lee as a very good, interesting director... but I don't. He makes action(if you can even call it that, when he's directing) look pretty, poetic... I'm sorry, have I been asleep and awoken in the future, where action isn't supposed to be cool, exciting and intense, like it has been since sometime in the 70's? He can make even the most interesting and exciting scene seem boring and dull. He ruins everything by choreographing his car-chases like cars dancing(like another reviewer points out) and by using classical music during action(again, I don't know if anything in this can be classified as action, since it's so dull). Lee screwed up Hulk by making it drag a hell of a lot and by directing poorly(half of the acting was bad). He ruined what little potential Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had, by having them dancing instead of fighting. He seriously needs to turn his attention to something other than action, or learn how to properly direct action, before the rest of the world wises up and ignores his work. No intensity, no laughs and a cringe-worthy ending make this a waste of time. Skip this one. 6/10

HypnoticEye While John Frankenheimer's AMBUSH was a hardboiled vignette, Ang Lee's THE CHOSEN is an attempt at doing a lighthearted mixture of action and comedy. Unfortunately Ang Lee's comedy falls flat. While he might showcase the BMW's maneuverability to good effect; The actual chase between Clive Owen's enigmatic driver escorting a small Tibetan boy and the mysterious henchmen seeking to harm his charge, is staged in a light jokey tone that eliminated all tension and replaces it with uninspired slapstick. Indeed, as the film progresses to its punchline of a conclusion, one suspects that Ang Lee was seeing how to make a film that kids would like along with adults in preparation for his then-upcoming HULK movie (as hinted at near the end). While the final result might be something BMW owners can show to their children, adults will find themselves bored and frustrated.