Poster of The Bullet Vanishes Photo:CFP

The Silent War and The Bullet Vanishes, two domestic suspense movies, may be the summer's most anticipated movies. Not only are there few Hollywood blockbusters out in theaters, but the directors and cast of these two movies are big household names.

Law Chi-Leung, director ofThe Bullet Vanishes, Alan Mak and Flix Chong, directors and scriptwriters of The Silent War, are Hong Kong directors reputable for their suspense movies. Their latest works come with high expectations.

While these films may not be the best works of the directors, compared to recent commercial movies, these narratives offer more interesting aspects than thrillers with 3D effects.  

'The Silent War'

Mak and Chong made their names known with 2002 hitInternal Affairs and the following two sequels. Recent works include the two Overheard series in 2009 and 2011.

The Silent War is an adaptation ofAn Suan (Secret Plot), written by Mai Jia, pen name for war-themed writer Jiang Benhu. The novel was adapted into a TV drama in 2005.

Like Mai's previous works, it depicts the battles between agents from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Kuomintang during the late 1940s and early 1950s. 

Zhang Xuening (Zhou Xun) is a CPC agent in the 701 Unit, which monitors Kuomintang's communication channels. One day, all signals go out. To track them, Zhang brings He Bing (Tony Leung), a blind man with a superior sense of hearing. 

After successfully helping the unit, He becomes a hero. Zhang then invites a doctor who is back from the US to cure He's sight.

The story, while enjoyable, is not suspenseful. Audiences can predict the plot after He's vision recovers and his hearing decreases; the two are not mutually compatible.

This is not the first time Leung has depicted a blind person, and he portrays a humorous character. But Shen Jing (Mavis Fan), another agent in the 701 Unit, whose father was a Kuomintang member in Taiwan, leaves audiences disappointed, as many expected her character to add interesting elements. 

"There is no core incident that runs through the whole story, nor clear confrontation between two parties," Tian Huiqun, professor at School of Art and Communication, Beijing Normal University, wrote on her Sina Weibo.

The plot seemingly revolves around a blind man. Zhang has an ambiguous relationship with agent Laogui, or Guo Xingzhong (Wang Xuebing), but Shen is just a good-looking person who passes by, Tian wrote. 

In the end, the CPC destroys the plots of Kuomintang, hardly a surprise.

In traditional Chinese culture, there's a belief that the bad will inevitably be punished. For many domestic suspense films, endings leave little space for imagination compared to their Western counterparts, like No Country for Old Men, a thriller and crime film directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen in 2007.

In this film from the US, the killer manages to run away and evade the police.

Chinese audiences often compare The Silent War with The Message (2009), as the latter was also adapted from Mai's novel and depicts a spy story between the CPC and the Japanese army during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

Though the latter did not achieve the same box office success during the first week, it left a strong impact on audiences.

'The Bullet Vanishes'

Compared with Mak and Chong, Law is more interested in combining horror and suspense, revealed in previous films like Inner Senses andCurse of the Deserted. This is continued inThe Bullet Vanishes.

In an armory, a female worker is killed after she is suspected of stealing a container of bullets. Several days after her death, workers in the factory are mysteriously killed one by one, without the trace of bullets or murder weapons. A rumor rises that the ghost of the murdered female worker is seeking revenge.

To solve these puzzles, detectives Song Donglu (Sean Lau) and Guo Zhui (Nicholas Tse) launch investigations.

LikeThe Silent War, humorous elements are inserted, and the suspense is better played thanThe Silent War. Audiences are led by protagonists to search for the murderer, in a story with twists and turns. 

Movie critic Fang Liuxiang gave the movie seven out of 10 stars.

He said that superficially, the film is about solving how the bullets vanish after people are killed. But on a deeper level, the director depicts the inner struggles of humanity.

There are two notable relationships between Guo and Xiaoyunque (Yang Mi), and Song and a female prisoner (Jiang Yiyan). "This seems insignificant, but is related to the development of the murders," Fang said.     

Yet, many think this movie is a copycat, as scenes are similar to the 2009 film,Sherlock Holmes.

"The explosion scene in the latter part happens in slow motion, like Sherlock Holmes," Ada Cao, a film patron in Beijing said.

As legal medical expert Guo Jingsong analyzed, there are flaws in the story. For example, initially, the detectives thought the murderer was using ice bullets. But this is not feasible, as ice melts before entering the human body. 

Guo told the Global Times that in reality, ice bullets are not easily transported and must be carried in a container to prevent melting.

Yet, for most audiences hoping for an escape, the few inaccuracies do not take away from an overall suspenseful and intriguing story.