Leap

Peter Chan's latest film is part sports feel-good, part Chinese propaganda. It's a little disappointing to see that's the direction he's been going in lately, then again he's hardly the only director who has chosen this path. For what it's worth though, considering the sentimental mess Leap could've been, it's not all that bad.

The film focuses on China's women volleyball team, more particularly the role Lang Ping played in its success. From being one of the players that brought them their first international success, to ending up coaching them back to former glory years later, Leap picks out the key moments in Ping's career.

Li Gong plays is a surprising choice for the lead, but she does a commendable job. The games are pretty exciting and Chan doesn't always go with the most obvious choices, but the film's underlying motives are a little too obvious and 2 hours is quite long, even though there's quite a lot of ground to cover. It's certainly not as bad as it could've been, but Peter Chan can do so much better.