SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Good concept, poorly executed.

From my favorite movies..

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Personally when it comes to Johnnie To's early crime movies I find Ching Wan Lau character in "The Longest Nite" and "Running Out of Time" much more artfully crafted and intriguing. Similarly I favor Simon Yam in To's "The Mission" and "Fulltime Killer". I didn't fully accept the chemistry between Yam and Lau in this feature, which granted it is sufficient to deliver the plot, but in my opinion it just never reached the competitive potential it could have been. Regardless of where this movie ranks on To's overall filmography, it is still worth a watch as the tension is fierce and keeps the audience interested from start to finish.It's a heist movie, and with a title like "Expect the Unexpected" it's going to have some twists. Good news, the twists do deliver. I won't mention any details about the plot because the synopsis is unbelievably simple as are the synopses for most of To's films, but the director's execution and his ability to gain strong feedback from the actors makes the viewing experience worthwhile. It does have some serious flaws though, my biggest complaint besides the chemistry between the two male leads are the amount of tonal shifts present. A romance subplot is thrown in, and the action scenes meshed with the romantic scenes don't blend very well. The movie takes the viewer through an unnecessary emotional roller coaster due to this romance subplot, and I feel it could have been handled in a more subtle manner, but that's always easier to say looking back in hindsight. -6/10Johnnie To once again does an excellent job delivering a solid crime thriller which is still enjoyable to watch 15 years later. Didn't care for the premise but other fans might. Once again also from 1998 and by Johnnie To, I prefer "The Longest Nite" with Tony Leung and Ching Wan Lau, as I find this thriller haunting and much more effective with its twists. If you enjoy Expect the Unexpected definitely give the other a watch as they go hand in hand, and may To continue to do what he does best in the coming years. Thanks for reading.

About the only thing unexpected about this movie was how muddled and uneven it was. So much so that the surprise ending lost all of it's impact. In fact, it seemed tacked on, almost as if it belonged in another movie. Actually, it felt like there were two movies sandwiched together -- a goofy romantic comedy with a violent cop drama. Because the romantic triangle became silly and childish, it was hard to take the ending seriously. It's too bad because there were some good things in it such as Lau Ching Wan. The idea (randomness of life, etc, etc) was good. The execution wasn't.

First I like to say that I see a lot of movies and I have quite a few HK movies. Many HK movies are so bad that it is hard to believe, often ruined by typical ridiculous HK humor and unrealistic acting, but hidden among all those disappointing movies are some really good movies, sometimes so violent, morbid or tragic that they could never have been made in Hollywood. And thats what I like; serious violence, tragic, suspense, maybe a little romance but not too much and absolutely no HK humor. Unfortunately, Expect the Unexpected is not one of those very good movies, even though the ending is enough to make sure that it would be impossible for Hollywood to do a remake of the movie (not that they would want to).The beginning of the movie is good and the ending is even better, but everything in between is uninteresting romantic crap. The violence in the movie is good,consisting of realistic shootouts with some good bloodsquibs. There are no John Woo style massacres, the action is not so stylistic but more realistic. The problem is that most of the movie is a boring study of the cops romantic problems and childish courting. The directing is good, the problem is the weak story. The actors are also good. Ching Wan Lau is one of my favorites, but I recommend for instance "A Hero Never Dies" , "Full Alert" or "Running out of Time" if you want to see him in much better movies. 5/10

Expect the Unexpected(1998) is a supurb police thriller that reminded me a little bit of Dennis Hopper's Colors(1987). It is good at looking at the friendship and working angle of a police unit. The movie deals with a crime unit who are after two sets of jewel thieves. The ending is one of the most surprising ones that I've seen. Expect the Unexpected's finale is something you will never see in a Hollywood action or buddy film anytime soon or in the near future.