If you're going to steal, steal big. In Time and Tide, director/writer/producer Tsui Hark steals from everyone -- John Woo, Wong Kar-Wai, David Fincher, and most of all, himself. After all, Hong Kong pioneer Tsui was there first. (This is about his 70th movie.) Here, he dazzles not only with his brazenness but with his sheer technical skill. Time and Tide is as flashy and incoherent as any Hollywood action spectacle -- maybe more so, since the absurd dueling-mercenaries plot is almost impossible to follow and laughably irrelevant -- but at least Tsui does it on a fraction of the budget and without legions of computer-graphics wizards. One can only hope that Sam Raimi's upcoming Spider-Man will have scenes as good as the many here that feature guys rappelling down buildings and scampering over rooftops, with the camera darting right behind. Tsui fans will probably complain that this trifle is no Peking Opera Blues or Once Upon a Time in China, but film geeks will have fun playing spot-the-allusion. And anyone who appreciates creativity in action sequences without minding the lack of it in overall storytelling will relish the ride. At the Avon Friday and Saturday, September 14 and 15, at midnight.