IN what has been a lacklustre autumn season, Fox Hunter stands out as one of the more enjoyable action films to have fought its way to the screen.
Director-martial arts choreographer Stephen Tung Wai has turned a slight storyline into a sturdy frame on which to hang the requisite number of fight sequences, endowing the main characters with enough psychological depth and giving the proceedings enough humour to make the overall picture more of a success than the usual blow-em-up and shoot-em-down saga.
As is customary in these pictures, the protagonists are antagonists who gradually develop a grudging mutual respect. What is different is that the two heroes are a man and a woman. Furthermore, the gutsier of the two is the latter.
Jennifer Yeung (Jade Leung Cheng) is well-educated and refined. She has two goals in life: to fight for justice and to conquer her fears.
Her partner is Chan Hong (Chan Siu-chun), a two-bit hood turned police informer. He is her opposite in virtually every respect, including his disrespect for the law. But Chan provides an essential link in tracking down Yam Tung (Yam Kwong-ming), an urban terrorist. Much of the movie was shot on location in Guangdong, providing a variety of non-Hong Kong settings that the director puts to good use. The action scenes also employ mainland Chinese characteristics, most notably the use of bicycles.
Though there are numerous humorous moments, the movie has more than its share of gory bits and a body count to rival a minor World War II battle.
The finale, set in a Guangdong department store, is deftly choreographed.