Starring: Donnie Yen Ji-dan, Simon Yam Tat-wah,
Sammo Hung Kam-bo
Director: Wilson Yip Wai-shun
The film: With all the questions being asked about the cause of the dismal state of affairs in Hong Kong cinema, it's ironic that one of the better films to come out of the past 12 months goes right back to the basics. While the calls go out for more diversity in local product, Wilson Yip Wai-shun's frantic SPL shows that, when pushed, no one really does good, old-fashioned action better than Hong Kong.
It helps Yip's cause no end that he was able to recruit Donnie Yen Ji-dan to handle the action choreography (as well as star) and the seemingly ageless Sammo Hung Kam-bo to breath life into a wonderfully wicked villain. Add the ever reliable Simon Yam Tat-wah to the mix, and the ingredients are there for something special.
Yen plays a cop charged with tracking down a tearaway gang leader (Hung). He's brought into the job because his predecessor (Yam) is dying of a brain tumour and, we can suppose, fixing this little problem will bring a happy end to his life. But - in the tradition of the Hard-Boileds of yore - there's no black and whites when it comes to Hong Kong crime, just those shades of grey. Yen's man starts out going by the book, but soon finds it has no chapters telling him to how deal with the likes of the foe he now faces. And Yip (right) goes some way to looking at the lengths people will go to in order to right society's wrongs.