ReviewUltimate Revenge movie review: Hong Kong cops-and-robbers drama is all brawn and no brains

While its gritty approach to action might excite diehard fans of the genre, this latest effort by emerging director Terry Ng Ka-wai (The Unwavering Brotherhood, 2024) has presumably blown most of its budget on pyrotechnics. That would explain why screenwriter Ronald Chan Kin-hung phoned in a story so haphazardly constructed that it reflects poorly on both the police and their criminal counterparts.

Essentially a mindless rehash of the “dual vendetta” premise that has been a fixture of Hong Kong crime dramas for decades – recently seen in films such as Shock Wave (2017), Raging Fire (2021) and Bursting Point (2023) – Ultimate Revenge begins with a deadly shoot-out between policemen and violent thugs, igniting an escalating series of conflicts as both sides seek to avenge their fallen comrades.

In a disastrously executed sting operation to root out an armed robbery gang, police sergeant Ben (Alex Fong Chung-sun) mortally wounds one of three criminal brothers, while the remaining pair, Dragon (Louis Cheung Kai-chung) and Mo (Andy On Chi-kit), kill the exposed undercover officer as payback.