Film review: Firestormis an over-the-top action romp

Firestorm
Starring: Andy Lau Tak-wah, Gordon Lam Ka-tung, Yao Chen, Hu Jun
Director: Alan Yuen Kam-lun
Category: IIB (Cantonese and Putonghua)

This action blockbuster's final 15 minutes are so incredibly over the top that they have to be seen to be believed. They caused many in the audience at the screening I attended to laugh hysterically, and not in a good way. To put it another way: Firestorm may well possess one of the most disastrous climactic scenes ever filmed.

Up until it derailed in spectacular fashion, however, this crime drama-actioner was moving along fairly smoothly. Its lead actor (and co-producer), Andy Lau Tak-wah, was in familiar territory playing a police officer whose determination to see bad guys pay for their crimes leads him down a destructive path. Character actor Gordon Lam Ka-tung did well in a more prominent role than usual, with his ex-con character, To Sing-bong, turning out to be as complex as his former schoolmate and judo rival, Lau's Senior Inspector Lui.

In addition, mainland star Hu Jun provided his criminal kingpin character, Cao Nan, with the requisite charisma and gravitas to make him a formidable opponent for Lui. Furthermore, many of the film's supporting actors invested their roles with enough plausibility. The performances of Kenny Wong Tak-bun and Philip Keung Hiu-man in particular caught the eye.

Less believable, however, was the relationship between Bong and Yao Chen's character Bing. The the two actors don't have much screen chemistry, and Bing's character is criminally underwritten.