Director: Benny Chan
Year: 2021
Country: Hong Kong/China
Alternate Titles: No fou
Genre: Action
Plot:
Shan (Donnie Yen) is a highly respected hardline cop with a long history of success in dangerous cases. However, his past unexpectedly comes back to haunt him when a sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo (Nicholas Tse), his former protégé, a talented former officer who had once respected and admired Shan. However, a terrible mistake three years prior landed him in prison, quickly turning the once-rising star into a furious man with a grudge, and the will to destroy everyone who had wronged him—including his former mentor.
Review:
This is easily one of the finest Action films of the year. Most of the films' success lies in its strong storyline that makes the fighting between the two feel organic and natural. The initial background featured here involving them being acquaintances on the police force and were together in a mentor/protege relationship until they split following an interrogation-gone-wrong gives this more depth than normal. Given the fact that this information is not dumped at once but is gradually revealed over the course of the film as more info is known about the intruders and their connection to the police force. Knowing that they were involved in the same squad and got separated when the cop ratted everyone out and sent them to jail by doing his job sets the two off on their own path. Knowing they could’ve had their roles reversed in a simple twist of fate creates a strong, intertwined storyline that adds a surprising amount of depth to a film like this.
On top of this, the film is an exceptionally enjoyable Action showcase vehicle. It starts off marvelously with a multi-tiered shootout in an office building between three gun-wielding groups that's one of the most energetic and engaging pieces in the genre, moving swiftly around the room to feature the various encounters between the thugs, the intruding group of robbers, and the police team trying to intervene. Later scenes featuring the team of cops taking down the thugs carrying out their own heists and robberies that devolves into a series of high-energy chases, shootouts, and hard-hitting martial arts battles that are all effortless dynamic, and engaging. Bringing the action into a confined, close-quarters style that remains realistic as well as highly impressive choreography that adds to the overall experience, making for a frenetic and highly enjoyable time.
There are a few flaws found in this one. The biggest issue is the film's inability to steer clear of running through the motions of its familiar setup that remains a simple cops vs. robbers scenario. The greatness of the connection between the two is really all the film has going for it in the story department to stand out as the rest of the film is a familiar route to travel along. A criminal is displaying flagrant disregard for the law and committing various offenses requiring a determined cop and his team to bring them down is where this ends up at the basest level and nothing is really done on top of that storyline. That also manages to highlight a secondary flaw in that by being more of a police procedural during the middle segments, the pacing is dragged down to focus on the police holding several meetings to investigate the crimes. Holding back the action and shootouts to get these endless scenes of the police squad sitting around the office going over the case does cause this to be somewhat longer than it should.
As well, the other factor to think about with the film is an unnecessary side-story that also makes this longer than necessary. A strange late-film addition to the storyline suddenly involves the officer coming under conflict from the Internal Affairs division for his actions at one of the crime scenes for an incident beyond his control. The whole point of the scene is to add more drama to the fire between him and the gang leader which is about the same thing regarding police brutality and the chain of command. With the storyline featuring the characters coming under attack because of their disregard for the normal politics and bureaucracy within the force as a central explanation for everything, this attempts to tie together what’s going on as a new way to stumble the investigation. The point is to tie in the red tape that exists within the police force that caught the criminal up and caused him to turn out the way he did but the inclusion is unnecessary, dropped almost immediately afterward by an illegal process to disrupt the IA investigation, and serves no purpose overall. It just adds a few extra minutes for no reason, with these few issues bringing it down slightly.
Overview: ****/5
Filled with breathtaking action, impressive storyline work, and a few minor flaws that do stick out in here, this one has plenty of positives to make for one of the best action films in the style overall. Any fan of the genre or the creative crew looking to pay respects to Chan’s work should seek this out immediately while only those bothered by the flaws should heed caution.
This review was originally written for Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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