After watching this last night I was so impressed I had to let all you HK cinema fans on here know just how damned good it was! It's another Wilson Yip/Donnie Yen team up and anybody who has seen Dragon Tiger Gate or Sha Po Lang will know what this means.
The story is the usual HK cop after the bad guy movie, but it's very dark and brooding. There isn't alot of action for the first hour but the story is compelling as Donnie Yen tries to track down the 3 strong Vietnamese gang. While the gang isn't as ruthless as the criminals in Dog Bite Dog (then again I don't think there are ANY movies with bad guys as ruthless as that movie!) they are pretty close.
Donnie Yen is an incredibly acclompished Martial Artist and it really shows in this movie as unlike Jet Li (who is amazing) it's a more streetfighting MMA style mixing Jiu Jutsu, Thai Boxing, Western Boxing and Chinese Boxing. The end fight scene is one of the most brutal and adrenaline filled I've ever seen. The one edge that Donnie Yen definitely has over Jet Li is his acting skills and his portrayal in this of the ruthless brooding cop is top notch, surpassing his role in SPL.
If you're a HK cinema cop movie fan then I'd recommend seeing this one. In my opinion it's Donnie Yens finest role to date and the action and intensity makes it one of the finest movies ever to come out of HK. Wilson Yip is quickly catching up to Johnnie To in the directing department as this movie is tight and never loses it's momentum once.
The story is the usual HK cop after the bad guy movie, but it's very dark and brooding. There isn't alot of action for the first hour but the story is compelling as Donnie Yen tries to track down the 3 strong Vietnamese gang. While the gang isn't as ruthless as the criminals in Dog Bite Dog (then again I don't think there are ANY movies with bad guys as ruthless as that movie!) they are pretty close.
Donnie Yen is an incredibly acclompished Martial Artist and it really shows in this movie as unlike Jet Li (who is amazing) it's a more streetfighting MMA style mixing Jiu Jutsu, Thai Boxing, Western Boxing and Chinese Boxing. The end fight scene is one of the most brutal and adrenaline filled I've ever seen. The one edge that Donnie Yen definitely has over Jet Li is his acting skills and his portrayal in this of the ruthless brooding cop is top notch, surpassing his role in SPL.
If you're a HK cinema cop movie fan then I'd recommend seeing this one. In my opinion it's Donnie Yens finest role to date and the action and intensity makes it one of the finest movies ever to come out of HK. Wilson Yip is quickly catching up to Johnnie To in the directing department as this movie is tight and never loses it's momentum once.
