I watched the action film Firestorm on a boiling hot day, hoping a movie about a massive storm on the verge of infringing upon Hong Kong might cool me down. Instead, by the end, I was just as tired, sweaty and unimpressed as I was when I inserted the DVD into my player. Out of all the Chinese movies I have recently had the pleasure of watching, not only is Firestorm the most disappointing, it is almost incredibly unique, in that by the conclusion of the feature, I was bored to death - by the sheer wealth of explosions.Police Inspector Lui (portrayed by the always entertaining Mr. Andy Lau) is a brilliant member of the Hong Kong police, who unfortunately finds himself in the middle of an escalating horrific situation. Not only is he trapped in the middle of a deranged action film, he has to contend with two forces: a storm, that threatens to turn Hong Kong inside out, and a crew of criminals hard pressed to do the same, who are led by the ruthless Cao (Jun Hu).At the same time, Shing (Gordon Lam), a convict recently released from prison, is trying his best to be the man his beautiful girlfriend Yin (Yao Chen) has been waiting patiently for. With a direct connection to Cao's crew, it's no surprise that Lui and he eventually cross paths, as the police inspector comes to realize that usual police tactics will inevitably fail to bring justice.Cao's crew, who at first glance appear to be thieves, are painted as murderous psychopaths. There is little background regarding their motives, and their unrelenting slaughter of civilians feels more like a slasher film with guns rather than an in-depth police drama. This same lacking characterization applies to every individual in the movie, including Lui. Although Mr. Lau has proved time and time again he is a brilliant actor, his character is eventually also pulled into the relentless shoot 'em up, spending more than half the film on the ground after being shot, punched, or blown away by one of many explosions that occupies the plot.Although horrific tragedies do take place, which lead Lui down a questionable path, even in these moments, the audience, despite acknowledging the horror of the event, cannot become emotionally involved, because by the end, the characters remain a collection of total strangers. What's more, Lui's actions, which begin to blur the line between good and rogue have little affect on his character, who doesn't seem to care that the rules he swore to obey might very well be thrown out the window.In the midst of the insanity, there are a couple of beautiful moments that show how family is not just those related by blood, but these are so fleeting, they are barely rememberable. Furthermore, although there are several great fight scenes, alongside a number of explosions that continuously look superb, these blur together overtime, and by the trigger happy conclusion, I was left shaking my head in disbelief, wondering what the point to any of it was. A scene involving white doves is surely a tribute to revered action director John Woo, however the fact there's several dozen of them is outrageously over the top, which clearly reflects the entirety of this production.The strongest moments in the film often involve the arguments between Shing and Yin, where emotions run high and heartbreak and violence is potentially just a moment away. But the film fails to capitalize on the talents of the actors portraying these characters, or this sub-plot, that infrequently appears, and if the creator's had spent less time on the action, and attempted to stretch the back-story of each of the leads, this would have made for a far more effective story. By the end, there's a storm alright - it's just not the one we were promised.

There are 2 ways to be disengaged by this movie: 1) Has to do with reality - as Hong Kong people protest the corruption of the government it makes it seem like the deeds of criminals robbing banks less important, if not infinitely small...2) But societal politics aside, this movie continues a horrendous trend of Hong Kong police action flicks trying so hard to be over the top and out-do better precedents, it misses the mark by being ludicrous beyond belief. Andy Lau is simply too old to be blown off his feet as many times as it happens. Others have noted the ridiculous CGI bullet exchanges with the warped sound effects... A very violent movie with no reason except to be very violent...The longer you hang with this movie the more mind-numbing it becomes and points to the time we live in: while the real world is engulfed in mass inhumanity to man, the fake world of movies, either in Hong Kong or Hollywood, insists on churning out violent stupidity that serves not as escapism nor entertainment...Just twisted dung trying to make a buck...

In recent years I have watched many of such high profile robbery movies like this. But for the life of me this has to be one of the most intense ultra violent movies I have ever witnessed. A cop who personally has a grudge against a mob known for knocking off bank trucks begins to question his own integrity.With every turn, his case becomes even more complex as he searches for a known criminal Cao Nam (Jun Hu). Convinced the man is the mastermind behind every heist Inspector Lui (Andy Lau)then tries to deceive his department by concealing evidence that would put Cao away for life. But because of the city's endless resources of using cameras on every block, he is recorded shifting evidence at a crime scene.Pitted against a wall now Lui recruits an ex-offender Bong (Ka Tung Lam) to become a mole within the harsh environment of Cao's gang. Everything then goes horribly wrong when the police are called in to catch the real genius behind the curtain. That being Paco (Ray Lui) who was released on parole just before Bong.Now with the city in turmoil over a few officer deaths, the last scene of catching Paco turns into one of the most intensifying shoot outs in movie history. Using over twenty thousand bullets, and explosives down town Hong Kong becomes a virtual war zone as police, and Paco's gang exchange firefight every second. Cars, buses, even city blocks are no match.I have to say this was an excellent vision of a heist film. Every element was used. Emotions, deception, rage, anarchy, and closure. Alan Yuen in my view wrote a fantastic script which involved the human nature to its most basic, and minute levels. To see the characters go over board to keep themselves alive aside from the obvious.The music was top notch, the directing was beyond par, and Yuen gave us a glimpse of how so much of china's moral has lessened in the last twenty years. Money is the object now, no more family traditions, nor old or past mistakes taken into account to rectify the future of its citizens. It is a gritty, violent, and audacious piece of filming. Alan Yuen will be the next generations director. Highly recommended to those who love heist films. Not for those under age 17.

If there is one Hong Kong action thriller to watch this year, it is without any doubt the exhilarating 'Firestorm'. Emboldened by the success of last year's 'Cold War', co-producer Bill Kong has set veteran screenwriter Alan Yuen to stage an all-out, no-holds-barred cops-versus- criminals action film set in and around downtown Hong Kong. The result is simply jaw-dropping to say the least, choreographed and executed on a scale we believe has never before been seen in any Hong Kong movie, and better still, complemented by a tight engaging script that draws you into its character-driven plot.There is a hitch though - it does start off rather bumpily. The opening minutes try to pack too many details at one go. A prologue tries to establish Andy Lau and Gordon Lam's respective characters as rivals on the judo mat when they were still kids. Flash forward quickly to present day and Lau's Inspector Lui is the godfather to his informant's (Patrick Keung) autistic daughter. Meanwhile, Lam's ex-con To has just been released from prison, and despite promising his girlfriend, Bing (Chen Yao), that he has turned over a new leaf, quickly falls back on the wrong side of the law. All that backstory makes for a pretty confusing start we must say, but you'll start putting things together once the first major action sequence rolls along.Led by Hu Jun's Nam, a crew of hardened criminals pulls off a daring midday heist on an armoured car. Flawlessly executed and backed with better firepower than the Hong Kong police force, they not only make off with the loot, but also in the process expose the ineptness of Inspector Lui and his partner's (Kenny Wong) team. To rub salt onto their wounds, Nam turns up right after the crime at the police station to taunt Lui by claiming to be a good and responsible citizen returning the badge of one of the police officers who had dropped it during the melee. The cops' only lead lies in To, apprehended at the scene of the crime for ramming his car into that of Lui's but claiming that it was no more than an accident.The trailer would have you know that To eventually becomes Lui's informant, but it isn't quite so straightforward. Indeed, Yuen saves what you might expect would be another 'Infernal Affairs' variant for something much more unpredictable; instead, he focuses his attention in the first half of the movie building up the rivalry between Lui and Nam, the former a strict and rigorous officer of the law who firmly believes that his work is his mission and the latter a smart and cunning criminal mastermind with little restraint and even less mercy. Emphasising Lui's convictions as a police officer, the battle of wits between Lui and Nam is meant also as a test of Lui's own tenacity and, by extension, just where his breaking point lies.To reveal anything more will not do any justice to Yuen's surprisingly twisty and compelling narrative, which plots a gripping trajectory on the way to the formation of a shaky alliance between Lui and To. Except for a deus ex machina that effectively substitutes Nam for another equally vicious criminal named Pak (Ray Lui), the storytelling is pretty much top-notch, deftly using a whole host of characters and their respective motivations to drive the many twists and turns along the way. Chief among that is of course just what will force a law-abiding police officer to his knees such as to abandon his deeply held morals, but aside from that, the more poignant question is in fact what would make a seasoned criminal 'surrender' his personal allegiance to the police.Especially inspired is Yuen's decision to save Lui and To's alliance till the very end, by which time it isn't so much whether To will ultimately betray Lui but whether the latter will do so the former, seeing as how Lui is no longer the rational minded policeman he used to be at the start. It's a pretty nifty twist, made even more exciting by how it plays out right in the middle of an intense gunfight between Pak and his crew with the full force of the Hong Kong police in the middle of a busy street in the Central district. That extended climax is well worth the price of admission alone, not least for the exceptionally coherent choreography by veteran Chin Kar-Lok but also the sheer effort the filmmakers had taken to film what must have been a logistically mind-boggling sequence.But it isn't just by the sheer scale and intensity of this last showdown that you'll be blown away; without any doubt, Chin has outdone himself yet again with quite possibly some of the most daring action scenes performed on the busy bustling streets of Hong Kong. From the opening heist to a confrontation between Lui and Nam's men within a public housing apartment building to a stakeout at a public square in between the Sheung Wan and Central area to the final all-out bullets ballad in the heart of Central, the stunts are never less than thrilling every step of the way - and breathtaking even - for the boldness in imagining and then the dedication to execute them.And for Yuen's ambition of filming a true-blue Hong Kong police thriller, we must say that he has not only accomplished that with 'Firestorm', he has done so exceedingly. This is by far one of the most thrilling Hong Kong action thrillers you'll ever see, not just for its heartstopping action sequences but also for its captivating story of choices, consequences and ultimately principles. It is Hong Kong cinema at its most electrifying, living thoroughly up to its name of being a lightning rod for future such police thrillers to come.