Rating: **
Review Date: 6/1/13
Cast: Yukari Oshima, Wai Lam, Ngai Sing, Yuen Wah, Ken Lo,
cameo by Hsiao Ho
Perennial bad guy Yuen Wah is setting up a drug smuggling operation between Hong Kong and Hangzhou, and Chinese cops Wai Lam and Yukari Oshima are assigned to investigate. This leads to an escalating cycle of violence and revenge as the good guys and bad guys start killing each other off. Side plots of Sing and Oshima getting married along with Lam desperately trying to help his ailing mother are quickly abandoned in favor of gang violence. Ultimately, Lam, Oshima, and Wah end up duking it out in a warehouse full of illegal drugs and guns.
Pretty standard Hong Kong action fare that does nothing to distinguish itself from so many others. It's always nice seeing Yukari Oshima in action, but she suffers from a hideous wardrobe (a bright red sweatsuit?), overly pale makeup, and an unflattering haircut. Thankfully, these have no affect on her punching and kicking ability. Yuen Wah makes a wonderful villain and his shifty glances are just priceless. Heavy hitters Ken Lo and Ngai Sing are sorely underutilized, but they help bring the action up a notch. While it brings nothing new to a tired genre, it's always refreshing to see this style of flashy, hard hitting, ground-based fighting, which sadly fell out of favor back in the 1990s.