风暴(中环和华仔都被玩坏了)

For viewers who aren't too fond of action films, Firestorm can be a bit intense, but there is still much to appreciate. Upon walking out of the cinema, I remember the numerous gunshots and explosions; I remember being dazzled by the flashing images; and I vividly remember the aftermath of the lethal struggle between the Hong Kong police and the most vicious villain in recent cinematic history. Veteran megastar Andy Lau starred in and produced the film. He goes up against Ray Lui, Lam Katung and mainland actor Hu Jun. The bad guys are well equipped with rifles, shotguns, grenade launchers and C4 and they do not hesitate to kill anyone who prevents them from robbing cash trucks. That puts Andy Lau's character in a difficult situation. As a policeman that thrives on law and order, he cannot bring in the suspects unless there is enough evidence. But since the professional villains spare no one during their actions, they are able to stay at large until the police change their strategy. 53-year-old Lau has always been known for being a dedicated actor, and this time round, as if to redeem the failure of his previous outing earlier this year, he obviously put extra effort into shooting Firestorm. Throughout the film, he is two car accidents, shot at and blown up by C4 numerous times, and he filmed most of these scenes without a stunt double. Mainland actor Hu Jun does well enough, but his character is too simplistic by comparison. Mainland actress Yao Chen also appears in the story but her acting skills and accent make her incompatible with the rest of the film. The action is non-stop. The sound of gunshots is often deafening and the bloody scenes threaten to dampen your senses. The Hong Kong police have not been challenged by such nefarious villains in the cinema for years, not since the Overheard series, but even that focused more on storytelling than action. The topic of crime drama was exhausted by the "Infernal Affairs" series. Similar movies that followed the series were merely mediocre repercussions. However, Firestorm sounds like a particularly loud one. The film has led to concern regarding the future of Hong Kong cinema. Many critics underscore the fact that recent films coming out of the island city have been dominated by veteran actors from Hong Kong and actresses from the mainland. Surely, this combination is the best guarantee for grossing in both the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong markets, but that's unlikely to help once the veterans gradually retire. On a scale from one to ten, I give Firestorm a six.