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CHINA
STRIKE FORCE
AKA:
Thunder Cop
Year:
2000 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
Darren
(Kwok) and Alex (Wang Lee Hom) are two members of China's
elite law enforcement team. While attending a fashion show organised
by Alex's girlfriend, the partners witness the assassination
of one of the guests and give chase to two suspects: the first
is the super-charged assassin chased by Darren; the second is
an alluring Japanese woman who appears to take something from
the body of the victim. After both parties escape, Alex and
Darren focus their investigation into the reasons behind the
death and the real identity of Norika - the mysterious
Japanese woman. When the probing inquiry continues and local
businessman Ma is suspected of some involvement, a drug
smuggling ring is uncovered alongside local corruption within
the police force. Implicated in the plot is Alex's future
father-in-law (Paul Chun Pui) and the nephew of Ma (Dacascos).
The double-crossing and subterfuge reach a conclusion
with the revealing of Norika's hidden motives and the
inevitable all-action finale.
Critical
opinion is sharply divided on the recent slew of Hong Kong
'Blockbusters' and 'China Strike Force' is no exception. Many
have lambasted the obvious allusion to the big-budget
Hollywood action features while others have tried to gain some
comfort from the ambitious nature of the film. It's hard to
sit completely in either camp as this is a production of
wildly differing qualities and weaknesses. It's perhaps ideal
to isolate and examine both aspects.
First
the positive points. The main reason that many would flock to
'China Strike Force' is the much-heralded spectacle on offer.
In this department the film ranks as a success. Although there
isn't as much action as the first 30 minutes implies, when it
does come it is well worth the wait. Harking back to the kind
of crazed adrenalin-rush that made Hong Kong so famous, 'China
Strike Force' features some incredible stunt-work that will
have many reaching for the rewind option. Director Tong also
makes sure that all of the main cast look adequate as screen
fighters; this isn't necessary in the case of Dacascos, but
Fujiwara and Kwok look surprisingly effective. This is
dampened with the use of awkward wirework gimmicks however,
but for the most part the film delivers a good standard of
fight action. For all the criticism Aaron Kwok seems to
receive with every starring role, here he plays to his
strength and even figures in a pleasant few moments of
self-deprecating humour.
'China
Strike Force' is far from perfect though as there are enough
unfortunate inadequacies to undermine what could have been an
excellent piece of entertainment. For a narrative that takes
itself very seriously, there is some very silly looking tricks
and stunts appearing throughout. As was said, the fight scenes
often utilise ridiculous wire-fu that takes away some of the
excitement from the overall production. Even within the
stuntwork there are moments that simply add confusion to the
finished film; notable among these is the moment when Kwok
rides a bike up the back of a truck and then performs an
improbable follow-up stunt. 'China Strike Force' also pulls
out every Hollywood action movie cliché in the book with
obvious double-crosses and stereotypes that were tired ten
years ago let alone now. This tiresome aspect means that much
of the momentum is lost and that the scenes of drama are
definitely not as polished as other parts of the film.
Summing
up then, 'China Strike Force' is good but often found wanting.
It's worth watching, but will not go down as the best film
that Hong Kong has produced in recent years - far from it in
fact.
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