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Cast:
Michael
Wong
Gigi
Leung
Damian
Lau
Kim
Yip
Action:
Bruce
Law
Producer:
Kim
Yip
John
Chong Ching
Director:
Gordon
Chan
Score:
  
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FIRST
OPTION
AKA:
Option 2 ||
Option II
Year:
1996 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
When
the customs department uncover a plot to bring a large
shipment of Heroin into Hong Kong, they attempt a raid that
goes horribly wrong when they find themselves hopelessly
outgunned. The SDU team, led by Mike (Wong), are called
in to assist so the customs department appoint Minnie (Leung)
as their representative to liaise between the two departments.
Mike and Minnie (hopefully not an intentional Mickey and
Minnie joke) soon find themselves at each others throats and
their failure to communicate ends up ruining all operations to
uncover the culprits. As time progresses and a lack of
results begins to put pressure on Mike's job, the two finally
realise that their only option is to work as a team so that
they can crack the case and bring the criminals to justice.
Despite
it's title, 'First Option' is in fact the second outing for
the 'Option' series but is supposedly designed as a prequel to
the opener - 'Final Option'. Michael Wong reprises
his role at the helm and, despite his annoying habit of
switching between English and Cantonese, is quite adept in the
part he plays. He creates an enjoyable on-screen
chemistry with Leung and both clearly display some of the more
subtle traits to their characters (even though Leung is a
little wooden) but its the script that really holds the film
back. The lack of background explanations and often
cringe-worthy dialogue really prevents it from ever moving
outside the standard genre boundaries. Therefore, its
the action that takes pride-of-place here and Bruce Law
certainly does us proud by providing the film with some
exceptionally well laid out gunplay sequences. Most of
these involve huge SWAT style operations that see the SDU
storming buildings or fighting their way out of the jungle
which is a refreshing change from the over-stylised shootouts
that were prominent at this time. It's also nice to see
such a wide selection of realistic weaponry on display which,
coupled with the accurate settings, really helps to add to the
realism. There is just one minor drawback though in that
with so much going on and everyone in similar clothes, it is
often difficult to tell one person from another which tends to
distract you from enjoying the action to it's fullest.
'First
Option' isn't likely to become a top movie for anyone as the
actual story and characters are far to shallow to make it the
complete article. However, the action was always the
major ingredient here and in that, Law has provided an
outstanding effort that clearly went onto inspire an entire
sub-genre.
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