Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung (who looks like an asskicking purple Chinese Santa Claus in this movie) both shine in this action orientated crime thriller. If you are seeking sensible dialog and a cerebral plot you'll have to look elsewhere. This is a brutal HK action movie in every sense of the word. The unfortunate problem with this film is that while there is an interesting backdrop of characters and a plot to speak of the dialog and execution of it is B-grade. There were obvious emotional "tearjerker" attempts shoehorned into the movie's plot but it's hard to take anything seriously when every tragic death comes right after receiving a phone call from their loved one. It's a ridiculous cliché and I was a bit surprised to see it in a film from 2005 that wasn't supposed to be a parody. When you watch a movie like SPL (Kill Zone) sometimes you have to wonder how much better it would have been if they hired a real writer to work on it.
With that being said even with these ridiculous elements this movie is still far better than most Hollywood movie attempts at martial arts action and probably cost 1/10th to make as well. Donnie Yen really mixes up his fight choreography with obvious inspiration from Capoeira, Kali/Silat style knife and stick fighting, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and run of the mill greco-roman wrestling moves. Yen proves he's one of the premiere physical action choreographers anywhere in the world.
With that being said even with these ridiculous elements this movie is still far better than most Hollywood movie attempts at martial arts action and probably cost 1/10th to make as well. Donnie Yen really mixes up his fight choreography with obvious inspiration from Capoeira, Kali/Silat style knife and stick fighting, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and run of the mill greco-roman wrestling moves. Yen proves he's one of the premiere physical action choreographers anywhere in the world.