Kick'em In The Ghoulies

Starring : Andy Lau Tak Wah, Gordon Lam,Ray Liu

Cameo by Michael Wong

Directed By : Alan Yuen

2013

© EDKO Films / Sil -Metropole Organisation 2013

Terracotta Far East Film Festival Review

FIRESTORM – 2013

Yes we where back for the final day of Terracotta in the heart of London's Leicester Square.

On what was the hottest day the capitol has seen in a few weeks. Yes the sun was out in force and I was going to sit in a darkened room for not one but two features.

Well first up was the 2013 Hong Kong crime action film ''Firestorm'' starring and produced by Hong Kong legend and heart throb to all the females , the never ageing Andy Lau Tak Wah ( Saviour of the Soul , Moment of Romance,Infernal Affairs) , directed by Alan Yuen with a screenplay by himself.

Firestorm is a film that has seen quite mixed views from some viewers and online sites,not that I'm naming anyone.

Firestorm sees the battle of wits ( yes forgive the pun) between Inspector Liu Min chit ( Andy Lau) and a gang of armed robbers led by Cao Nam ( Hu Jun) , Cao is a clever and ruthless armed robber who has been responsible for many armed robberies, but the Police have never been able to pin anything on Cao due to his clever planning .

When a ex-con is released from prison by the name of Bong ( Gordon Lam) and ends up joining Cao's organisation to pull of a job it sets of a roller-coaster of events that spiral out of control.

What's more Bong just happens to be a ex-high school friend of Inspector Liu. When a robbery gets out of hand when a young girl is taken hostage and assassinated by Cao's men in view of Inspector Liu , the straight laced Inspector goes on a mission to capture Cao and his gang at all and any cost.

Firestorm runs in at just under two hours ,and for those two hours you will witness some of the best high octane action seen in Hong Kong cinema since the 90's.

With intricate gun battles laced with more pyrotechnics then a firework display on the 4thof July. Car chases that stay within the laws of physics but take it to the limit ,resulting in exciting and believable action.

Now not knowing what the kind of special effects used within the film some of the action is so intense and realistic that it's hard to see where the line between effect and real action is .

There's one scene where inspector Liu and Bong are between rooftops confronting one another , without spoiling the plot for viewers who have not seen it , what I want to know is if you can see the line between what was real action and what was maybe CGI. Because I could not ,and for me that was a achievement that many Hollywood productions fail to do.

With each ten minutes of film the story becomes more intense driving the action to it's cumulative end. With each failure by the police to capture Cao's gang ,the more Inspector Liu gets more obsessed with his goal resulting in some wrong decisions which puts his own reputation on the line.

Firestorm is probably the most fun your have watching a film this year , purely from the fast paced action and daredevil style stunts performed by the actors ,drivers and pyrotechnical. Artists .

But at the same time it never ceases to grip you and shock at the same time , the minute you think your comfortable another incident makes you jump up from your seat with surprise , shock or awe.

In the 80's and 90's Hong Kong cinema was so over the edge that you could watch a film and then have to watch it again just to take in all the action that you missed the first time round.

Come on how many of you saw Police Story , Eastern Condors or In the Line of Duty 4 for that matter and just had to watch it again in the same day to see all the action that your eyes and brain had not taken in?

I believe Firestorm is one of those films , there was so much going on at any one time that it seemed impossible to take it all in , with explosions,gun-play,car chases and fights that it really was a action overload , something this viewer has not witnessed in a long time..

And what made it special was the quality of the action ,the acting talent and the story that combine to make Firestorm a very accomplished film.

In short , Firestorm Blasts a Hole in all other action films released in the past few years.

Score out of Ten = 9

Review Date : 1st June 2014

Reviewer : Sertes Nake