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Shock Wave 2
Shock Wave: Hong Kong Destruction
Hong Kong / China 2020
produced by Andy Lau, Li Jie (executive), Esther Koo (executive), Alvin Lam (executive), Daniel Lam (executive), Yang Yisheng (executive) for Infinitus Entertainment, Universe Entertainment, Alibaba Pictures, Focus Films
directed by Herman Yau
starring Andy Lau, Sean Lau (= Lau Ching-Wan), Ni Ni, Tse Kwan-Ho, Ron Ng, Kenny Wong (= Wong Tak-Bun), Raymond Chiu, Zhang Yang, Philip Keung, Chang Chun-Kit, Babyjohn Choi, Timothy Tse-sing Cheng, Wilfred Lau, Timmy Hung, Ben Yuen, Ling Man-Lung, Marc Ma, Yeung Kut-Si, Leung Kin-Ping, Priscilla Koo, Chung Chi-Kwong, Olivia Yan, Aaron Chow, Ng Yan, Leung Tin Chak, Chan Ka-Sin, Mandy Chung, Liviu Covalschi, Jai Day, Sebastian Mok, Harry Oram
written by Herman Yau, Erica Li, Eric Lee, music by Mak Jan-Hung, stunt coordinator: Li Chung Chi, car stunt coordinator: Lee Wai-Leung
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Fung (Andy Lau) has been the bomb diffuser with Hong Kong police - but
then on a mission his one leg got blown off. Not one to let that deter
him, he trained back to ultimate fitness and in a flash was just as agile
with his prosthetic leg as back before the accident - and yet, he's not
let back on the force for bureaucratic reasons, for anything else but a
desk job. And that in a way broke him, so much so that he was part of a
terrorist attack on an upscale hotel. Now he's in hospital, suffering from
amnesia but accused of murdering 18 people in that attack. And then his
accomplices with the terrorist organisation try to break him free from the
hospital, but despite a perfectly laid out plan that also includes plenty
of violence, Fung ends up cornered - when cop Pong Ling (Ni Ni) tells him
he's on a mission to take down the terrorists and lets him slip away. Not
one to not save his own life, Fung seizes the opportunity, though he has
no idea about a mission, and only later finds out that he and Pong Ling
were once lovers, who broke up after he has become to erratic after his
accident. But thanks to her he has become a mole in the terrorist
organisation after being deemed unfit for normal service. And knowing
this, he becomes a good mole - only, Pong Ling hasn't been entirely honest
with him, and the boss of the terrorists, his childhood friend Ma Sai Kwan
(Tse Kwan-Ho) fills him in on the blanks: It was Fung who has planned a
big scale attack on Hong Kong, blowing up the airport, the financial
district and many main supply roads with an assortment of dirty bombs
distributed by subway - and the attack is only hours away, and with Ma Sai
Kwan knowing that Fung has become a mole, there's no way he'll let him get
in touch with his associates before the city's blown to kingdom come ... Now
ok, the story of this movie is pretty far-fetched, and there are several
leaps in logic - but even so, the narration is tight, keeps one glued to
the screen, and the many action setpieces are beautifully executed, and
while very violent the violence never seems gratuitous and always serves
the story, which despite all of the action also has lots of heart, also
thanks to a first rate ensemble. And admittedly some of the CGI effects
aren't completely up to the task, but that hardly matters in a very
entertaining action movie that's more than mere spectacle. By the way,
despite some of the same personnel on both sides of the camera, and a
similar theme, this movie is a sequel to Shock
Wave from three year's earlier only in title
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