Invisible Target: Ultimate Edition (Review)

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My knowledge of Hong Kong action cinema pretty much disappeared along with the much missed Hong Kong Legends label which did its best to bring you terrific movies with great action sequences and (usually) a commentary by Bey Logan. When HKL went under, there really wasn't a replacement so I didn't really seek out action movies filmed around Kowloon Bay but just watched more horror movies. Fortunately, Cine Asia has stepped up to the plate and, to an extent, taking over when HKL left off. Their latest release is the Benny Chan action extravaganza Invisible Target.

The film begins with a woman, video calling her fiancé, looking at various rings in the prestigious jewellery store Arte when an armoured car explodes, sending her flying to the floor and, with her boyfriend watching, dies. Her boyfriend, Chan Chun, was no ordinary citizen, but a detective in the Hong Kong police force and he now has more than just a professional motive to bring this lethal gang of robbers who, after blowing up the armoured car, made off with its contents of $10 million, to justice. Detective Chan Chun is one of the more notorious policemen on the force, such is his rather aggressive way of apprehending criminals, with a distinct lack of respect for people's property -- if he has to fight his way into a taxi cab and have a knife fight with a criminal, stabbing the innocent passenger in the process in order to arrest someone, so be it.

Another member of the force with a similar disregard for his own health is inspector Carson Fong Yik Wei who doesn't mind having a fight in a restaurant on destroying the place if it means bringing someone to book. The third of the main characters is a rookie cop Officer Wai King Ho who lives at home with his grandma and is desperate to live up to his brother's reputation as a great cop who went undercover and has disappeared and is missing.

It takes a while, but Benny Chan introduces all three very well and dovetails the narrative so that they all end up in the same place at the same time just when a brawl is going to break out. All three have different reasons to bring down this gang of cold-blooded criminals which is led by the immensely skilled and utterly ruthless Tien Yeng Seng, a man deadly with or without a gun in his hand. There are a few early exchanges between the police and the gang with the law enforcement officials always coming off second best due to the immense skill and brutality of their foes. Each of these introduces a new style of action, from cars to rooftop free running and close quarters kung fu action.

It is fairly obvious that Benny Chan has been influenced by a number of Western movies, such as Michael Mann's Heat, and you know it is only a matter of time before our trio of Hong Kong's finest work out what happened to the money from that initial heist, who were the brains behind it before initiating a showdown with all manner of mayhem and destruction.

I'm no expert on Hong Kong cinema, but I found has to be an extremely well written and directed film which introduces the characters, giving them a background and a motive (beyond upholding law and order) whilst establishing a criminal hierarchy for them to bring down. The film has also being cast extremely well with a couple of men known to Western audiences including Nicolas Tse from The Promise, Shawn Yue from Infernal Affairs, Jacky Wu (credited as Wu Jing) from The Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and, last but not least, Jaycee Chan, son of the living legend that is Jackie Chan.

This is one of those films where if a stunt is good, it is shown from at least two different angles and the amount of sugar glass they went through can only be measured in tonnes! There are a few occasions where a character will, in order to punch another, smash his hand through a window or table so that he finds his target. In one of the more comedic scenes, the three cops are all back at Ho's grandma's house, using his brother's pain relief oil so they are all stripped to the waist, rubbing each other's bruised limbs and torsos when Grandma walks in on them. I don't mind the odd action movie now and again and, when I want to see a good one, I know that you can't go far wrong if it comes from Hong Kong. Benny Chan is a director who well, 'hates' is the wrong word, but doesn't like to use stunt doubles so all of the actors did their own fight scenes and really did things like jumping into the way of a passing bus then bouncing onto a car onto the road, getting up, running over another car, jumping onto a second moving car then onto the road before and running off!

This isn't one of those dumb action films where can switch your brain off before pressing 'play' as you really need to follow who is who and what side of the line they are on. I don't think it in the same league as Heat, but it is an extremely watchable and very well constructed movie. There is even a little of 24 about this as Inspector Yik Wei's girlfriend works in the intelligence department and so is a little like Chloe O'Brian from the long-running Fox TV show.

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