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'P' fung bou (2019)
A Step Up Over L Storm
After the sad mess that was L Storm, P Storm surprisingly arrived in theatres barely a year later. And they brought back nearly everyone from L Storm, which might have been a shame. Thankfully, the plot holes aren't as bad, since this instalment literally takes place in a jail.
Raymond Lam is the TVB bad guy of the show, and in a movie chock full of every police cliche ever, manages to surprise with the amount of effort he puts in to make his character despicable and utterly mean from his first scene, a feat no villain in the Storm series certainly achieved. Gordon Lam's arrested cop returns from Z Storm in a rare bit of continuity, and showcases cliched attempts at revenge. While he does turn good at the end, I would have liked it if he had learnt better while in there. Adam Pak returns fresh from his Hong Kong Film Awards nomination for L Storm as a newbie police officer, and he is servicable for the little amount of screen time. Poor Liu Kai-chi returns once again, which is sad considering how good he was in "Project Gutenberg". Louis Cheung also returns to provide welcome warmth and comic relief in the cold prison cell, and demonstrates surprising dramatic ability that might be considered wasted in these cliched shows. What do I know, since this movie made over 700 million yuan in China? I know there's going to be a G Storm coming next year, and I sincerely hope it won't take us back to L Storm levels of bad.
'L' fung bou (2018)
Rushed, incoherent and full of plot holes and cliches
After 2016's S Storm surprised me with its story, L Storm shocked me with its cliches. The plot is simple - like any other Hong Kong movie these days it seems. Louis Koo is back for another mission, this time investigating a customs officer who has somehow got something to do with a laundering scheme.
This movie isn't so much as terrible but rather incoherent. There are unfortunate plot holes - Michael Tse's character disappears and no one really bothers to search for him despite him being central to the case. Someone dies and no one bothers investigating either. Instead, the film decides to take the "I think Louis Koo might be the mole" route, and introduces Kevin Cheng. It isn't Cheng's fault really, but why would they ever suspect Koo's character? He's helped them in many cases after all. And why introduce A-listers such as Liu Kai-chi and Louis Cheung only to have them die at the drop of a hat? Are they the L Storm? And it is a pity because their characters were definitely much more interesting than their boring replacement played by Patrick Tam, who approaches the role with earnest a la Dennis Hopper, but even Tam knows the script is ridiculous and doesn't even really try that hard. The highlight of the cast could probably be Adam Pak, who debuts here as a cold and autistic bank manager who, surprise, surprise, is actually the mastermind. Pak's wonderful debut here is not bad, but an actor of his calibre shouldn't have to suffer a debut in a movie as bad as this. The plot has many logical holes, and me explaining them all could probably fill the average length of a YouTube let's play video, so I shan't. If you are one of those people that like pointing out plot holes, you'll have fun with this one. Otherwise, I suggest you go catch "Cold War 2" or one of the Ip Man movies again.
'S' fung bou (2016)
Affectionately done but rather rushed
This sequel in-name only to 2014's Z Storm is definitely an improvement over its predecessor, which to be fair isn't saying much. S Storm revolves around a football bookmaking syndicate with members in Hong Kong, which seems like a refreshing, modern update on the typical global syndicate cliche. Like most Hong Kong police movies or dramas, there are assassins, random A-listers and gunfights galore.
Without giving away too much, Vic Chou's mysterious assassin character is by far the best villain and character in the entire movie. Chou plays the character with emotion, though the character is itself rather badly written, and the character development seems somewhat forced, whose blame can be placed on the rather rushed runtime of an hour and forty minutes. This runtime not only claims Chou as its victim, but a good many others including veteran "grandpa" actor Loi Hai-pong, as well as a sudden, rushed subplot in China that really should have been shaved, since it doesn't really accelerate the main plot.
In terms of the other casting choices, Ada Choi is brought on as an analyst to help Louis Koo's team, who fade into the background and could be replaced by anybody without any notice, and Choi does do her best, but her best is not really required for such a cliched role. Bowie Lam also appears as a senior member of the former jockey club, and I appreciated Lam's acting here, managing to flesh out a small yet important role well. Julian Cheung does shine here, although I wish his background wasn't so much forced into the movie in order to tie in to the gambling and betting theme this much. Dada Chan is unfortunately rather terrible in this one, so I won't be talking about her too much.
In short, although it is riddled with cliches, the main cast tries hard enough and the theme is interesting enough to keep audiences guessing, though this comes at the expense of character development thanks to the short runtime.
Taken 3 (2014)
Bloated mess from start to finish
If you thought Taken 2 was bad, try this one.
The movie literally opens with the murder of a guy WE DON'T KNOW, committed by a guy WE DON'T KNOW. After that some shots of Mills settling into life, then stuff happens, and it's all really confusing.
The real problem with this is the director has taken it too far. Some things are only good in small doses and Taken is one of them. How many times can you seriously do this? The only good part is Liam Neeson and even he looks tired of this. The reveal that the new boyfriend is the murderer seems forced, and the sniper guy doesn't even make sense, and his character seems forced and is completely pointless. You could have written him out of the story and it wouldn't make a difference. It's horrid.
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)
An Excellent Addition To The Mission: Impossible franchise
Tom Cruise returns to the role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt in this exciting, wonderful new installment. There are plenty of intense set pieces, including the opening plane scene and the wonderfully choreographed opera scene. The characters in this movie are okay, and Rebecca Ferguson delivers plenty of excitement and anticipation as Ilsa Faust, the mysterious new femme fatale whose motivations are never clear to the audience. The movie's main antagonist, however, is horrible and underdeveloped, and his motivations are never exactly clear. Why does he want to destroy the IMF? Is it because of the money? However, don't let this bloke spoil your enjoyment of the movie. My personal favourite set piece is the opera scene, which is ruined considerably by a twist at the end of the same scene. Nevertheless, this film is a wonderful addition to an already wonderful franchise.