Flash Point

I've been a fan of Donnie Yen for over twenty years now and had heard that the fight action in Flashpoint was amongst his best work. I hadn't heard wrong: the hard-hitting full-contact mixed martial arts scenes are as awesome as they say.

It's a shame then that the plot for Flashpoint is so unremarkable, a routine Hong Kong police drama—cops vs triads—which introduces lots of indistinguishable characters in such quick succession that, for a while, it's hard to work out precisely who is good and who is bad.

The dull plot trundles along, with the occasional brief spot of action or brutality to spice things up, and it gradually becomes clearer who is who: Archer Sin (Ray Lui), Tony (Collin Chou) and Tiger (Yu Xing) are Korean brothers who run a smuggling operation, Sam is a gangster who has ratted on his bosses, Wilson (Louis Koo) is a plucky young undercover cop working with tough police inspector Jun Ma (Yen), and Julie (Bingbing Fan) is Wilson's really hot girlfriend. So far so mediocre.

The final third of the film, however, is a whole lot better. A non-stop, blood-soaked, showdown between Ma and the bad guys, with incredible gunplay and some of the most painful looking fight choreography I have ever seen, it is everything I had hoped for and more, leaving the viewer with a better impression of the film overall than it probably really deserves. Hence my more than reasonable rating of 7/10.

Flashpoint is a beautifully shot film that moves a long at a fast pace. I was never much of a Donnie Yen fan but I have been converted to one after seeing this film. Hollywood needs to bring him back, at least as an action choreographer. The action scenes in this film are far more sophisticated than anything Hollywood is doing.

Wilson Yip did an amazing job as director. It's a shame this didn't get a U.S. theatrical release. If Hollywood is smart, they will recruit him.

Bingbing Fan is a beauty that should also be brought to Hollywood.

Flashpoint doesn't break new ground in terms of it being a typical cops and gangsters flick, but it is as good as any of them.

The fights are excellent and realistic.

Flashpoint is highly recommended for HK movie fans.

This was a real surprise as on a rainy day in the only Chinese cinema left in Sydney, to think i only went into Market city for some yum cha and got a whole lot more than i bargained for.

A fantastic roller-coaster ride of a film, OK so the long slow ride up to the top end of it can be daunting for those with ADD or a high blood sugar level but its sure worth it once you get there. Intense satisfying action shot from every possible angle yet still filled with a spontaneous verite energy unmatched by any Hollywood film i have seen..ever.

Its innovative style while a bit light on plot or dialogue (OK so i am stuck with subtitles which obviously lose something in the translation) overcomes any accusations of pretentiousness that could be leveled at a lot of similar films. The raw energy of the film leaks into every scene however still and explodes onto the screen when the action finally ramps up. Considering the violent nature of the film a lot of the actual killing is suggested rather than replayed in Technicolor from umpteen angles, but we still experience every kick and punch as if it were flying our way.

OK admittedly the story is about as engrossing as 300 or a lot of other HK cop films, IE runs at a primal level deeper than mere plot twists or any complicated subtext. No, its all about the man versus what he sees as injustice and occasionally about a friendship. Mostly though its about the battle for whats right even if thats not quite clear sometimes, by the end you know who the good guys are and as manipulated as you might feel you are rooting for them all the way.

OK I'm running out of superlatives and metaphors now..just go out and watch it if you like a good old school popcorn bash and can handle some underplayed buddy semantics.

Went out of my way to find this film based on a recommendation from a friend who insisted this was one of best kung fu films ever -- this film also pops up in a Google search for top kung fu films.

Reviewers notes: 1. Yen will go down in film history as one of the best MA stars. He can not only pull off the gravitas to play IP MAN but he is a natural in these police dramas. Manages to appear stoic but involved at the same time 2. There is a final fight scene over 5 minutes long which is worth the wait. Lots of MMA moves including some pro wrestling moves. Many fans call this "modern" kung fu but is probably the wrong name. Fun anyway 3. Aside from Yen and the final fight -- forgettable

If you're like me, after watching roughly 3 billion similarly themed period piece kung fu and wuxia movies, you're relieved when a contemporary kung fu flick comes along. This seems to be Donnie Yen's bread and butter. Sure, he was excellent in Hero opposite Jet Li and even Circus Kids was entertaining, but his performances in those films just don't match up to SPL or this film, Flash Point. He seems made for modern kung fu.

I'll leave plot explanation to others as it's a pretty standard cop-on-the-edge film that seems to have been done to death by Hong Kong over the past 15 years or so. What sets this apart is Yen's phenomenal and somewhat unique brand of kung fu and, for the first time (to my knowledge) his surprisingly good jiu jitsu. The flashy kicks and punches are standard Yen affair, but it's a bit of a shock to watch him pull off a slick arm bar, arm triangle, or leg triangle.

Yen's performance is only strengthened by a very talented supporting cast. There's no push-over fights here...it's like everyone is really fighting for their lives. That alone should be enough to get you past a fairly overdone plot (it's not bad, but if you've seen it once you've seen it 1,000 times). It's definitely worth the 85 minutes of your time if you're even remotely a fan of the genre.