As the Light Goes Out

As The Light Goes Out (救火英雄) is another HK firefighter action thriller film after last year's Out of Inferno (逃出生天).The film is mainly character-driven as it follows a team of firefighters being called upon to stop a small fire at a liquor warehouse. Things were fine at first, until a series of unforeseen events happen that causes the fire starts to spread again to a nearby power plant, threatens to plunge the whole of Hong Kong into darkness during Christmas Eve.

The film shows the brotherhood bond between the leads at first, provide sufficient back stories for mostly all the key characters for the audience to get to know them. It does a good job in balancing the drama and action. The lead and supporting actors provide decent performances in their respective roles as the film progresses. The action sequences in the power plant were quite intense and thrilling enough for the audience to watch. The film also does a good job in showing the real danger behind a fire - the thick smoke, not the flames, that kills. When a person is in a room filled with thick smoke, he/she will be unable to see, breathe or think clearly...constant smoke inhalation can kill a person within minutes.

However, the chaotic shaky camera style is irritating as it makes action scenes quite difficult to follow at times. The CGI smoke and fire doesn't seem to be realistic or believable enough as you continue watching the film. Furthermore, some plot events are questionable and the film suffers from a few too many convenient contrivances to convince. The eventual sacrifice of a key character at the end of the film is simply not convincing enough to be accepted (he could have just throw the cigarette and run towards the locker room). It's also quite challenging to identify who is whom when they're all suited up in their firefighting outfits, helmets and oxygen masks.

The film is said to be dedicated to all the real-life firefighters out there. While it's not a perfect film, the film certainly delivers what is expected from it. Furthermore, there's another surprise cameo from another action star in the film as well.

Rating: 7/10

Director Derek Kwok, the same man who brought us the wonderful Gallants, and co-directed with Chow Sing Chi the fantastic Journey To The West: Conquering the Demons - brings us a tight (if not, slightly overly-long), character-driven-disaster-film set around a team of firemen in Hong Kong, on the night of Christmas Eve. In between the melodrama and arguments between comrades, the worst of the worst happens when the gas line to a power-plant catches fire and explodes resulting in a total blackout across the city!

As The Light Goes Out features a top cast with Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue, Simon Yam, Andy On, Hu Jun and many more, all who give stellar performances as the men in uniform. While the first part of the film builds up their relationships, in between some rescues and education on how deadly fires can be, things really kick-off on the half-way mark as the team set out to tackle the blazing inferno at the plant. On top of that, Shawn Yue finds out his son might be in the building, left behind with a couple of friends, from a school trip earlier in the day.

Clichés and heavy drama aside, As The Light Goes Out is actually quite gripping at times, with the thick black smoke often portrayed as a slow moving demonic force, creeping in on its victims who are trapped in its sanctum. While the majority of this is done with pretty decent CGI smoke, it still offers enough tension and fear, along with some stunning visuals and great cinematography - that makes this bitter-sweet Christmas disaster movie (about firemen), quite exciting to watch.

There's plenty of impressive stunt work from Jack Wong Wai Leung, a veteran of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and the guy behind some work on New Police Story, Hero, SPL, and more. And talking of Mr. Chan - the legend gets a great cameo near the beginning as a recruiting fire-fighter in a TV commercial for the force, dodging asteroids on his motorbike to the theme from Police Story...

Brief, but brilliant!

Not without its flaws, and odd moments of cheesiness, As The Light Goes Out manages to be, for the most part, thrilling and entertaining, with a gripping and intense second half that leads to a big, nail-biting and explosive ending...

Overall: Worth the watch, and something a little different, As The Light Goes Out is an impressive and entertaining piece of Hong Kong cinema!

"As the Light Goes Out" is not the sort of movie I'd ever expect to see from Hong Kong. After all, most of the films we get here in the States from Hong Kong and the rest of China are mostly martial arts films or violent cop films. However, in an odd departure from the usual fare that they usually send to the West is an action-packed soap opera-like film about firemen. It's not the sort of film I'd like to see a lot of, but it certainly is unique, stylish and amazingly epic in proportions— and is worth seeing.

The film begins with a prologue that is important later in the film—and this provides a lot of the dramatic tension and soap opera-like elements throughout the movie. As far as the soapy elements go, they didn't do much for me—so I really don't want to go into any detail about things like the betrayal, broken relationships, a lost child, redemption and the like—just see the film. What I do think is important is the action— something I usually dislike in films. I am just not a viewer who loves lots of explosions and stunts, though I was bowled over by this one and recommend it because of its effects. In many ways, this film looks better and more epic in scale than the sorts of movies Hollywood is doing. A typical Stallone, Willis or Schwarzenegger film pales by comparison to "As the Light Goes Out"! It is simply something to see and I hope you get a chance to see it on a big screen. And, combined with a HUGE scope is some amazingly evocative Chinese operatic music that makes the whole thing so unique and so gripping that it is a one- of-a-king experience—and I appreciate this the most about the movie.

The film is set on Christmas Eve in Hong Kong. While most folks are taking time off from work and gearing down, the fire department is ever- vigilant in case of disaster. And, a disaster is exactly what is soon about to strike—as a fire in an abandoned warehouse ends up beginning a chain of events that plunges the city into darkness and threatens many lives. And, thanks to the many selfless firemen, the city might stand a chance at survival.

The film is filled with one amazing disaster and explosion scene after another—this I grew to expect. But what surprised me is that much of the dialog was in English—mixed in with the Chinese! This also occurs in many Indian films and I assume it's a carryover from the old British Empire days. What also was a bit of a surprise was a cute little cameo from Jackie Chan…as Jackie Chan! The only parts of the film that just didn't work for me were some of the ultra-macho scenes (such as the fight at the 48 minute mark) and soapy situations—but mercifully they were not a major hindrance in the film. Overall, it's a unique and breathtaking film that is worth your time even if its plot is, at times, a bit sticky.

I was given the chance to watch "Gau foh ying hung" (aka "As the Light Goes Out"). I knew it was a Hong Kong movie, that was essentially all I needed to know to be interested in watching it. I didn't know, however, what the movie was about or who starred in it.

Given the title of the movie, I must admit that I had expected to be in for a horror movie. But it turns out that "As the Light Goes Out" was an action drama about firefighters, for better or worse.

That being said, then I will continue on to saying that "As the Light Goes Out" was actually a surprisingly entertaining and enjoyable movie. And I can't really claim to find firefighting movies all that impressive. However, there was also an overshadowing element of the movie being cartoonish, at an unfortunate level, given the nature of the mainland Chinese firefighter Ocean (played by Jun Hu). That character was just a bit out of place and he seemed to caricature of a heroic firefighter.

"As the Light Goes Out" does have some nice acting talents on the cast list, which includes the like of Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue, Simon Yam, Andy On and Bing Bai. And it gets better, there is a hilarious appearance by none other than Jackie Chan himself. When he does make an appearance, I must admit that the movie had turned from realistic to being a bit too much. But then it turns out to be a nice surprise instead and the movie does revert to its normal course of action.

The action sequences in the movie with all the fire and firefighting was actually quite good, and it definitely felt very real and realistic, and that added a great level of enjoyment to the movie. Actually, I will say that director Chi-kin Kwok manages to make the movie very intense and thrilling, because it feels like you are right there alongside the firefighters in the blaze.

But overly this was a watchable, thrilling and entertaining movie for sure. If you enjoy Hong Kong cinema, then "As the Light Goes Out" is definitely well worth taking the time to sit down and watch.

Filled with fire and pathos, this will ignite the interest of some viewers (yes pun intended). That doesn't mean everyone will be thrilled - that being said, the tension of the movie is high and the movie works on a few levels. If you let it that is of course.

If you are ok with Hollywood movies doing that schtick, you should be ok China going all idolizing and going full patriotism and all that. Those things should not matter or rather you should not judge them differently based on the country of origin.