Onda expansiva: Shock Wave

Andy Lau is one of my favorite actor from Hong Kong cinema in every movie no matter he staring in lead role or supporting role he always give 100% and with this movie Shock Wave he proving one again he still on top of the game.Directed by Herman Yau also one of my favorite director Shock Wave is a action crime movie about a brave bomb disposal officer try to stop a group of terrorist that take over a underground tunnel.All the performance in this movie is good mostly about Andy Lau character and the movie direction.I have so much fun thought out this movie,it never have a dull moment,the tension always high and the action scene is very clear and awesome.Some minus point is the romance is very rush and the main villain is pretty disappointing.

Beastly action movie. so many tense moments. likable lead character. i was into it throughout. so much intensity. good action and suspense. and had some powerful scenes. downsides are some unnecessary scenes and subplots, like the whole stock market thing. and also some of the english dialogue was really basic and doesn't really work from an american-english perspective. but that's something you have to accept with foreign films (1 viewing)

Andy Lau plays the head of the bomb dismantling division of the police who goes undercover to infiltrate a group of robbers who use bombs. This gang's careless actions when life is concern made this cop take drastic measures to bring them down. Because of this, the bad guy seeks revenge from this cop by taking his hostage negotiation to get his brother back very personal.

And the bad guy for this movie was really bad ass. Just that right touch of evil that only makes the good guy that is Andy Lau look better.

A very instance thriller that's very action packed, but there was also a sub story about Andy Lau's character finding love with a school teacher. It's rare that I've seen people kissing in Chinese Cinema. Maybe I'm watching the wrong movies, but I've seen Chinese action movies in which the lead star has girlfriends or wives, but they never touch each other, and even though I grew up in America were our action heroes go beyond touching the leading ladies, it was odd to watch Lau give so very long and romantic kisses to his leading lady.

But as interesting as that was, first and foremost,this was a great action movie from beginning to end. Worth seeing.

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The film features some incredible action sequences and also a few very tense moments. A great premise convincingly executed thanks to believable acting and an experienced director. The humor was kept to a minimum, making the film an effective nail-biter.

Shock Wave is a quite intense action-thriller starring Hong Kong star actor Andy Lau. It tells the story of an undercover police officers who arrests the brother of a ruthless terrorist who is specialized in using explosives. About a year later, the terrorist has specialized in drug trade but is obsessed with getting his revenge. He kills one of the commanders in charge of his brother's arrest a year ago by making his car explode. The undercover cop who has a successful career, is respected by his peers and has met a teacher who has become his girlfriend over the past twelve months, realizes that the terrorist will challenge him to get his revenge. A series of bombs are found in Hong Kong and it becomes more and more difficult to dismantle them for the protagonist. However, nobody is prepared for the terrorist's magnum opus: he kidnaps hundreds of civilians by blocking the exits of a tunnel with two trucks filed with explosives. His goal is to discredit the Hong Kong police corps, make money with a ruthless businessman and reunite with his imprisoned brother. The undercover terrorist must try to deal very carefully with the excitable terrorist in order to save as many civilians as possible.

There are numerous elements I liked about Shock Wave. The film has vivid pace and is entertaining from start to finish. The acting performances are great as Andy Lau convinces as calm and rational police officers while Wu Jiang delivers the goods as clever and pitiless terrorist. The action scenes in the film are always dramatic and intense. The special effects look great. The settings in Hong Kong are also quite interesting and especially the scenes in the tunnel make for a claustrophobic atmosphere. The film has a few nice ideas that keep it original such as the terrorist's brother who has found religion and unexpectedly doesn't cooperate with the dangerous terrorist. I also liked the movie's unusual ending which distinguishes it from similar movies where an honest officer is challenged by a pitiless terrorist. One wouldn't see such a resolution in an ordinary Hollywood flick.

On the other side, the movie also has a few minor flaws. The story is quite predictable which makes the film lose momentum and tension. The relationship between the honest police officer and the emotionally unstable teacher isn't credible at all as the police officer has the charisma of an iceberg while his love interest seems to be constantly discouraged.

Overall, Shock Wave is a quite good action-thriller that will entertain you from start to finish. It makes me think of the Die Hard series and similar franchises but since these movie have been mostly disappointing recently, it only makes sense to look for something similar but more convincing produced in Hong Kong with its know-how of spectacular action cinema.