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I've seen Nicholas Tse recently in Tsui Hark's "Time and Tide" and was very impressed with his performance. He's one of the few Hong Kong pop actors that are making a fine transition into acting than compared to some others (IE. the horrible Ekin Cheng). I saw this movie a few days ago and I have mix reactions to this movie. This movie had a mixture of English, Japanese, and Cantonese. Oh this review is on both the dubbed and subtitled versions.

First, I'll go with the flaws. The story was too Hollywood for me. How many movies have we seen a group of criminals steal a nuclear bomb and it's up to the heroes to save the city from mass destruction? Way too many times. The dialogue was just so cliche. For example after a criminal betrays his own boss for money "It's about money right? It's part of the game, you know that!" Some of the actors are just really bad like Sam Lee's character Alien, you swear you'll start to think this man has soon too many Jim Carrey movies. Also there was too many episodic character developments like it jumped from a brother and brother, to a cop and a criminal with morals, a son of a criminal who wants revenge on another criminal...and so on. Still with me?

Now for the bright spots of the movie. The action sequences are just kinetic! Fast cuts, people diving and shooting at the same time, stand offs, Kung Fu scenes, and anything you can think of for a Hong Kong action movie. The women in the movie are some good eye candy, if you know what I'm saying. Nicholas Tse does a good job, not as good as he did in Time and Tide, but since this is his earlier work, you see his potential. The actor who played Akatora was impressive even sometimes his thick Japanese accent would make you miss some of his English words. In the musical note, there was this great Hong Kong punk song at the end of the credits that was pretty catchy.

So even with mix reactions, do I recommend this movie? Well it depends. If you're looking for a good popcorn movie this would be it. If you're looking for a smart action movie that reminds you of a John Woo movie? This wouldn't be it. So whatever you choose, just look for the amazing shootouts and a promising actor name Nicholas Tse.

The actors were all new to me. I've not watched HK films in years before watching this one, and compared to the horrible movies i've seen before, the ones that left me wanting a refund for my time, this wasn't so bad. The faces were fresh and some of them were just eye candy, a definite incentive to see this film again and again. Of course, if you are one to watch for interesting plots, HK films aren't for you.

sit back, cease all brain activity and just enjoy this amusing movie.. it won't win an oscar and the story makes little sense but it has some funny moments and the action is pretty cool.. i rate it 7/10

This was one of the best HK films to come out in 1999. The three leads, Nicholas Tse, Stephen Fung, and Sam Lee gave their all as Jack, Match, and Alien. Explosive gunfights combined with martial arts combat were awesome!!! Daniel Wu was a bit wasted in my opinion. They should have had his fight in the film. Nevertheless, Jackie's cameo was a riot in the end. I never expected to see him in the film, but 2 members of his Sing Ga Ban (Bradley Allan, Ken Lo) made appearances. This is a must see for new and old fans of the action genre.

The one line summary says it all. They are young. They are cool. They kick ass. They are pretty boys (cops) with big guns (no pun intended). Add an uberly uber sexy Toru Nakamura as the vengeful Yakuza boss, and what you'll get is a Gift from Heaven TM for all slash fangirls. Who cares about the plot? (Which actually is quite interesting). Ahem. I'll be serious now. When top secret bomb material is stolen by an aspiring and vengeful Yakuza boss (masterfully played by the wonderful Toru Nakamura), a detective considered by his colleagues to be a clown, decides to hunt down the villain. To infiltrate the criminal organisation, he finds a trio of kicked-from-the-academy former cadets and sends them under cover. The "icredible trio" unravels the mystery and at the and has a big KABOOM fight with Yakuza boss. Simple premise, isn't it? Anyway, if you don't want to be mentally challenged and are looking for good time (pretty boys), some mindless shooting and fighting, nice special effects, that's the movie for you. 7/10