Kill Zone (2005) User Reviews

Great fight choreography, mediocre story

[rick-463 · 8/10 · 14 November 2005]

This is some of the best fight choreography I have ever seen in 25+ years of watching martial arts films. The action was so exciting the entire crowd I was with in the theater were howling with delight. Sadly it is so rare nowadays to see a martial arts film where real martial artists are fighting instead of pop stars on wires, and it makes such a huge difference because Donnie, Sammo and Jacky Wu were simply incredible. My only complaint with the action was that there was not enough of it. Donnie Yen has finally joined the ranks of great fight choreographers with S.P.L.

As good as the action was though, the story fell flat for me and put the film into the "Very Good" category when it could have been "Great". They tried for an "Infernal Affairs" style police thriller and didn't nearly hit the mark. While Simon Yam and Sammo Hung were both great in their parts, the other acting was just functional and the story had way too much overdone melodramatic content that seemed very forced. The emotional arc of the picture was pretty much set up right at the beginning and would have been sufficient, but they had to keep laying on the unrealistic drama and it did slightly take away from my enjoyment of the film. Another criticism with the story was that it seemed like parts may have been cut from the film, because some pieces of the story that earlier had seemed pretty insignificant became a big deal towards the end of the film and it felt like it came out of nowhere, like we weren't told everything.

Having said that though, my negative criticism about the story should not stop you at all from seeing this film. I didn't go into S.P.L. expecting The Godfather, I just wanted to see some incredible martial arts action and I got it. I cannot wait to see what Donnie will do next.

Resets the standard for modern day martial arts films

[hkauteur · 8/10 · 14 October 2005]

When I found the film was having its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, I made it first priority to go see it. I saw it with a friend at an Industry screening in rush line. Donnie versus Sammo, can it get any better than that?

The story of the film, to make it simple, Simon Yam is the retiring determined bad-good cop, Donnie is the new good-good cop replacing him and Sammo is the mob boss. The film takes place during father's day and every character in the film is either a son or a father. Everyone is dealing with some form of father and son relationship; Sammo's character is expecting a child, Simon Yam has an adopted daughter of whose real parents were killed by men sent from Sammo, Donnie's character defies his father's wishes to become a policeman and so forth. The theme serves to add a emotional element that connects all the characters in the film. None of the characters are extreme good or extreme evil, everybody is shades of grey on different levels. There seems to be a very heavy Infernal Affairs influence here coupled with the bleak colours and dark settings. However, the film does not take itself as seriously as the IA trilogy. There are many moments of humor and it works well to break the tension of the film in the beginning to middle. The humor leaves at the middle to the finale at the end when things start to get serious; which helps engage the audience and assures them the film does not take itself any more seriously but to engage you for the duration of the movie to entertain you.

The film is shot very stylishly. Combined with the duration of the film (the film clocks in to about 97 minutes), I can imagine the meanest western critic would say this film is pretentious, trading too much style for not enough storytelling in such a short time. (Yes I already see that coming, aren't I pretty?) I would d say that would be the wrong way to look at it, because he would be forgetting the fact that this a modern day kung fu film, which has always been a very hard genre to do. In the modern day setting, it basically means you're more grounded and limited by the realms of reality, which means no obvious wirework and more realistic choreography, which you need expert talent to pull off. When you're in ancient times, you can get away with stuff, not in modern day. The story lines for modern day martial arts films have not been very impressive either in the past. It's it's own ballgame in my opinion. Only recent one I can think of is Danny the Dog/Unleashed, an old example being Jackie Chan's Police Story series (and I don't count the unevenly New Police Story).

And now, the thing you've been waiting for,.... the action! Donnie Yen commented that this was the pinnacle of his career with SPL. When you see the film, you can see what he's talking about. You know that thing when you hear reading about kung fu movies sometimes when Bruce Lee moves too fast for the camera and they ask him to slow down so people can see what's going on? I don't think much of that was going on here in SPL. The fights were lightning fast and brutal. Every move was checkmate and everyone's going for the throat. The fights are not many, but they are cruelly intense. The fight with Wu Jing and Donnie Yen in the alleyway was spectacular, I think they were rolling camera and just going at it full speed. I guess it seemed natural to do a weapon fight (baton vs. a short Japanese knife) because Wu Jing has a more graceful swift strength as to Donnie's hard and solid's. The finale with Sammo and Donnie was my favorite. Sammo is a fifty-year old two hundred pound fat man and he moves like he never aged at all. He keeps up every second with Donnie. No one had to slow anything down for him, nor nothing was undercranked or wired. Wrestling seemed to be a very natural choice for this fight, given the circumstances; Donnie and Sammo are hard, solid strength types and it added a new visual element compared to Donnie's In The Line of Duty and Tiger Cage days. This fight was so intense it made me forget what the plot of the story was about, I forgot why Donnie was fighting Sammo plotwise and just purely experienced the cinematics of the fight. You'll see what I mean when you see the film.

Yes, SPL succeeds in what it does. With more martial arts films coming out internationally (such as Ong Bak), as Donnie has been quoted as saying repetitively, Hong Kong has deteriorated in its quality of kung fu film, despite the fact that Hong Kong choreography has now become international. SPL sets the standard again and reminds the world that we still have a few things up our sleeves and that this is the Hong Kong brand of action choreography. So yes, martial arts fans, you'll definitely dig it. It's on your must-see list for sure.

thoughts on SPL

[leslie-spam · 8/10 · 20 September 2005]

Definitely nihilistic and gritty Sha Po Lang is a good mix of cop drama and action film. I thought the direction was was quite nice although it seemed inconsistent, sometimes wandering into "art film" territory. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I don't know that it worked 100%. Overall I thought the movie was 'alright'. The plot was seriously stretched thin, you don't really get into the characters or care much for them; Audience members laughed at scenes that were supposed to be touching or sad but every criticism I could lay at the movies feet is fairly much washed away by the fight scenes.

Donnie yen did a spectacular job with the choreography and MMA fans will be glad to know there is an energetic mix of all types of fighting styles including Jiu Jitsu complete with take downs and arm-bars. One of the main fight sequences is the most spectacular upon first viewing and then more-so on reflection as you find out that Donnie Yen and Wu Jing had no rehearsal and no direction; simply, they were told to "go for it". To this point, the baton that yen wields in this fight scene was replaced three times as it was broken on Wu Jing's head while filming.

Sammo is fantastic and I still marvel at how he moves at his age. I've always been a fan of Donnie Yen and this is definitely a great fighting film for him. Wu Jing is a relative unknown but trained in the same opera company as Jacky Chan and Sammo Hung,being taught by Wo Ping. during the Q&A, Wu Jing said his next film will likely be a prequel to Sha Po Lang.

I took a photo of the stage assembly and thought I would include it here if anyone wants to see it. They were exceptional and patient at answering questions. even the slightly embarrassing ones.

http://virtuafighter.ca/downloads/SPL01.jpg

left to right: Translator for Wilson Yip, Wilson yip, Announcer guy, Sammo hung, Wu Jing, translator for Wu Jing.

One stand out fight sequence, but besides that...

[KineticSeoul · 6/10 · 18 September 2015]

This is a low budget movie about good intentioned cops taking the law into their own hands to take out the bad guys. With some kung-fu fighting mixed in. When it came to the cops trying to frame and wipe out the bad guys, it just wasn't all that interesting. Nor was it all that entertaining to watch. In another words it just wasn't one of the great Hong Kong crime syndicate movie or anything like that. So I just wanted to get to the fight scenes. Which is very very few in this movie. There is two main things that stands out about this movie. The first, is the fight between Donnie Yen and Wu Jing. The second is the ending, which I just didn't expect. Besides that this is a watchable flick, but not really a stand out movie.

6/10

What a martial arts movie should look like

[harry_tk_yung · 27 November 2005]

Concurrent with the unveiling of a meticulously sculptured (by a top Chinese artist) statue of Bruce Lee in town, it is exciting to see screening of the best martial arts movie in recent memory.

SPL, or "Saat", "Po" and "Long" stands for the three most belligerent stars in Chinese astrology. These, as far as I can surmise from the story line, represent respectively the characters played by Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen and Simon Yam.

The gripping tension is expected. The first rate, real-stuff martial art is also expected. What is a little unexpected is an above-average story line, not particularly inspiring but certainly sufficient to carry the movie. But it's the action that is the main draw for this movie and in that department, out goes Simon Yam and in comes Wu Jing.

The two top martial art stars today are Donnie Yen and Jet Li. In some ways, Yen is even better because Li is at times too cool. Yen, on the other hand, has that fierce intensity in his eyes that none can match. Coming up fast is Wu Jing, Jet Li's "see dai" (younger brother in the martial art school) who came to the cinematic martial art world through the same route, by winning the national competition. Sammo Hung is a veteran martial art actor, but had his training through the Peking Opera acrobatic style school 9AS jackie Chan), rather than the "real thing" as Yen, Li and Wu did. Still, he can hold his own in front of a camera against these true experts.

If there were only one reason to see this martial art movie, it would be the duel between Yen and Wu. Observe the complete lack of camera movement during a good part of this sequence. Nor is there any of the usual choreography you see and many Hollywood (and Hong Kong) action movies. The two simply combine their talent and years of training and show the audience what they are capable of under the ruthless scrutiny of a stationery camera. Martial arts filming does not get better than this.

By comparison, the grand finale bout between Yen and Hung, while the climax in terms of the story line, is a bit of an anti-climax in terms of martial art excellence, although it is still quite watchable. To add more for the enjoyment of the audience, Yen brings in Jujitsu for this sequence, the Japanese martial art style that many consider to be the predecessor of Judo.

A must-see for lovers of the martial art genre, SPL has been given a Categoty III violence rating locally, not without reasons.

Woah, woah...don't get too carried away y'all!

[rmj1971 · 7/10 · 16 January 2006]

Despite what others may claim Sha Po Lang is not up there with the best HK movies of it's kind made during the golden period of the 1980s, when the likes of Jackie Chan, John Woo and Ringo Lam were in their pomp. In fact, there have been better cop films than SPL released in more recent times in the territory, Infernal Affairs and Running Out of Time to name just two. What SPL does do successfully is tap into the style and tone of the type of films that made Hong Kong action film popular with western audiences during the 80s and 90s. In SPL, the line between right and wrong, good guys and bad guys, is blurred to the point of it almost becoming invisible (often a feature in John Woo's output). The fact that the film's most likable(?) character is a brutal mobster shows how there is no black and white in the world of Sha Po Lang, just differing shades of grey. It's Sammo Hung's excellent performance as gangster Po, committed family man yet also a ruthless, violent crime boss, that is at the heart of the film. Against him all the traditionally good cop characters seem to have to sacrifice their innate sense of right in order to achieve what they see as justice being done; resulting in them becoming more like the man they're trying to bring down. It all leads to regret, violence, death and a shocking finale that should live long in viewers memories. As for the action sequences, they are well executed if a little too brief, but none of them would make it into a ten (or twenty!) best HK fight scenes list. Simply put, Sha Po Lang is a well put together police thriller with decent action and a satisfyingly bleak, film noir-esquire tone. It's well worth seeing and if it kick-starts a return to the classic action style of Hong Kong cinema, even better!

Donnie Yen wasn't lying..

[ipkevin · 9/10 · 17 September 2005]

.. when he called SPL the pinnacle of his martial arts choreography. It rocks. HARD. Not only are the fights are brutal, fast, and complex, but Donnie may have achieved the impossible: He made Brazillian ju-jitsu look exciting on film. Donnie's character repeatedly goes for takedowns, armbars, chokes, and all the moves that you might see in a UFC or Pride match (with Sammo countering attacks exactly how the big fighters do it in a real bout), while seamlessly combining them with the incredibly fast, complex punching and kicking exchanges you'd expect in a Hong Kong flick. Did I mention that the fights are bone-crunchingly brutal? There is a real nastiness to the punchups that should yield a great reaction from enthusiastic audiences. And then there is the spectacular Wu Jing vs Donnie Yen fight. It starts off very, very fast and complex, then at a certain point, the tempo changes and you suddenly realize that it's because they're just making it up ON THE SPOT and the damn thing becomes even more impressive. The long, unbroken takes should please fight purists, too.

The film itself also holds up. Director Wilson Yip really shows off his passion and skill in this film. It's an intense crime drama that doesn't have to pander to any teeny boppers, so he is free to finally let loose. The story is solid and Yip takes the opportunity to devise some great sequences. There's a scene that cuts between Donnie looking at photos of the policemen he's about to lead and footage of the same cops intensely doing their business that is pure cinema.. a scene that could have been plain on paper, but is made exciting purely through the director's vision - the way it's cut and scored and staged. In other words, there is a lot of obvious effort put into the drama. It isn't just some thrown together filler btwn fight scenes. This is a real film. Oh, and one comment about the audio: It's amazing. The music is superb and the sound effects are everything you could hope for in a kung fu film (ie, they accentuate every move and hit as you'd want them to). I hope the DVD has a great DD5.1 track and that you have the system to play it 'cause it'll make a big difference.

Complaints? I have only one: The fights should have been a little longer, but that's okay because they burn twice as bright as most.

Good action, not anything else though

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 16 September 2010]

I love eastern cinema. Be it Hong Action movie or quite a few of the recent South Korean efforts (and of course Kitano). Since Tony Jaa came onto the screen (and therefor into many peoples lives), pure action movies do have a difficult stand. Ong Bak (the first one) set a new bar concerning action scenes. They even set the bar higher with Tom Yum Goong. Story-wise on the other hand, both those movies had not that much to offer.

And the same can be applied here. Though the movie tries to have a coherent story, it never got me involved into anything. But the action is more than decent (even when compared to the Jaa-Mayhem). So watch this for the action and try not to mind the story too much.

A lean, dark bastard of a movie, SPL a stunning return to Hong Kong noir

[Coolestmovies · 10/10 · 5 October 2005]

Set to retire due to a terminal brain tumor, detective Simon Yam knows there's only one way for him and his loyal squad to deal with triad kingpin Sammo Hung and his troops: force on force. But no matter how hard they press - and they press HARD - Sammo presses back harder, and usually after he walks free when it becomes apparent Simon and his boys have violated every police procedure and human right imaginable in an effort to secure an apprehension.

When a mentally deficient A/V geek arrives at the station with a video showing Sammo teeing off on the head of Simon's undercover operative and one of his henchman finalizing the deal with a bullet to the head, Simon and his crew first beat the henchman to within an inch of his life, sending him flying off a high-rise rooftop, and then hatch a plan to edit the tape and make Sammo appear to be the killer. Of course, there's always a backup tape, and the vicious crime kingpin again walks free, this time with a master plan to wipe out Simon's unit for good.

Into this raging carnival of payback is transferred Simon's replacement Donnie, a not-quite- by-the-book hot shot whose initial protestations to the group's dark pragmatism and exclusionary procedures are rescinded after he helplessly watches one of them get slit up a treat by Sammo's snickering, psychotic blade-for-hire Jacky Wu Jing (who's hardly the "newcomer" he's being touted as by both the opening credits and the internet gossip cycle). That these two will later settle up accounts in a ferocious bout of hand-to-hand combat in the alley leading to Sammo's club is a foregone conclusion: that the fight is one of the most beautifully constructed, relentlessly exhilarating setpieces of martial arts choreography in the history of Hong Kong cinema, one that practically INVENTS new ways of kicking ass, comes as a breath of minty freshness in this era of assembly line romances and computer-assisted Jackie Chan in silly helmets.

The sequence is rivaled in short order when Donnie finally takes on the Big Man himself, virtually trashing Sammo's opulent nightclub in the process just moments after Simon's abortive last attempt to kill his archenemy buys him a series of gaping stab wounds and a Great Big Knife through his hand.

But the film isn't just about combat, phenomenal though it is; it's about consequences, and the dark decisions of the soul that, in Hong Kong movies at least, routinely resulted in cataclysm in film after film of the golden era of the 80's and 90's. The kind of movie that used to be worthy of the title Heroic Bloodshed, and a textbook exercise in escalating nihilism. No one escapes fate in SPL, not that they try very hard: combatants on both sides of the battle have tunnel vision and live only to see the other side pushing up the daisies, their own deaths often appearing as surprising to them as they are to us.

SPL feels like the movie its director, Wilson Yip, wanted to make in the mid-1990's, back when folks like Danny Lee knew the value of a hammer and a phone book in extracting confessions, so it doesn't surprise that the film is set in 1997 (a fact seemingly lost on the majority of the audience at the Toronto Film Festival where this debuted): how else to justify the "shoot-first-f***-the-questions" cocaine bust flashbacked as newly arrived Donnie quietly acquaints himself with the vacant desks of his new charges, or the sight of weary veteran Liu Kai-chi slapping around a mental retardate and trashing the poor boy's pad?

Not that the film is all bleakness. With the exception of Jacky's smirky, nutjob assassin, all the primary leads are given small vignettes that show they're firing on more than one cylinder: Simon becomes godfather to a little girl whose parents, witnesses to Sammo's dirty dealings, were killed by Jacky. Liu Kai-chi discovers the fate of his estranged father just moments before fate points his way; Donnie secretly plays video games with a mentally challenged ex-thief he clocked a little too hard; and Sammo interrupts several tense moments AND his climactic Donnie-brook to take calls from his wife, who after several failed pregnancies has finally given him a child, albeit one who will figure prominently in one of the most brutal twist endings of all time. There's more authentic characterization on display here than in any five Hong Kong action thrillers of the past few years (barring the gorgeously grim procedural of Johnny To) - not for nothing is the film set on Father's Day - a fact not lost on the likes of Yip and Yen, who must have known respective talents such as theirs, coupled with an Asian cinephile's dream cast, could only result in something truly memorable.

With little argument, this is Yip's most refined, tightly-wound effort to date, a lean, dark, unsparing bastard of a movie that melds the satiny luster of 2002, with which it shares art director Jeff Mak, with the sinewy, stripped-down plotting of BIO-ZOMBIE (minus the comedy, of course). Easily one of the best, if not THE best Hong Kong picture of 2005 so far, and I doubt the rest of the year will produce anything its equal.

Great climax and ending, but not much else

[sarastro7 · 7/10 · 9 March 2006]

Cops-and-gangster movies like this are a dime a dozen, and this one doesn't really bring anything original to the concept. What distinguishes this movie is that it has three martial arts masters in it (the third, besides Donnie Yen and Samo Hung, being Jing "Jacky" Wu, whom I just absolutely *love* - if only he would do more movies, dammit!), who ensure an extremely cool series of climactic fights at the end. Unfortunately, there's hardly any fighting in the rest of the movie, making it quite boring. But I like the ending even when we disregard the fights, because Samo Hung's kingpin character is reminded of the true price of his lifestyle. With his loved ones dead, his final triumph is meaningless. (But hey, after he's thrown onto a big glass shelf, smashing it, how come his clothes are hardly even ripped when he gets up?!)

Anyway - the Great Big Cool Thing about this movie for me was the fight between Donnie Yen and Jacky Wu (and yeah, Samo Hung did pretty damn well for himself, too!). I just can't get over Jacky Wu's moves. That guy is so bloody good he could get bigger that both Jackie Chan and Jet Li. And I hope he eventually does. I sat and waited for him to come on screen, seeing it from a mile away when he finally did, and cheering like crazy!

The few fights in this movie are extremely fast (think Bruce Lee), and look very real (i.e. no extra-fast camera work). Beautiful. If anybody thought Donnie Yen was past his prime, they should see this movie.

Still - if Jacky Wu and Donnie had to fight for real, I very seriously doubt that Donnie would have any chance at all. In this movie, Donnie wins because he's the senior actor (and the good guy), whereas Jacky Wu is still really just starting out. But, damn, his few scenes in this movie really makes the whole thing worthwhile.

Storywise, this couldn't rise above a 5 or 6 rating, but because of the fights, the good ending and the presence of Jacky Wu (yaaay!!!), I'll give it a 7 out of 10. Some memorable scenes, but not a really great movie.

OK, action, poor dialog, nice concept until I realized...

[monodactylus · 3/10 · 14 March 2009]

Perhaps something was lost in the English translation, but the dialog for the movie was terrible. Character developments were weak at best. The beginning of the movie attempts to produce too much of a background too quickly. Either this movie should have been longer or stuff should have been left out. The scenes regarding Simon's cancer looked forced. Then you jump from the hospital to a cop ramming the back of a gangsters car? Are you serious? There's gotta be a better way to show animosity and hatred between the two characters than to just all of a sudden jumping to one guy ramming the other. Also, when Simon yanks his goddaughter away from Sammo in the hospital it was with force. She was silent. Seeing kids yanked like that before especially girls there'd be some kind of noise. The concept for the movie was interesting at first until I realized it looked similar to Training Day and The Corrupter which were both made earlier. The action is probably slightly better than I've seen in some recent martial arts movies. It was amusing to see Donnie attempt to look like he was an eskrimador with the baton. It's been a long time since I've seen Sammo in a movie. Definitely a different roll for him from what I've seen of him. Although I haven't seen him in a movie in at least 20 years.

One of the best Hong Kong action flicks in the last decade!

[Dangerous_Lee_Handsome · 10/10 · 17 March 2006]

What do you get when you pair two martial arts legends against each other, throw in a dark, gripping, sadistic story and a boat-load of action? Well, that's simple: you get one of the best Hong Kong action flicks of recent memory. "SPL" brings it all back home and it does in violent fashion. Donnie Yen leads a cast that also includes Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing. I loved everything about this movie. I thought all the actors were great. I thought the story was good. The action was just brilliant! Donnie Yen's fight choreography is some of the best work he's ever done (check out the alley fight scene against Wu Jing). He mixes traditional kung fu with a little UFC grappling which I thought was pretty cool. Seeing Donnie and Sammo face off for the very first time was quite astonishing. Some of you may agree, some might not, but I think Donnie Yen is the most underrated action actors of them all. I love Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but they're like Van Damme and Seagal. They play the same character in every film. Donnie, on the other hand, is a much more versatile actor who's willing to play supporting roles or even villainous roles. It's really a shame that he can't get the Hollywood leading roles that often go to Jackie or Jet. But that could change soon. In the mean time, check this movie out! You'll love it.

I believe we are starved for some good martial arts.

[DionysoReal · 6/10 · 1 April 2006]

Sammo and Donnie are already tops to me but I think that the reviews are a little generous. I understand we don't have many options so we are really going through Kung Fu withdrawal. It's OK though I am still with you in spirit.

Of course, I wanted more fighting!!! Sammo movies always had endearing characters that grew on you. Sad to say, I barely got to know these characters. There were too many clichés that didn't work for me either. Funny, I was rooting for Sammo and his assassin the whole time. I guess I just didn't like the police characters in this film. They just didn't make me believe their cause. The little girl and a brain tumor were just too trite. Too much is taken for granted from the viewer as if the lines are clearly drawn without taking the time to let it sink in. Before I knew it, it was over. Felt like a tease.

I wouldn't complain if it had more fighting. Then I would be smiling with glee and the other complaints would be minor. Still, I would rather have seen it than not. Wireless fighting rules! I can still think of tons of approaches to making martial arts films that haven't been done yet.

Decent fights with overwrought pathos in between

[udar55 · 4/10 · 20 December 2007]

Somehow, it appears the entire genre of great action movies from Hong Kong in the 80s and early 90s has been wiped from people's minds. Was this really that mind blowing? No. The buzz behind this film has been tremendous so imagine my surprise when it turns out to be just a routine cop drama with one decent fight (Donnie Yen vs. Sammo Hung). Good but not great. People are calling this an amazing return to the HK cinema of yesteryear when it is far from that. Have they ever seen a HK film before this? Or is it like having your grandma tell you how amazing the martial arts in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON are. Seriously, we've been down this road and it has been better many times before. A lot better.

One of the most frustrating viewings I've had recently

[refresh_daemon · 6/10 · 26 September 2006]

Also known as Saat Po Long and, due to the Weinstein's work, the awful English title "Kill Zone", I've seen reviews claiming that this film is the revival of Hong Kong cinema. Well, I can safely say that the cinema has climbed out of the grave and with it, some good things. But like any zombie clawing its way out of the ground, it brought back some bad with it too. And I'm not talking about a thirst for brains.

What can certainly be praised in this film is the cinematography and the action direction. The entire film is shot in such a way that almost every shot is framed memorably. Almost every picture is beautiful. That's pretty amazing. And then there's the action. There are not many sequences and the film's action doesn't really pick up until the last third of the film, but when the action sequences show up, they are exhilarating and impressive. Certainly some of the most wonderfully choreographed and shot fighting sequences I've seen in almost any picture recently.

And unfortunately, the string that ties those two praiseworthy elements together is a poorly shaped story and an element of the old HK pictures that should've stayed dead: repeated overblown melodrama. First of all, the story has to do with cops trying to take down robbers. That's fine in itself. It worked amazingly well in the Hong Kong crime drama Infernal Affairs. In Sha Po Lang, it doesn't work.

One of the primary problems is that the film doesn't seem to be sure what kind of film it wants to be. It's story is too complicated to make for a good action film, evidenced by its lack of action for the majority of the film's running time. The characters are all too simple to make for a good drama (one-note characterizations are what differentiate the different cops). And so instead of melting two worlds together effectively, the film just throws melodrama at us to convince us that the story is worthwhile and the characters are worth caring about.

It's fine that the one-note characters all have their little issues, but since the film doesn't care enough about the characters to spend any more time on them, when "dramatic conflict" strikes, the melodramatic direction the film has at those moments seems over-the-top. What's worse is that these overblown moments happen over and over to major and minor character alike, so when I got to the end melodramatic moments, I was completely desensitized to it and was annoyed that every minor and major character got treated with the same ridiculousness over-the-top direction. I say, if a minor character bites the dust or has something else bad happen to them, don't dwell on it too long--the director needs to focus on the primary characters and the story! This is further taken to the realm of madness by the hyper-dramatic score, which has to swell up with its strings every few minutes (yes, that's the frequency of "dramatic events" in this film--it's exhausting). This is another aspect of old school HK cinema that couldn't been learned from. Just because the music is overly dramatic doesn't make the situation or the story any more dramatic. Music shouldn't lead the audience, it should support the moment in the film! Argh!

All this lead up to one of the most frustrating viewings I've had recently. There was enough good about the film that I wished that the rest was a whole lot better. But waffling back and forth between things done really well and things done really poorly just frustrated me. I was very satisfied by the kinetic action sequences and nearly driven to madness by the poorly realized "drama". So I can't give this film a high score or a low score. In the end, I have to say that this film has some merit, but it would need a whole lot of work to be good. If you do watch it, don't feel too bad for fast forwarding 2/3 of the movie to get to the action. You aren't missing a whole lot. 6/10.

The most authentic and intense action scene

[TheBigSick · 10 September 2017]

The fight scene between Donnie Yen and Jing Wu at a back alley, is arguably the most authentic and intense action scene, in the whole history of cinema. It is just thrilling and brilliant. This scene makes the movie both Donnie Yen's best and Jing Wu's best of their entire careers.

Good.

[squazilla · 7/10 · 17 September 2005]

I saw this film @ the Toronto International Film Festival. It was a pretty good martial arts film. The action styles were interesting to say the least, there were no wires used for the fighting. It added a nice change from all the action movies using wires out there these days. The story was strong throughout the whole movie.

The first bit was just explaining what was happening to all the characters (which all had wonderful performances) and it slowly became faster-paced as the movie came to a close. The end was a surprise, and a good one at that.

One last thing- the lighting in this film was very well done, I thought. The lights generally all were different colours that were on the actors, it added a nice touch.

Hopefully we will see more of Jing Wu.

what HK marital arts cinema should be

[cowskickass · 10/10 · 17 September 2005]

This movie rocks. Thats it, those are my feelings for this film summed up in a comprehensible sentence.

This is a surprisingly dark film, not all clean-cut heroes and villains story. its not a story about idealistic law enforcement, its about cops living in a very bad world, and doing whatever they need to do to get the job done.

Donnie Yen is in prime form here, its great to see him back in action and in such center-stage role. But Sammo Hung is THE MAN in this film, a perfect villain and total badass. watch it just for him.

The fights are all amazing.Its less artsy kungfu and a little more brutal streetfighting. Donnie Yen's choreography is at its best, everything looks painful and bloody. The battle between Sammo and Donnie has to be one of the best I've seen in a while.

Kill or kidnap whoever you need to see this flick. its worth it.

A good moral, but crappy script writing. Good Actions, but crappy directing

[solidsnake4040 · 6/10 · 27 November 2005]

S. P .L is an action thriller that you will find both entertaining and frustrating.

The bad - When Ma is fighting Bo at the end, his shirt was down to the last button, some how, when Ma fell down the building, his shirt was all buttoned up.

• Only because the triad found a tape that proves Bo didn't kill the cop, they can't just release him because he will still be charge of extreme physical assault causing body harm to others. Highest sentence in HK will be 10 years in prison.

• The plot of framing the evidence is really weak. Forensic science unit can for sure tell that you have switched the bullet from the corpse.

• You can see ads and cars that are from 2004, however, the movie was set in 1997.

• A lot of Donnie Yen's moves in the movie were done before from his previous movies. The swing side split and the jumping hook kick were both done before in "Legend of the wolf". The triple kicks on Bo was done in "Blade II". The triple kicks done on 3 different guys were done before in "Iron monkey" and "Fist of Legend" (series).

The good - Donnie Yen has done some breakthroughs in action movies by adding MMA style fighting into the movie. He used many grappling moves at the end.

• The moral of the movie is that good. It shows that law is not everything, and there are people who value justice and honor above the law.

• Good acting done by the cast members, they really put in emotions and feelings into the movie.

Shoot Punch Lick and Other Good Bits

[Adorable · 8/10 · 22 November 2005]

The concept of joss should be familiar to many followers of Hong Kong's antics. Used profusely in James Clavell novels (Tai Pan, Noble House et al), joss relates notions of life's fickle randomness, as events remain at the mercy of capricious gods. Whatever those will, happens. Joss. Looking for a reason may be nothing more than a solid waste of time.

Although no longer in vogue as a word, joss still holds sway over things HK. To wit, this spat of top-shelf action flicks that came out of nowhere following months and perhaps years of utter dreariness.

As if Dragon Squad wasn't good enough a couple weeks back, here comes SPL, or Saat Po Lang, which literally (should, if this reviewer's language skills are any good) mean "kill the bent wolf". That particular translation does make sense in light of the film's plot, as does the Film Board's decision to waltz with danger and place a category III rating on another movie not far behind Election on the release schedule. This dalliance has us totally in thrall, for HK's censors have historically proved themselves to be timid scaredy-cats with the utmost adverse reaction to anything remotely good. And while SPL may not be the next Natural Born Killers or Bad Lieutenant, it does earn its three I's with more aplomb than a few lesser projects, and contains more than enough gratuitous bloodshed to sate action pundits.

Just like Dragon Squad, so doesn't SPL shy away from all the things that have traditionally made HK an excellent source of frenetic action nutrients. However, while DS put itself in a somewhat-comedic, hyper-realistic version of the city, SPL takes place firmly in a Gothamite rendition of HK, brooding and awash with menace. Wilson Yip (Bullets Over Summer, White Dragon) and his posse provide just the right quotients of each ingredient, resulting in an atmosphere perfectly adjusted to its purpose. You can't avoid liking the HK seen here, with its Streets of Fire/Young and Dangerous-like roaming gangs, dark, desolate cityscapes and hapless police force.

What the cops are so prostate before is Wong Po, master criminal and ruthless sadist cum family man, done by a delectable Sammo Hung. Sammo's always been good as a villain, and this Kingpin-esquire meanie's no exception. Wong Po combines the usual crazed bad guy with a loving husband, and of course possesses relentless martial arts skills. These are deployed against the movie's main protagonists, the good-but-shadowy police types everybody loves so much. They're headed by Chung (Simon Yam AGAIN), who's got it in for Wong Po after a family of witnesses under his protection got wasted on the criminal's bequest.

But Chung's naturally about to retire in order to care for his goddaughter (sole survivor of said family), so the stage is set for new captain Inspector Ma, another fighting machine in the form of ever-likable Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey, Hero, Seven Swords) to come in and join the fray. Others include abrasive, skeptic cop Ah Wah (Liu Kai Chi, pretty much in every HK movie over the last few years) and a nameless, lunatic killer employed by Wong Po (martial arts expert Wu Jing).

Save for a few minor pseudo-surprises, SPL follows a normative mold as far as story goes, but succeeds mostly in terms of its superb pace and impressive mood-setting elements. The comic book characters fit their respective personalities, can take a whole lot of damage, and have this knack for seeming serious, like they're in a real crime story rather than fiction. Gunplay, hack 'n' slash and fighting have all found a spot for themselves herein, and none overpowers the other, so that's all good, too.

Likewise, Yip managed to add quizzical surrealism to the mix by telling us the movie takes place 1994-1997. Sure, the old colonial flag of HK is seen briefly, and cop badges read Royal Police, but beyond that, it's obviously the now, not ten years ago. Cars, clothes, and buildings are all contemporary. To some, this may be ridiculous. To others, it's a useful storytelling conceit, in synch with the story's overall fairy tale, fantasy mindset.

Additional assets in SPL's collection number generally strong supporting characters (Chung's crew and Wong Po's insane-clown head minion), a gorgeous soundtrack, and this perturbing ability to fuse components from action epics like Cobra and The Punisher with gangland hysteria a la Goodfellas or Scarface (just listen to the violins as they play in the background).

Perhaps nostalgia and time won't be as kind to SPL as they were to the films that inspired it, but one can't hide from acknowledging we have before us another substantial action entry in a year that, for ten months out of twelve, was nigh on arid in the adrenaline department, and that's not even mentioning the years preceding.

Archetypal tormented cops, obsessive villains, a city teeming with unrestrained violence and props so destructible they must have cost more than hiring Simon Yam and Sammo, who have been so prolific recently we have to wonder when they get any time off.

In short, and acronyms aside, go watch it.

Rating: * * * *

Action sequences make this movie a must see

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 3 September 2007]

Watched the dubbed version of SPL, which the Weinstein's have retitled KillZone, thus assuring that anyone who knew of the original title couldn't find the American DVD. Hell I had to do a double take when I found it in the bargain bin at a local video store for five bucks. (granted it rang up as an early 90's film of the same name, which explains why a movie out for two months is available for five bucks). SPL is the story of how a bunch of cops decide to put away a really bad guy played by Sammo Hung. Hung is a very bad man with a love of golf clubs. Things heat up when an undercover cop is killed and the team tries to turn up the heat. The violence escalates and pretty soon people are dying on all sides. The dub isn't bad. It does what its suppose to though its clear from putting on the subtitle track there is a difference in the translations. Be warned its a bloody movie, though there are some funny and touching moments. Action fans will want to put it on their list of must see films. 7.5 out of 10

Kill Zone, you mean dull zone

[the_real_smile · 1/10 · 4 December 2010]

I read the reviews on IMDb, one superlative after another was used to describe how good this movie was. After some good movies like Kung Fu Hustle, Kung Pow and Shaolin Soccer I was really in the mood for another great martial art movie. Well, let me tell you the true story. The script of the movie is what we call very thin, sometimes stupid and let's not forget the stupid in between scenes or did I used the word stupid already? The latter could be bearable if the movie wasn't so incredibly boring, The action scenes, some described as the best of the last decade are not bad, but to call them good? They reminded me of 80's martial art movies fighting scenes with one big exception, in the 80's the scenes were good. Save your money and watch Kung Fu Hustle, Kung Pow or Shaolin Soccer instead.

Sammo Still Kicks ASS!!!!!

[oriental-dragon-1 · 10/10 · 9 April 2006]

This is an amazing film if not just for the fact it has Sammo Hung fighting Donnie Yen and fans of Martial Arts movies will know what I mean! Donnie Yen is so fast and Sammo is Sooooooooooooooooo big in more ways than one but boy can he move!!! The film also shows a different side to Sammo a dark and pretty scary side! The film has a great story, bad Sammo with even badder cops! Donnie is the new guy taking over from Simon Yam who has a tumour and is retiring to take care of his god-daughter. Donnie doesn't know just how far his new team will go to protect each other and it's pretty far! Sammo was responsible for the death of Simon's god-daughters parents and he has vowed vengeance and tries to frame him, BIG mistake! I won't say anymore but there is amazing fight scenes and action galore don't know if the girls will like it but if they're anything like me they'll love it and I'm positive the guys WILL love it!!!!! TWO TUMS UP!!!!!!!! GET THIS MOVIE! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!!!!!!!! BEWARE THAT YOU DO NOT BUY THE CUT VERSION AS I HAVE BOTH AND YOU WILL BE VERY LET DOWN IF YOU BUY IT! MAKE SURE IT IS UNCUT AS THERE IS A GREAT KARMA KICK ASS SCENE NEAR THE END, YOU'LL KNOW WHAT I MEAN WHEN YOU SEE IT!! HAPPY VIEWING!!!

Must see action sequences, the rest is only for die-hard b-movie fans

[bennyhagen · 6/10 · 10 February 2015]

I somehow totally missed this flick in the 90', having seen it now in 2015 I'm pretty damn amazed at some of the stuff that can be witnessed here. The fights are top of the list to this very day, really the kind of stuff that every martial arts junkie has to see before dying a slow motion death from a spinning wheel-kick. Some of cinematography is pretty artsy as well. All the rest is pretty clunky, but easier to swallow if you can manage to concentrate on how bleak and inordinary this movie is rather then the terrible writing and acting. As you might have heard, the ending is pretty f*cking dark too.

B-Movie fans will know what to do with this.

6/10

Prepare to be Disappointed

[hat_city · 1/10 · 19 February 2017]

I can't believe how misleading the reviews for this movie are! Everyone's just going on and on about how awesome and action packed it is.... Well, I got news for you: this movie is Terrible. Tortuously slow and boring. Horrible acting. Way too much tear-jerking, male bonding, and violin music. And the terrible dialogue just keeps going!!! It never ends!! I kept checking the time and thinking "Oh my God, it's only been 30 minutes??" And it never, ever gets better.

The only good fight scene is in the last 15 minutes of the film, Donnie Yen vs. Sammo Hung. Do yourself a favor and just look up the fight scene on youtube. Even then, don't expect it to be an amazing fight. All in all, this movie was a huge disappointment and a total waste of an evening.