AFI Dallas International Film Festival - ‘Flash Point’

(Hong Kong, China, 2007, 87 mins)
In Cantonese, Mandarin with English subtitles

Directed By: Wilson Yip

The team of director Wilson Yip and actor and fight choreographer Donnie Yen present a two-fisted cinematic powder keg.

Hot-headed cop Jun (Donnie Yen), whose punch-drunk brand of justice earns him constant reprimands from his superiors, is after drug-dealing brothers Archer (Lui Leung-wai), Tony (Collin Chou from The Matrix Reloaded) and Tiger (Yu Xing from Kung Fu Hustle). Undercover cop Wilson (Louis Koo, from Election) infiltrates the gang and wins its trust. When his cover is blown, the resulting battle leaves him crippled. Archer is snared by the lawmen, but the day before his trial Tiger vows to wipe out the only witness – Wilson – setting off an unforgettable series of high-octane chases and fisticuffs.

Yen and Yip have forged a unique, symbiotic style. Rather than superhuman leaps through the air, Yen’s raw grappling and gravity-based tumbles show a rare intensity and visceral realism.

Information from the AFI website