Purple Storm (1999)

This modern-day Hong Kong thriller mixes together elements of the psychological human drama with a more conventional terrorist-mastermind type plot that seems very familiar in today's world of suicide bombers and terrorist bombings. With repeated shots of buildings exploding a la 9/11, this makes for a film that is sometimes uncomfortable and always unexpected. Sadly, the movie as a whole is let down by some indifferent acting, especially on the part of the lead, Daniel Wu, whose over-the-top gurning belongs in a pantomime. The good news is that it generally fits together well as an action-cum-thriller with plenty of shoot-outs, bloodshed, and martial arts battles to keep the machismo running over.Director Teddy Chan handles the action sequences with aplomb, revealing the true horror of what happens when the police battle on the streets with terrorist villains, as numerous bystanders end up getting caught in the crossfire and both sides taking heavy casualties. Although the toxic gas premise belongs in a sci-fi movie, things don't really get out of hand until the effects-laden finale in the sewers which actually happens to be pretty funny. Attempts are made to give this film a heavier plot that most, as it focus on various characters caught up in the proceedings, trying to get the audience to see what it would be like to be them.Out of the cast, the best performances come from Emil Chau as the by-the-book cop, who has a wholesome feel of goodness about him; I'd like to see him in similar roles in other films. Although Joan Chen is top-billed in her minor role as a police psychologist, she's actually on screen very little and makes nothing of an impact – I've always considered her to be overrated myself. Conversely, Josie Ho, an actress I've never heard of, who plays one of the female terrorists, is excellent, bringing heart to the role of a guilt-free killer and being very sexy with it – give this lady more roles! Much is made of white-haired Kwok-Leung Gan as the chief terrorist Soong, and he is decent as bad guys go, more of a silent brooding menace than a megalomaniac in this one. So, all in all this is a decent action flick, not a masterpiece or particularly rewatchable or anything, but different enough to be worth a go.

PURPLE STORM has, at its core, a timely and interesting idea. An anarchist, Todd, is injured during a terrorist operation, loses his memory and is captured by the Anti-Terrorist Force. The ATF convince Todd he is actually an undercover agent working for them and hand him back to terrorist leader Soong. But having glimpsed the righteous point of view Todd now harbours doubts about his leader's cause, setting up the protagonists for a climactic showdown.The problem lies in how inadequately this fascinating idea has been developed. Scenes that could have been so much better - Todd's "reunion" with his (fake) police officer girlfriend and Todd's reunion with his real terrorist girlfriend - are just not explored in the same way that a Hollywood production would have done.The handicap here is the lazy script by HK schlockmeister Wong Jing. He's a great idea man but just about always fails to put a decent amount of work into the script. And as he's usually the producer too, the poor director and stars have no chance.The resulting film is very choppy and disjointed. It plays like there are scenes missing from the final cut that would have explained what's going on. Why is that guy trying to decode files on a disc Todd was carrying when he was captured? The ATF already know what's going on. Why are the terrorists hiring a ship, when they simply hijacked one at the beginning of the film? Why does Soong blow up the office building during the hand-over of Todd?Sloppy film-making with a few good action scenes.

This movie gives Daniel Wu his chance to do a great action movie, but I really find Emil Chow's character really great, gutsy but determined to righting wrongs. Plus the main terrorist, it gets me wondering his revolution, makes me wonder if he is doing this for good or bad. A movie that tells us about Todd, an amnesiac terrorist being tricked as an undercover until he learns who he really is. The consequences that he makes from his terrorist family, gives him a the choice of redemption.Purple Storm was one of the best ones that I have seen this year. The movie really stands out when it is filled with tremendous action scenes set-up by Stephen Tung Wai, which won the best action sequences in the Hong Kong Awards. (9/10)

Here we've got an intelligent mixture of typical hongkongmovieshootouts, worlddestructionthemes and intelligent filmmaking. Not that the script has not its big holes and a few specialeffects are a bit cheaplooking. But the cinematography is a optical treat and the soundtrack is first rate. The blend of fast actionsequences and colorful slow, sometimes nearly poetic parts, has no comparison in its kind of movie, so a classification is rather hard. The closest genre is a disaster or terroristmovie with deeper human and political notes than usual. Well worth to be seen worldwide in cinemas. But i am hoping this for so many other (mostly asian) movies before and nobody seems to believe me. Unfortunately.