Hit Team (Chung chong ging chaat -2001)

Starring:
Daniel Wu (Ng Yin-Cho)
Alex To Tak-Wai
Jo Koo
Samuel Pang King-Chi
Monica Lo Suk-Yi
Ruby Wong Cheuk-Ling
Chin Kar-Lok
Alan Moo
Joe Lee Yiu-Ming
Tony Ho Wah-Chiu

Routine actioner from Dante Lam succeeds thanks to attention to detail and believably human performances. Another in the “cop soap opera” genre, Hit Team details the clash between two groups of cops. One is the special “Hit Team,” designed to go after heavily armed bad guys, and the other are a group of rogue cops robbing underground banks.

Alex To leads the rogue cops, who are actually stealing the money to fund an operation for their crippled buddy Chin Kar-Lok, who was shot by evil triads and hung out to dry by his superiors. The Hit Team is led by Daniel Wu, who manages to show a surprising intensity as the serious squad leader. Right off they suspect that the robberies are done by cops, and as the truth comes to light things get a bit complicated. Of course Daniel disagrees with what Alex and his pals are doing, but he agrees with their purpose. Ultimately, decisions are made and things are explained through action rather than words.



Typical HK cop movie. It was fun, lots of action (not of the kung-fu type this time around), and lots of drama.

This movie actually questioned the morality of the police department. An undercover cop gets shot in the back, becomes paralized and the department turns their back on him. Morals? What is the understanding of it? So his friends break free of the department except for one and take on an underground banking group to steal the money that was "stolen" from the injured cop who needs the surgery so he doesn't stay paralyzed.

Investigating their actions is another department section of the police department who realize that their own are breaking the laws and are determined to capture them but as time goes on and the investigation becomes more intense do they realize the understanding of the rogue cops.

This was a pretty fast paced movie. Some character descriptions were left by the wayside but the story didn't become overly tainted.

A fun ride to watch.....and Daniel Wu's character was surprisingly calm, cool, and smart compared so some of the characters he's played before. Very nice!!!

My Schoolmate, The Barbarian (Ngo dik yeh man tung hok -2001)

Starring:
Nicholas Tse Ting-Fung
Stephen Fung Tak-Lun
Joey Yung Tso-Yi
Samuel Pang King-Chi
Yu Ka-Ho
Ng Chi-Hung
Fung Wai-Hung

Stephen Fung is Edward, a rich high school kid who accidentally gets enrolled in seedy TBS College instead of the prestigious private school he was supposed to get into. TBS College is apparently the Battle Royale college of Hong Kong. The ritual here is for kids to settle their differences through one-on-one fisticuffs without any teachers present. The teachers actually know but don't get involved, which is yet another fine argument for public education.

Edward immediately gets saddled with smarmy rivals, but he does find an ally: Stone (Nicholas Tse), the undisputed King of Fighters. However, Stone hasn't fought in six months and current top dog Mantis (Samuel Pang) wants Stone in the ring so they can see who's the toughest of all. Stone doesn't care to fight Mantis, but he will help Edward learn the ropes so he can fend for himself in the ring. However, Stone has his own issues, and Mantis isn't content to let Stone avoid fighting him. Plus there's a kidnapping case and the obligatory high school romance between Edward and classmate Fung (Joey Yung).




The movie started out stupid. The jokes were a little lame and corny for superstars Tse and Fung. But in all, the movie was okay. Wasn't my favorite by far. The action was pretty tame too. They down played Fung's strength's and relied on Tse's.

I guess the story was too farfetched for me to believe in. Don't get me wrong it was a fun movie for those who need a not-so-mind-thought-provoking show.

Ah, but alas, Nick was cute as usual and so was Stephen. Hey, even the Sam (Mantis) was looking pretty good there. That's what this movie was....just eye candy for those of us who thrive on Nick and Stephen. Where was Shawn (Yue)? Can't have a movie without those three together. LOL!

Nicholas Tse