Raging Fire - The Satisfying Final Directorial Work of Benny Chan

When I found out that there was going to be a new Donnie Yen's movie coming to the cinemas soon, I was very excited about it. So immediately as the film released on Friday, I planned to see it together with my wife during the weekend. Alas when we were searching for the cinemas showing this movie on Saturday, the theaters playing it were reduced significantly. Fortunately we found one that was near our home and played at 5 PM which was still reasonable. Anyway, I should get right on it now.

Brief Story Line

As a senior police investigator, Bong (Donnie Yen - Big Brother, Ip Man 4 etc) was known by his senior supervisors as a no nonsense cop with high moral compass. Unfortunately such trait prove to be challenging for his career development. Even his direct supervisors were having difficulty in reminding him to cooperate better, especially since Bong's wife Anna (Qin Lan - Story of Yanxi Palace TV series etc) was pregnant and he would soon become a father.

Meanwhile, a group of highly skilled criminals led by Ngo (Nicholas Tse - As Light Goes Out, Cook Up a Storm etc) starting to wreak havoc in Hong Kong. When their latest action resulted to heavy casualties in the police department, Bong and his friends tried whatever they could to find out the culprits who apparently had some reasons to do what they did.

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this awesomely done action film.

End of Brief Story Line

Well now this movie was unlike the typical Hong Kong police vs gangster film where the focus was only on the action. It actually has a deeper story where the characters were quite engaging and the line between good and evil was a bit blur. Obviously the amazing action sequence really help it become a fantastic action movie. And when I saw the opening credits, the name Donnie Yen was credited as (I think) fight/stunt director which would explain the wonderful fight scenes.

In term of action, it certainly did not disappoint as the late Benny Chan was really experienced in directing some well known action movies. I have seen a lot of films he directed such as New Police Story, Fist of Fury, Rob-B-Hood, Divergence, Connected and many more. Sadly though we would not be seeing anymore of his works, as he passed away due to cancer during the making of this film. But his legacy of various action movies would be remembered by many action movie lovers such as myself.

This film focused primarily on the chasing of Ngo and his gang by the righteous Bong. Nicholas Tse played the role of this villain by situation perfectly as he was convincing enough to show such different characterizations of the past and present Ngo. Meanwhile Donnie Yen was more than capable of playing this kind of role seeing that he has played similar type so many times before. There were actually quite a lot of other supporting cast from the more recent actors/actresses to the senior guys whom my wife and I were familiar, such as Ray Lui, Patrick Tam and Simon Yam. But obviously the main lead were those two stars.

The movie's duration was pretty long with 126 minutes. The story telling was a bit complex and probably a bit confusing if we did not concentrate, especially with the heavy use of flash backs which were shown quite frequently. And the need to focus on the story probably made it heavy for audience looking for simple premise. But if you are able to concentrate on it, you would understand the plot better and appreciate what Benny Chan (as one of the writers) was trying to tell.

As an action movie, this one truly delivered. There were plenty of brutal gun fights, hand to hand combat and adrenaline pumping car chase. There was one trade mark Donnie Yen fight scene while he was trying to capture a gang leader in the slum area. But the one that really entertained us was the high octane finale fight in the busy streets of Hong Kong and obviously that climax fight scene. It was truly satisfying and did not disappoint us, although it was a bit weird looking at them fought each other when they used to be brothers in Dragon Tiger Gate. Oh, there was also that crazy stunt during the car vs motor cycle chase in the middle of the movie which my wife exclaimed due to that shocking breath taking scene. It was totally exciting watching it.

Overall I really liked this movie a lot. It has all the ingredients of awesome Hong Kong action movie with its explosive actions through out the film plus a deeper than usual story. Benny Chan's style of directing and his experience working with many action stars like Jackie Chan, Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse and few others certainly showed off in his final work. Btw, as a tribute to him, you could see Benny Chan shown a bit during the closing credits together with some Behind the Scene sequence while accompanied by the theme song sung by Nicholas Tse himself. So if you like a movie with rather heavy story but plenty of awesome action, Benny Chan's directing style and you are fans of Donnie Yen and/or Nicholas Tse, then obviously this one is a must-see. 

Happy watching!

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars