If you're looking for a serious, gritty, action film, look elsewhere. One glance at the cover of High Risk (known as Meltdown in the US) will tell you everything you need to know about this film. It's a loud, violent, amusing action film, and a parody of the genre.
Along with John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Yuen Woo-Ping, director Wong Jing is undoubtedly one of Hong Kong's most prolific directors. He directs this film quite well, staging some very remarkable and memorable action sequences. He is definitely the Michael Bay of Hong Kong action films. It's sad that most people will go into this expecting a serious Jet Li martial arts film, which it's totally not. It's really more of a Wong Jing film, that Jet Li happens to be in.
All the actors were at lest ok, although many of them tend to overact, as is the case in Hong Kong comedy films, although I guess that's the point. I watched a dubbed American version though, so that may have detracted from the performances. Jet Li is great though, managing to both act, and look awesome in action scenes. He is a little stone-faced, and this is one of his earlier roles, but he did fine. This isn't actually a Jet Li vehicle, and although he's in much of the film, Jacky Cheung gets a lot of screen time, and is just as major a player as Li.
The action scenes though, are above all the reason to give this a watch. The action doesn't really heat up until about a half hour in, but once it does, it's non-stop. This movie is jam-packed with action, and it's hard for me to even list the scenes. There are three good fight scenes, and many shootouts and explosions. This is NOT a kung fu movie, just an action movie with kung fu in it, so don't go in thinking that it is. It's mostly just guns and explosions, but it's quite a spectacle. Jet Li and another character actually crash a car into a hotel lobby and drive around shooting people. The violence is on-par with the action scenes too, with one guy getting impaled through his head, another guy getting impaled with a long pole, and another guy getting killed by a helicopter blade. It's pretty violent, so be warned.
There are lots of weird moments, even by Hong Kong standards. The villain lets a bunch of reptiles loose in a bathroom to kill a woman when they could've just shot her, and two of the villains even stop threatening the protagonists to fight each other at one point. It's just great. Pure insanity.
I recommend this film to anyone who calls themselves an action fan, and I especially recommend it to fans of Hong Kong cinema. It's a great biting parody of major Hollywood action movies, mainly Die Hard (1988). Check it out.
Along with John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Yuen Woo-Ping, director Wong Jing is undoubtedly one of Hong Kong's most prolific directors. He directs this film quite well, staging some very remarkable and memorable action sequences. He is definitely the Michael Bay of Hong Kong action films. It's sad that most people will go into this expecting a serious Jet Li martial arts film, which it's totally not. It's really more of a Wong Jing film, that Jet Li happens to be in.
All the actors were at lest ok, although many of them tend to overact, as is the case in Hong Kong comedy films, although I guess that's the point. I watched a dubbed American version though, so that may have detracted from the performances. Jet Li is great though, managing to both act, and look awesome in action scenes. He is a little stone-faced, and this is one of his earlier roles, but he did fine. This isn't actually a Jet Li vehicle, and although he's in much of the film, Jacky Cheung gets a lot of screen time, and is just as major a player as Li.
The action scenes though, are above all the reason to give this a watch. The action doesn't really heat up until about a half hour in, but once it does, it's non-stop. This movie is jam-packed with action, and it's hard for me to even list the scenes. There are three good fight scenes, and many shootouts and explosions. This is NOT a kung fu movie, just an action movie with kung fu in it, so don't go in thinking that it is. It's mostly just guns and explosions, but it's quite a spectacle. Jet Li and another character actually crash a car into a hotel lobby and drive around shooting people. The violence is on-par with the action scenes too, with one guy getting impaled through his head, another guy getting impaled with a long pole, and another guy getting killed by a helicopter blade. It's pretty violent, so be warned.
There are lots of weird moments, even by Hong Kong standards. The villain lets a bunch of reptiles loose in a bathroom to kill a woman when they could've just shot her, and two of the villains even stop threatening the protagonists to fight each other at one point. It's just great. Pure insanity.
I recommend this film to anyone who calls themselves an action fan, and I especially recommend it to fans of Hong Kong cinema. It's a great biting parody of major Hollywood action movies, mainly Die Hard (1988). Check it out.