Firestorm (2013)

[AlbertV]

Andy Lau and Gordon Lam are teaming up for another new film!!! Since seeing them together in the original INFERNAL AFFAIRS and then the comedy DANCE OF A DREAM, for some reason, they work well together.

Now comes FIRESTORM, a new film directed by Alan Yuen (the screenwriter of New Police Story). Hu Jun and Yao Chen co-star

Plot from Twitch:

A storm is heading to the city, and with it comes another occurrence so destructive, it vows to bring down everything it touches.

A crew of seasoned criminals led by the notorious Nam (Hu Jun), armed with high-powered weapons, pulls off another smooth and violent armored car heist in broad daylight in a crowded street. Whoever tries to get in their way, they will show no mercy. This puts the police force to shame and humiliation.

A hardboiled senior police inspector Lui (Andy Lau), hot on the trail of Nam and his tight crew, determines to put an end to this madness that causes the lives of innocent people. But he soon comes face to face with the cruel reality that the usual police tactics are too futile to send these armed thieves behind bars. Extreme crime requires extreme justice, even if it means crossing his moral line. Tou (Lam Ka Tung), an ex-con desperate to leave his criminal past behind, volunteers to be Lui's snitch in exchange for a fresh start with her girlfriend Bing (Yao Chen). But little does he know what hellish situation he's getting himself into.

While Nam is putting together his next big score, the two colliding forces from both sides of the law, each at the top of their games, will soon face their archenemies. As Lui's hunt heats up, their ultimate confrontation is about to take place on the streets.

As the storm passes through and the dust settles, whoever survives can hardly cope with its horrifying aftermath.

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FIRESTORM comes out next month!

[mark187]

http://moviexclusive.com/detail.php?c=54&desc=F&p=2633&t=firestorm-3911826292-2013_2633

first review is up, sounds like a banger!

[One Armed Boxer]

Good review from Twitch as well -

http://twitchfilm.com/2013/12/review-firestorm-is-extremely-loud-and-totally-insane.html

So let me get this straight, this movie is directed by Benny Chan's regular screenwriter Alan Yuen and is called 'Firestorm', and Benny Chan also has a new action movie coming out which is called 'The White Storm'!?

[mark187]

Yep! despite the naysayers, Hong Kong action cinema is alive and well!

let us not forget, Dante Lam's new film That Demon Within is coming soon too, probably around March

[DiP]

I like what I'm seeing with these new Hong Kong crime movies, with Overheard 3 looking like another big banger. Now we only need more Johnnie To crimers...

[DiP]

Movie review by Film Business Asia.

http://www.filmbiz.asia/reviews/firestorm

[VenomsFan]

Firestorm is to HK what The Berlin File is to Korea for best actioner in 2013. Far superior to White Storm and Police Story 2013. Funny bullet effects like the GI Joe cartoon / Star Wars. The range of guns is really impressive. DeNiro's Heat heist scene this movie is matched at least 3 times. The editing and choreography is reminiscent of the best of the HK 80s/90s. ALOT of new stunts with cars. Colorful characters and actors like the Girlfriend and Weedboy without it being smarmy or over the top.

[mark187]

thanks for your input VenomsFan, I am really looking forward to this film, but it seems like people are split sown the middle regarding this and The White Storm. personally, I'm more excited about the White Storm, but I have plenty of love to go around for (almost) all of HK cinema. I hope Firestorm hits DVD before March, it'll make a nice birthday gift! glad you enjoyed it

[One Armed Boxer]

Review from Kozo over at lovehkfilm -

http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/firestorm.html

[rdenn]

I actually enjoyed this movie the cgi fest at the end was not needed though and I think andy lau needs to beef up a bit he looks all a bit weedy considering what he goes through in this movie

[kami]

Still no release date for dvd or blu-ray?

[mark187]

HK DVD/BD are releasing March 5th, pre-order up now on Yesasia!

[DiP]

This was highly entertaining and well-made. Not great but very good. Like watching M. Mann's Heat and J. To's Breaking News get thrown in the mix. I liked the chemistry between Andy Lau and Gordon Lam as well as the screen presence of both Hu Jun and Philip Keung. I would say they all carried the whole movie together from an emotional standpoint. The first two acts maintained its' great intensity with both character development as well as confrontations and attempted arrests/escapes, but then took a nosedive and lost a bit of steam in the last act. The climax was terribly culminated, like they wanted to resolute in a way the average viewer wouldn't expect, after so much death and destruction done by the criminals. The idea would've been good if it wasn't so contrived and melodramatic.

The action was fire (staged by Chin Kar-Lok) though. Apart from J. To, I think few in HK have been able to do gunfights so exceptionally well in the last 10 years. It's well spread out starting good and ending great. My only gripe is the CGI used for explosions, smoke/dust, and overall objects being destroyed. We see too much of that in HK/Chinese movies these days and it takes away the quality quite a bit. Even live muzzle flashes and bullets are replaced. But to their credit, they actually made it cool with all those bullets "passing by visibly" while the cops and criminals shoot at each other on the streets. Nice touch.

Overall, this movie shows that Hong Kong can still make good action movies although I wouldn't label it being a true classic in the genre. I would've liked less CGI and more live destructions and explosions during the action scenes but given the current economical situation as well as precautions these days, I can see why film-makers opt with CGI instead. But nevertheless, this will be a treat for those longing to see good HK action crimers.

Rating: 7.3/10

[D1 Ma]

Totally agree. Not the best movie overall, but as far as action goes, I'd say, it's probably the best choreographed and shot action HK flick in a long while. Chin Kar Lok did a great job here. Some nice creative stuff.. I actually had to stop and rewind some scenes and watch them again.

(All those innocent bystanders mercilessly killed reminded me of John Woo's movies)

Some CGI destruction at the end was completely pointless and unnecessary and didn't add much to the story. I think if they'd stick to shootouts and explosions it would make the movie a bit better and less cartoonish, but it wasn't VERY bad, so I can live with that

I'd say it's the second best HK movie of 2013 ( after Unbeatable)

[Wheat Thin Man]

Good to hear that everyone seems to like it, I plan on importing this one pretty soon.

[kami]

Very entertaining action flick, which suffers a little bit from its ugly explosions. I dont know if they were computer generated or if they just got "enhanced" in post production, but they sure look fake. At least they look a hell lot better than the terrible CGI-explosions of COLD WAR.

Unfortunately the sound has also its problems. I hope its just the Blu-ray, but the sound mix seems wrong, the rears are way too loud, the front not loud enough. Did anyone experience this in cinema?

Besides that the action rocks immensely, the story is gripping and offers some unexpected twists, the actors are convincing, and the whole package is just a highly entertaining rollercoaster ride.

[One Armed Boxer]

I got through watching this one last night, and as others have mentioned, it's a very entertaining and VERY noisy ride! A better title would probably be 'Andy Lau & the Destruction of Hong Kong', as by the end of the 25 minutes pyrotechnic filled finale, there's not a whole lot left of it standing.

Despite this praise, like a lot of the golden era movies of Hong Kong action cinema, it would be a stretch to call 'Firestorm' a quality movie. What it does do is deliver entertainment via numerous scenes of mass destruction and bullets. It's almost like when director Alan Yuen & AC Chin Kar Lok realized it would be more feasible to shoot the epic Hong Kong Central shoot out with a green screen, as opposed to the effort it would take to close down the streets themselves, they became like a couple of kids in a candy store and said well let's thrown in a couple of hundred explosions, a broken gas pipe, and the complete destruction of anything within a 100 meter radius!

'Firestorm' clearly has a lot of money behind it, and it shows in the scope and scale of the action sequences. It's just as well, as the story and characters sometimes falter in their direction and intentions. A lot of interesting elements are hinted at, in particular Andy Lau's character get's an interesting twist which reveals him to not quite be the unwavering cop that up until that point the script was painting him as, and it puts an interesting question as to exactly what his motives are going into the finale. However lest we forget this is post-1997 HK, and every movie has to pass the China censorship board for approval, so these character elements are left largely unexplored on anything more than a shallow level, leaving us to draw our own conclusions.

Alan Yuen's direction is kinetic and fast paced, having largely stuck to being a writer for Benny Chan's movies (including the awful 'White Storm'), this is the first movie he's directed in more than a decade. He sometimes mishandles scenes which have a lot of dramatic impact, the perfect example being when Lau finds the injured daughter of one of his moles, we only see the aftermath of what happened, and it's left to our imagination what must have taken place, which is a powerful scene. Yuen then ruins it though by playing an overly lengthy flashback scene straight after it, showing us exactly what happened, when really it wasn't necessary to see the details.

These are minor quibbles though, and 'Firestorm' makes it clear from the start that it's not selling itself as a serious character study or police drama. This is about explosions, bullets, glass being smashed, and Andy Lau proving that he's indestructible. In many ways 'Firestorm' is more comparable to Dante Lam's 'Viral Factor' than his usual cohort Benny Chan's 'White Storm', and for big, loud, & dumb entertainment, that should be considered a compliment.

[Tigerstyles]

This would have been a fitting and more commercial film for Jackie Chan rather than the dire nightclub Police Story film he did!

[Superfly]

Apparently I don't belong on this board as I seem to see movies WAY differently than most of you. So this was great and White Storm sucked? I posted my review on another topic but will copy it here.

Firestorm 3D (2013)

Directed by Alan Yuen

Starring Andy Lau, Gordon Lam, Hu Jun

As with all the films I screen. I stay away from reviews because I like to have a fresh perspective. Let me off by saying. Have you ever watched a movie that seems like there were multiple directors all trying to get their views in? That sums this up for me. The films starts out very good. Set up for a smart police drama. Something like Alan Mak & Felix Chong would make. We have the driven cop, the too cool for school Villain. The conflicted character torn between good and evil.

Then it all changed. The character development dies and now its a straight cop film. We even get the heartfelt death of an innocent to make us all feel sad.

Then it changed. Now its about a cop out of control and trying to clean up his dirt. And we now return to that conflicted character who has a change of heart for the most ridiculous reasons.

Then apparently Michael Bay came in to finish the film. In what has to be the most over the top final scene ever recorded to celluloid. It was so absurd the crowd was openly laughing hysterically. There is a scene after about 20 minutes of explosions, Machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades and about 100 dead cops where one officer yells into a Megaphone to surrender before this gets worse. I saw someone spit up there water from laughing at that line. Then Godzilla comes in and destroys the city right before a Typhoon hits.

Now here is the thing. Despite everything I just said, it wasn't terrible. Parts of it, especially early on are quite excellent. Also some nice use of 3D effects without over doing it. Andy Lau was pretty good. But as he is my favorite actor I expected a bit more. The guy I liked here and is becoming a favorite of mine is Hu Jun. This is the 3rd film I have seen him in and I really enjoy his acting prowess. I think of this like I do a lot of U.S. Summer blockbusters. Heavy on action and effects. Light on plot and direcction. 5 of 10

[xianzai]

Apparently I don't belong on this board as I seem to see movies WAY differently than most of you. So this was great and White Storm sucked?

Don't feel bad; I often wonder about opinions here, including the Firestorm/White Storm views. What really amuses me are the people who seem to hate almost every film they watch and yet don't realize they could stop watching these films and find another hobby.

[Superfly]

Don't feel bad; I often wonder about opinions here, including the Firestorm/White Storm views. What really amuses me are the people who seem to hate almost every film they watch and yet don't realize they could stop watching these films and find another hobby.

Well like I said I try to avoid reviews. I'm not sure if anyone is more negative than anyone else. I think I do tend to see these films, especially live, with rose colored glasses. As was pointed out in my views of The White Storm.

[AlbertV]

That's the great thing....everyone has different opinions on movies and that's okay. As long as you are respectful towards the other side, there is nothing wrong with that and Superfly, you have proven you are welcome here as everyone else. You gave your opinion and were well respected of others. I'm sure the mods can agree with me on this.

As for the movie, I have yet to see it, but it is on my list. Been waiting to see this one for a while now.

[Superfly]

That's the great thing....everyone has different opinions on movies and that's okay. As long as you are respectful towards the other side, there is nothing wrong with that and Superfly, you have proven you are welcome here as everyone else. You gave your opinion and were well respected of others. I'm sure the mods can agree with me on this.

As for the movie, I have yet to see it, but it is on my list. Been waiting to see this one for a while now.

Thanks Albert. And as I said I didn't hate it. I just thought it lacked a general focus of what it wanted to be.

[irongut]

Thanks Albert. And as I said I didn't hate it. I just thought it lacked a general focus of what it wanted to be.

Thanks for the review Superfly. Sounds like it still worth watching for the insane finale action! I couldn't make the screening last night. I so wanted to see it in 3D just for the spectacle. Will have to catch up with Firestorm on BluRay.

[xianzai]

I think I do tend to see these films, especially live, with rose colored glasses. As was pointed out in my views of The White Storm.

I enjoyed The White Storm quite a bit. There's nothing wrong with enjoying these films; hopefully that's why people are on this forum, because they more often than not enjoy these films.