SYNOPSIS:
The investigation of a prostitute homicide
brings headstrong, heavy-handed Detective Manfred in an unlikely
collaboration with sly, man-of-the-world Inspector Kee from
the Narcotics Bureau. When the DNA samples of one of Manfred’s
fellow officers are found at the crime scene, implicating
him as the prime suspect, Manfred must look beyond the obvious
to get to the truth. Meanwhile, Kee’s uncanny eagerness
to lend a helping hand every step of the way outside his own
turf is beginning to smack of evil. In the line of fire between
high levels of corruption and possible malice, Manfred must
solve all the twists and turns of the mystery, trying to figure
out who his enemy is and how to save his innocent partner
from unfathomable disgrace. Unwittingly, he is about to open
a Pandora’s Box that will threaten to upend the entire
Hong Kong Police Force.
MOVIE REVIEW:
In
1997, Dante Lam burst into the directorial scene with "G4"
and a co-directing credit on the acclaimed "Beast Cops",
cop-and-robber thrillers that set the new wave of Hong Kong
action cinema in the nineties. But his career hit an all-time
low subsequently where he became sort of a director for hire
when the industry declined.
But
with "The Beast Stalker" snagging a Golden Horse
for Nick Cheung and the delayed of the action thriller, "The
Sniper" which stars troubled star Edison Chen, Dante
Lam seems to be back in fine form. Together with his regular
scriber, Ng Wai Lun, the duo delivered another crime thriller
that pairs up for the first time, Heavenly King Leon Lai and
Taiwanese singer/actor Richie Jen.
Lai plays Manfred, a cop who has just lost
his wife and unborn child to a ruthless pickpocket months
ago. Jen who normally plays goody-two-shoes characters is
Inspector Kee, a dubious cop from another unit who took a
sudden interest in a prostitute homicide case in which Manfred
and his team is investigating.
Instead
of playing it straight as a cop-and-robber action thriller,
Lam and Ng tries their hand in crafting more layers and backstory
to the plot. The many supporting characters liked Manfred’s
subordinate, Wing On (Liu Kai Chi), May (Michelle Ye) and
a pitiful bomb-maker (Wang Baoqiang)however took away much
of the screentime from the two protagonists. As a result,
Manfred’s struggle with his grief and Kee’s entanglement
with his once triad-connected girlfriend played by Vivian
Hsu seems less emotionally significant as compared to the
characters in "The Beast Stalker".
Despite
that, those looking for high-octane action in "Fire Of
Conscience" won’t be disappointed by the highlight
of the movie – a major shootout in a Chinese restaurant.
While less whelming than John Woo’s "Hardboiled",
this sequence clearly demonstrates Lam’s expertise with
the material. Unfortunately, the many chases and shootouts
in gritty alleys, narrow corridors that follows fails to usurp
the restaurant sequence and the climax with Manfred and Kee
waxing lyrical philosophy over man’s inner conscience
turns out to be as bumbling as Lai’s ultra-fake beard.
While
the pacing is good, it lacks the intensity of the subject
matter on hand. "Fire Of Conscience" has the potential
to be yet another classic action crime thriller if not for
the heavy-handed approach by Lam and company. Sometimes, things
just turn out better when handled with more simplicity and
precision.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
This DVD comes with a 15 minutes Making Of
featurette which consists of the usual cast and crew interviews
followed by the Theatrical Trailer and Photo
Gallery.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
DVD comes only with the Mandarin dialog track but the consolation
is Lai and Jen dubbed over the Mandarin track themselves.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is a tad disappointing as technically
speaking, the format is unable to showcase the various shootouts
in surround sound.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Posted on 25 May 2010
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