Raging Fire

An action film set in Hong Kong. Cheung is an honest police inspector. A drugs operation is interrupted and a masked group appears at the scene; their method is the method of people trained as police. The man leading them is Ngo. He was once on Cheung's team. Years ago a man died in an interrogation and the blame fell on Ngo and his friends; the senior officers were protected and they went to prison. Ngo is out now and settling accounts. The matter at the centre is how an institution protects itself: Cheung told the truth as a witness and is therefore both right and alone. The action is the film's main spine. A crowded shopping centre, narrow streets and the fight in a church at the end are built on choreography; physical work is preferred to effects. Donnie Yen plays Cheung and Nicholas Tse plays Ngo. Benny Chan directed. It was his last film; he died before it was released and the production was dedicated to him. It did well at the Hong Kong box office and was seen as a return to the traditional police film. A satisfying choice for anyone who likes Hong Kong action cinema. For a viewer expecting measured violence, the film keeps its fights long and hard.