SPL: Kill Zone (2005)

Somehow, it appears the entire genre of great action movies from Hong Kong in the 80s and early 90s has been wiped from people's minds. Was this really that mind blowing? No. The buzz behind this film has been tremendous so imagine my surprise when it turns out to be just a routine cop drama with one decent fight (Donnie Yen vs. Sammo Hung). Good but not great. People are calling this an amazing return to the HK cinema of yesteryear when it is far from that. Have they ever seen a HK film before this? Or is it like having your grandma tell you how amazing the martial arts in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON are. Seriously, we've been down this road and it has been better many times before. A lot better.

Fmovies: This is an amazing film if not just for the fact it has Sammo Hung fighting Donnie Yen and fans of Martial Arts movies will know what I mean! Donnie Yen is so fast and Sammo is Sooooooooooooooooo big in more ways than one but boy can he move!!! The film also shows a different side to Sammo a dark and pretty scary side! The film has a great story, bad Sammo with even badder cops! Donnie is the new guy taking over from Simon Yam who has a tumour and is retiring to take care of his god-daughter. Donnie doesn't know just how far his new team will go to protect each other and it's pretty far! Sammo was responsible for the death of Simon's god-daughters parents and he has vowed vengeance and tries to frame him, BIG mistake! I won't say anymore but there is amazing fight scenes and action galore don't know if the girls will like it but if they're anything like me they'll love it and I'm positive the guys WILL love it!!!!! TWO TUMS UP!!!!!!!! GET THIS MOVIE! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!!!!!!!! BEWARE THAT YOU DO NOT BUY THE CUT VERSION AS I HAVE BOTH AND YOU WILL BE VERY LET DOWN IF YOU BUY IT! MAKE SURE IT IS UNCUT AS THERE IS A GREAT KARMA KICK ASS SCENE NEAR THE END, YOU'LL KNOW WHAT I MEAN WHEN YOU SEE IT!! HAPPY VIEWING!!!

The concept of joss should be familiar to many followers of Hong Kong's antics. Used profusely in James Clavell novels (Tai Pan, Noble House et al), joss relates notions of life's fickle randomness, as events remain at the mercy of capricious gods. Whatever those will, happens. Joss. Looking for a reason may be nothing more than a solid waste of time.

Although no longer in vogue as a word, joss still holds sway over things HK. To wit, this spat of top-shelf action flicks that came out of nowhere following months and perhaps years of utter dreariness.

As if Dragon Squad wasn't good enough a couple weeks back, here comes SPL, or Saat Po Lang, which literally (should, if this reviewer's language skills are any good) mean "kill the bent wolf". That particular translation does make sense in light of the film's plot, as does the Film Board's decision to waltz with danger and place a category III rating on another movie not far behind Election on the release schedule. This dalliance has us totally in thrall, for HK's censors have historically proved themselves to be timid scaredy-cats with the utmost adverse reaction to anything remotely good. And while SPL may not be the next Natural Born Killers or Bad Lieutenant, it does earn its three I's with more aplomb than a few lesser projects, and contains more than enough gratuitous bloodshed to sate action pundits.

Just like Dragon Squad, so doesn't SPL shy away from all the things that have traditionally made HK an excellent source of frenetic action nutrients. However, while DS put itself in a somewhat-comedic, hyper-realistic version of the city, SPL takes place firmly in a Gothamite rendition of HK, brooding and awash with menace. Wilson Yip (Bullets Over Summer, White Dragon) and his posse provide just the right quotients of each ingredient, resulting in an atmosphere perfectly adjusted to its purpose. You can't avoid liking the HK seen here, with its Streets of Fire/Young and Dangerous-like roaming gangs, dark, desolate cityscapes and hapless police force.

What the cops are so prostate before is Wong Po, master criminal and ruthless sadist cum family man, done by a delectable Sammo Hung. Sammo's always been good as a villain, and this Kingpin-esquire meanie's no exception. Wong Po combines the usual crazed bad guy with a loving husband, and of course possesses relentless martial arts skills. These are deployed against the movie's main protagonists, the good-but-shadowy police types everybody loves so much. They're headed by Chung (Simon Yam AGAIN), who's got it in for Wong Po after a family of witnesses under his protection got wasted on the criminal's bequest.

But Chung's naturally about to retire in order to care for his goddaughter (sole survivor of said family), so the stage is set for new captain Inspector Ma, another fighting machine in the form of ever-likable Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey, Hero, Seven Swords) to come in and join the fray. Others include abrasive, skeptic cop Ah Wah (Liu Kai Chi, pretty much in every HK movie over the last few years) and a nameless, lunatic killer employed by Wong Po (martial arts expert Wu Jing).

Save for a few minor pseudo-surprises, SPL follows a normative mold as far as story goes, but succeeds mostly in terms of its superb pace and impressive mood-setting elements. The comic book characters fit their respective personalities, can take a whole lot of damage, and have this knack for seeming serious, like they're in a re

SPL: Kill Zone fmovies. This is some of the best fight choreography I have ever seen in 25+ years of watching martial arts films. The action was so exciting the entire crowd I was with in the theater were howling with delight. Sadly it is so rare nowadays to see a martial arts film where real martial artists are fighting instead of pop stars on wires, and it makes such a huge difference because Donnie, Sammo and Jacky Wu were simply incredible. My only complaint with the action was that there was not enough of it. Donnie Yen has finally joined the ranks of great fight choreographers with S.P.L.

As good as the action was though, the story fell flat for me and put the film into the "Very Good" category when it could have been "Great". They tried for an "Infernal Affairs" style police thriller and didn't nearly hit the mark. While Simon Yam and Sammo Hung were both great in their parts, the other acting was just functional and the story had way too much overdone melodramatic content that seemed very forced. The emotional arc of the picture was pretty much set up right at the beginning and would have been sufficient, but they had to keep laying on the unrealistic drama and it did slightly take away from my enjoyment of the film. Another criticism with the story was that it seemed like parts may have been cut from the film, because some pieces of the story that earlier had seemed pretty insignificant became a big deal towards the end of the film and it felt like it came out of nowhere, like we weren't told everything.

Having said that though, my negative criticism about the story should not stop you at all from seeing this film. I didn't go into S.P.L. expecting The Godfather, I just wanted to see some incredible martial arts action and I got it. I cannot wait to see what Donnie will do next.

What do you get when you pair two martial arts legends against each other, throw in a dark, gripping, sadistic story and a boat-load of action? Well, that's simple: you get one of the best Hong Kong action flicks of recent memory. "SPL" brings it all back home and it does in violent fashion. Donnie Yen leads a cast that also includes Sammo Hung, Simon Yam and Wu Jing. I loved everything about this movie. I thought all the actors were great. I thought the story was good. The action was just brilliant! Donnie Yen's fight choreography is some of the best work he's ever done (check out the alley fight scene against Wu Jing). He mixes traditional kung fu with a little UFC grappling which I thought was pretty cool. Seeing Donnie and Sammo face off for the very first time was quite astonishing. Some of you may agree, some might not, but I think Donnie Yen is the most underrated action actors of them all. I love Jackie Chan and Jet Li, but they're like Van Damme and Seagal. They play the same character in every film. Donnie, on the other hand, is a much more versatile actor who's willing to play supporting roles or even villainous roles. It's really a shame that he can't get the Hollywood leading roles that often go to Jackie or Jet. But that could change soon. In the mean time, check this movie out! You'll love it.

This movie rocks. Thats it, those are my feelings for this film summed up in a comprehensible sentence.

This is a surprisingly dark film, not all clean-cut heroes and villains story. its not a story about idealistic law enforcement, its about cops living in a very bad world, and doing whatever they need to do to get the job done.

Donnie Yen is in prime form here, its great to see him back in action and in such center-stage role. But Sammo Hung is THE MAN in this film, a perfect villain and total badass. watch it just for him.

The fights are all amazing.Its less artsy kungfu and a little more brutal streetfighting. Donnie Yen's choreography is at its best, everything looks painful and bloody. The battle between Sammo and Donnie has to be one of the best I've seen in a while.

Kill or kidnap whoever you need to see this flick. its worth it.