First Shot
1993
Director: David Lam
Action Directors: Tony Leung Siu-Hung, Yuen Tak
Stars: Ti Lung, Simon Yam, Andy Hui, Lo Kam Shui, Maggie Cheung, Lau Sek Ming, Waise Lee
This follow-up to David Lam's excellent Powerful Four tackles the same issue of police corruption, dealing with the creation of a task force (led by Ti Lung and Maggie Cheung) to investigate corrupt cops, which eventually leads to the formation of the ICAC (the Independent Commission Against Corruption). Unlike Powerful Four, which took a very focused look on the subject matter and characters, First Shot loses itself somewhat with broad comedy (including a sequence where Ti Lung goes undercover in a gay bar, complete with leather outfit), and action that's a little too exaggerated (one character likes to imitate Bruce Lee) for its' own good.
Still, I enoyed the movie overall. The characters were enaging (especially Simon Yam's turn as a weaselly rat, a total 180 from the usual suave characters he plays), the story was interesting, and the action was pretty exciting. First Shot is really not that much different from many other similar movies (except that it is based -- albeit loosely -- on a true story), but it is done well and worth a look.
RATING: 7