Movie review: Shock Wave 2
You can go in cold to this unlinked sequel to 2017's Shock Wave, also written and directed by Herman Yau and starring Andy Lau but featuring a different storyline and new characters, and still be blown away by the Hong Kong actioner.
A disgruntled former bomb disposal officer Poon (Lau), who awakes from a coma with amnesia, becomes a fugitive when the police suspect him of being involved with a criminal terrorist organisation that has been setting off a series of bomb explosions in Hong Kong.
What follows are twists aplenty, bringing him in contact with his former partner (Lau Ching Wan) and ex-girlfriend (Ni Ni), and you are never quite sure which side Poon is on until the bitter end.
A ticking time bomb himself and an anti-hero torn between loyalty and resentment, the ageless Lau turns in a multi-layered performance enhanced with such physical demands that he truly deserves the title of Asia's Tom Cruise.
Perhaps the only thing more unbelievable - and distracting - than the 59-year-old's poreless complexion is how Poon can outrun squads of cops multiple times with a prosthetic leg.
And you know Shock Wave 2 means business when it opens with the harrowing destruction of the Hong Kong International Airport by a nuclear bomb, after which the action and tension come fast and furious.
Rating: NC16
SCORE: 4/5
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