A terrorist expert in explosives, whose gang has been dismantled, seeks revenge. He threatens to blow up a Hong Kong tunnel with hundreds of hostages. The policeman who has already beaten him once must stop him again.
At 60 years old, Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau is still kicking ass and forgoes the use of a stunt double. In “Shock Wave 2,” Lau plays Poon Shing Fung, a bomb disposal expert who gets caught in a booby trap and loses his leg. Although he’s fit with a prosthetic leg (yes, there’s a training montage showing him adjust to it), the Hong Kong police refuse to allow any disabled officer back on active duty. Without being able to work in the field, Poon leaves the service.
After a series of explosions rocks Hong Kong, a group referring to themselves as Vendetta claim responsibility. Vendetta is encouraging lone-wolf terrorist attacks in a bid to blast the Chinese system into anarchy. Their leader Ma Sai Kwan (Kwan-Ho Tse) is decked out in a white suit and turtleneck with matching hair.
The story jumps three years to Poon lurking around a swanky hotel for reasons currently unknown. After an exhilarating fight on an elevator, Poon jumps multiple stories into a pool to avoid the blast radius of the bomb someone planted there. The C-4 explosive rocks the hotel, obliterating some guests and knocking the pool open, leaving Poon falling onto the ground. When he awakes in his hospital bed, Chief Inspector Yiu Sing (Philip Keung) reintroduces himself, since the former cop now has amnesia. Poon might not remember who he is, but he can still take down foes with ease. He’s forced to go on the run when the terrorists want him for recruitment and his police colleagues (aside from his partner) think he’s guilty. His former lover and colleague Pong Ling (Ni Ni) wants to help him and takes some extraordinary measures to save his reputation.
Writer/Director Herman Yau’s script has various callbacks to Film Noir: the protagonist gets amnesia, the protagonist might actually be the villain, a past lover returns with unknown intentions, and the score contains a forlorn trumpet right out of “Chinatown.” Yau’s camera angles keep the action clear and feature spectacular set pieces: a bullet train vs bullet train, a skydiving sequence over the Himalayas, along with tons of hand-to-hand combat, and gunplay. The story moves from action to melodrama swiftly and most importantly, features an exhilarating finale.
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