Standard action fare at best, Theft Under the Sun stars Cheung Chi Lam and Michael Wong in this story of the thin line between loyalty and doing one's job. Chi Lam is a very popular singer in Hong Kong, and like a majority of pop-stars in Asia, he also has an acting career. In this film he stars as Leung Ka Ho, an undercover cop who gets in the middle of a bust gone wrong involving a triad gang, and subsequently gets suspended from the police force, his trustworthiness having been called into question. Feeling like he has no option but to get the bust himself, Ka Ho gets re-involved with Dan Peterson (Michael Wong), the leader of the gang he had previously infiltrated. He travels to Northern China to help him deliver stolen missiles to the Middle East, all the while keeping in touch with his girlfriend Fai-fai (Gigi Lai) back in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the police are battling internally on whether or not Ka Ho can still be trusted, and if they should intervene and arrest the two as they try to come back into Hong Kong. After an ambiguous ending, you are left wondering if they ultimately made the correct choice.

A mediocre action film at best, Theft Under the Sun bills itself as a "Hollywood style" action thriller, but fails to deliver on those terms. Although it has a decent plot, the characters in the movie are very one-dimensional and the acting isn't great. Being a singer by profession, Cheung Chi Lam needs to polish his acting skills. Although Michael Wong does a good job portraying the charismatic villain, he uses a mix of Cantonese and English (sometimes in the same sentence) that becomes very distracting. With no one else speaking a word of English, you start to wonder if anyone has any idea what he is saying. Throw into the mix sub-par special effects that don't add to the story, you have a pretty average action flick that is anything but thrilling.

5/10