Bo (Wu Jing) assassinates and beheads Chairman Ma, the head of a Hong Kong crime organisation, but is foiled in his escape from the outlying island by a typhoon warning. Temporarily stuck, he befriends pretty police officer Hiu Wor (Celina Jade) while the triad gang and the police are both searching for him.

Before the film begins, I had a shock: the Seasonal films logo comes up on screen. I’d seriously thought Ng See-Yuen’s company had gone the way of the dodo in the early eighties. What’s more, when the film starts, Kara Hui Ying-Hung appears, in what amounts to as an extended cameo. It’s quite a way to open a film, but what follows is not quite so surprising.

The story’s got great potential: a morally ambiguous killer trapped on an urban island while the bad guys (headed by Lam Suet) and the cops track him down. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make the most of the premise and instead of feeling like a claustrophobic cat-and-mouse thriller, you often forget that Bo has nowhere to run to.

While this can be overlooked, the action scenes are a real puzzler. Everyone knows by now that Wu Jing is the real deal. So why, then, does he choose to shoot all the action scenes with fast editing and close-ups? It’s almost criminal that you never actually get to see what he can do. Even stranger when you realise that Wu Jing actually co-directed the movie. If there’s one performer who doesn’t need such smoke and mirrors (and wires), it’s Wu Jing.

The supporting cast are passable if nothing more. A lot rides on the chemistry between Wu Jing and Celina Jade, and this is pulled off just about (but it’s a close call). There are also a couple of moments of slapstick comedy that doesn’t fit in with the dark tone of the rest of the film. It’s like they wanted to make a dark gritty tale but got nervous and added a couple of laughs along the way.

The film is saved from total loss by the final showdown, which while not Wu Jing at his best, is definitely atmospheric and exciting. He takes on dozens of mobsters at once in a scene reminiscent of the scene in THE MATRIX RELOADED where Neo takes on all those Agent Smiths but without the CGI.

But when the dust settles, this is another disappointment from Wu Jing, and I can’t be alone in starting to feel very frustrated with his output. He has the potential to be the biggest action star on the planet, but keeps making mediocre films. I really hope he can pull something out of the bag soon or people are going to give up.