Firestorm (2013 film)

Firestorm is a 2013 Hong Kong action film written and directed by Alan Yuen, produced by and starring Andy Lau. The film was converted to 3D during post-production, making it the first 3D Hong Kong police action film.[4] Firestorm was chosen to be the opening film at Screen Singapore held on 4 December 2013 where Lau and co-star Gordon Lam walked the red carpet for the film's premiere.[5] The film also opened the 56th Asia Pacific Film Festival on 13 December 2013 in Macau before it was theatrically released on 19 December 2013 in Hong Kong.[6] In addition, Firestorm also had its North American premier at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival on 3 May 2014.[7]

Firestorm
Film poster
Traditional	風暴
Simplified	风暴
Mandarin	Fēng Bào
Cantonese	Fung^1 Bou^6
Directed by	Alan Yuen
Produced by	Andy Lau William Kong
Written by	Alan Yuen
Starring	Andy Lau Yao Chen Gordon Lam Hu Jun Ray Lui
Music by	Peter Kam
Cinematography	Chan Chi-ying
Edited by	Kwong Chi-leung Ron Chan
Production company	Edko Films Sil-Metropole Organisation Focus Films Good Friends Entertainment China Dream Film Culture Productions Ample Ideas (Hong Kong) International He Xin Zhongshan Jin Investment Management Elegance Media Guangdong Company Youku Tudou Inc
Distributed by	Edko Films
Release date	12 December 2013 (2013-12-12) (China) 19 December 2013 (2013-12-19) (Hong Kong)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese Mandarin
Budget	US$20,000,000[1]
Box office	US$56,382,533[2][3]

Plot

Senior inspector Lui Ming-chit and ex-con To Shing-bong ( were secondary school classmates who competitively practiced judo together. Right after To was released from prison for robbery, he immediately re-joins Cao Nam and his gang to highjack an armoured car transporting cash. Lui leads his squad to arrest Cao's gang and engages in a gunfight where Cao kills a female hostage and escapes the scene with his gang when To suddenly rams Lui's car. After To is arrested, he claims the crash was an accident denies being an accomplise with Cao's gang and is released after his girlfriend, Yin-bing brings in a lawyer to bail him, but Lui orders his subordinates to tail him. To promises Yin-bing to give up his criminal life and she finds him a job as a chef in a restaurant.

The Regional Crime Unit later receives a crime report discovering the corpse of one of Cao's underlings, Daffy, who revealed his face during the highjack of the armoured car, as well as their gateway vehicle burnt. Lui and his squad find the whereabouts of another of Cao's underlings, Chow Lung, after recognizing his tattoo in surveillance camera footage and raids his hideout, where Cao and his gang were planning a jewel heist. As Lui and his squad were ready to break in the flat, Cao fires a grenade launcher and a firefight erupts in the building, injuring a couple of Lui's subordinates before escaping. Lui manages to cuff Chow after taking down with a suplex and knocking him out before engaging in a hand-to-hand combat with To where the two end up falling off the building, allowing the latter to escape. Lui plans to have Chow as a tainted witness and leads his squad to arrest Cao at his residence, but Cao makes a phone call during their arrival and Lui finds out Chow has swallowed a piece of evidence and thrown himself off a building after receiving a phone call at the police station.

Lui meets with his longtime informant, Tong Keung, who goes undercover into Cao's gang through his connection with Cao's underling, Jackal. Lui gives Tong a trackable mobile phone and leads his squad on an operation to arrest the gang when they engage in another armoured car heist. However, the heist is suddenly stopped when they discover the police spying on them and attacks Tong after finding his mobile phone. Tong fights them off and runs home to while signaling to Lui through a surveillance camera, and hides his ten year old autistic daughter, Yuen-yiu from the gang, who arrives shortly for revenge. Lui and his subordinate, Sergeant Chiu, rushe to Tong's house and finds Tong being shot dead and Yuen-yiu thrown out the window with cigarette burns on her arms. Yuen-yiu dies while Lui rushes her to the hospital. Enraged, Lui confronts Cao, who was driving to the airport, and attempts to pull Cao out of his car, but Cao attempts to run Lui over until Chiu rams Cao's car. Cao is put in a coma after Lui knocks him out and Cao is officially charged with the murder of Tong and Yuen-yiu after blood and fabric particles of the latter were found on Cao's hand.

Lui later receives a clip from Yin-bing's drug-addicted younger brother, Kit, showing the former framing Cao by rubbing Yuen-yiu's blood and sweatshirt on Cao's hand taken from a surveillance camera installed by Kit on Cao's car and is blackmailed by Kit into paying him HK$500,000 every month. However, Kit suddenly suffers from an asthma attack and dies after Lui refuses him his inhaler and Lui takes every piece of the evidence away from Kit's apartment. Meanwhile, Yin-bing tearfully breaks up with To after encountering him in the previous armoured car heist while lying to him she is two months pregnant with another man's child and tries to salvage their relationship by claiming to be an undercover cop. To then meets with Lui and informs him the mastermind behind the previous armoured car heist and the murderer or Tong and Yuen-yiu is actually Cao's sworn brother, Paco, who was recently released from prison. To offers to be Lui's informant in arresting Paco under the condition that Lui tell Yin-bing about To's identity as undercover cop, to which Lui agrees but Lui does not plan to leave Paco and the gang (including To) alive. Paco leads the gang in another armoured car heist armed with heavy weaponry, which turns out to be a trap set by the police to arrest them when several Special Duties Unit officers turn up inside the armoured car and shoot at them, killing one of the gang members. Enraged, Paco orders To to drive to the Central District where Lui rams their van down Pedder Street and a major firefight erupts between the police and the gang where many police officers and civilians were killed. To, having seen the video of Lui framing Cao, takes a mobile phone from a hostage and calls Lui to allow him to flee in a car, which Lui agrees and tells him not to surrender. After the intense shootout where four of the gang members dies (two of them killed by Lui), Paco, To and Dicky (Sammy Hung) hide in a bus and Paco tosses a bag of explosives into a opening on the ground in construction. Dicky wants to surrender to save his own life but Paco refuses to let him to so and he shoots Paco dead and runs out to surrender but is killed by Lui. At this moment, the explosives blow up the gas pipes underground which causes the road to sink. As To flees the scene, Lui attempts to shoot him but ultimately decides not to, but To was run over by an incoming truck and dies, which was broadcast live and seen by Yin-bing.

Afterwards, Lui faxes a letter to Yin-bing, stating To was an undercover officer and turns himself in for his illegal actions. After giving his testimony, Lui asks the officer whether the storm is over and shows a sign of gratefulness after given yes as an answer.

Cast

• Andy Lau as Lui Ming-chit (呂明哲), senior inspector of the Regional Crime Unit of Hong Kong Island who holds a strong sense of justice and utterly detests criminals. He is a judo expert and was the interschool champion when he was in secondary school, where he studied with To.
• Gordon Lam as To Shing-bong (陶成邦), a criminal who have been imprisoned multiple times for robbery and is the driver for Cao Nam, and later Paco's crew. He was classmates with Lui during secondary school and also skilled in judo like Lui.
• Yao Chen as Law Yin-bing (羅燕冰), To's girlfriend from Mainland China who has mixed feelings for his boyfriend due to his criminal life.
• Hu Jun as Cao Nam (曹南), leader of a robbery gang who was a former soldier from China and Lui's arch nemesis. He was later arrested by Lui when the former frames him for the murder of Tong Keung and his daughter.
• Ray Lui as Paco (啪哥), Cao's sworn brother who was recently released from prison and takes over Cao's gang after the latter's arrest.
• Philip Keung as Tong Keung (唐強), an ex-con who was To's cellmate in prison and has worked as Lui's informant for many years.
• Kenny Wong as Chiu Kin-kwok (趙建國), sergeant of the Regional Crime Unit of Hong Kong Island and Lui's second in command.
• Oscar Leung as Kit (阿傑), Yin-bing's asthmatic younger brother who is a small-time criminal and drug addict.
• Michael Tong as Jackal (傻豹), Cao and Paco's underling.
• Vincent Sze as Szeto Yat-ming (司徒一鳴), probary inspector of the Regional Crime Unit of Hong Kong Island and Lui's subordinate.
• Terence Yin as Goofy (高飛), Cao and Paco's underling who is a firearm expert.
• Sammy Hung as Dicky (狄偉), Cao and Paco's underling.
• Michael Wong as Chief Superintendent Choi (蔡警司), deputy commander of the Hong Kong Island Regional Headquarters and Lui's superior officer.
• Wong Cho-lam as a correctional service superintendent.
• Alex Tsui as Chu Yin-ming (朱彥銘), a police negotiator who persuades Paco to surrender.
• Eddie Cheung as a truck driver.
• Ben Wong as Special Duties Unit team leader.
• Bob Lam as Yin-bing's attorney.
• Mandy Wong as Yin-bing's colleague
• Lo Hoi-pang as Uncle Chi (智叔), a restaurant owner who Yin-bing pleads to give To a job.
• Grace Wong as a female victim.
• Bonnie Sin as a hostage killed by Cao.
• Lavinia Smith as Nipple, Cao's girlfriend who has a sexual relationship with Kit.
• Cheung Kwok-keung as Sergeant Chow (周Sir), sergeant of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau (CIB).
• Hayama Go as Daffy (大飛), Cao's underling who was executed by the former for revealing himself during the opening heist.
• Brian Siswojo as Au-yeung Ping (歐陽平), Lui's subordinate.
• Phat Chan as Phat (阿肥), Lui's subordinate.
• Jacqueline Chan as Tong Yuen-yiu (唐婉姚), Tong Keung's ten-year-old autistic daughter who Lui regards as his goddaughter and took care of while Tong served in prison.
• Ricky Chan as Chow Lung (周龍), nicknamed Blind Dragon (盲龍), Cao's underling who was taken down and arrested by Lui, who raiding his hideout, and kills himself after being instructed by Cao to swallow a piece of evidence.

Production

Filming for Firestorm began in November 2012 and was wrapped up on 1 February 2013. Filming locations included North Point,[8] Government House and Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens in the Central and Sheung Wan areas.[9]

Reception

Critical

Firestorm received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Derek Elley of Film Business Asia gave a positive review praising the acting, especially by Andy Lau and Gordon Lam, strong characters and action sequences, referring it as "one of the best Hong Kong shoot-'em-ups in recent memory, with top playing and action. Asian and genre events, plus ancillary."[10] Gabriel Chong of MovieXclusive also gave a positive review, praising the action choreography, twisty and compelling narrative and the tight engaging script and referring it as "the must-see Hong Kong action thriller of the year that's packed with exhilarating action, a compelling plot, and a commanding lead performance from Andy Lau."[11] Time Out Hong Kong gave the film three stars out of five praising the action sequences, strong performances and visual effects that were never seen in Hong Kong cinema.[12]

On the other hand, James Marsh of Twitch Film gave the film a mixed review, praising it for having "a vibrant, kinetic aesthetic that attempts to keep its audience in a state of breathless anticipation throughout" and also criticising "the over-reliance on computer-generated effects and the almost total absence of plot or characterisation make Firestorm an incredibly loud, yet hollow experience."[13] Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter also gave a mixed review praising Lam's performance and action choreography by Chin Ka-lok, but criticising how the film "could not read as anything more than just an action thriller."[14]

Box office

Firestorm premiered in China on 12 December 2013 and grossed ¥165,308,501 during its first three days and opening at No.1 during its debut weekend.[15] During its second week, the film grossed ¥100,045,163 and was the second highest-grossing film of the week.[16] The film remained at top 10 for the rest of its theatrical run in China and eventually grossed ¥309,878,757.[17]

In Hong Kong, Firestorm premiered on 19 December and grossed HK$8,024,961 during its first three days and was also No. 1 during its opening weekend grossing a total HK$11,056,920 including its preview-screening gross.[18] During its second weekend, the remained at No. 1 spot and grossed HK$11,186,358[19] The film grossed a total of HK$24,336,182 at the Hong Kong box office.[20]

As of April 2014, Firestorm grossed a total of US$56,382,533 (HK$437,172,118.47) worldwide, combining its box office gross from Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.[2]

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations
Ceremony	Category	Recipient	Outcome
33rd Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Action Choreography	Chin Ka-lok	Nominated
	Best Film Editing	Kwong Chi-leung, Ron Chan	Nominated
	Best Visual Effects	Yu Kwok-leung, Lai Man-chun, Ho Kwan-cheung, Lam Ka-lok	Nominated
	Best New Director	Alan Yuen	Nominated
12th Huading Awards	Top Ten Chinese Films	Firestorm	Won
14th Chinese Film Media Awards	Outstanding Film	Firestorm	Nominated
	Outstanding Actress	Yao Chen	Won

References

1. "Edko Films whips up Firestorm".
2. "FIRESTORM (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
3. "台灣週末票房收入:2014年 第 04 週01-24~01-26". Retrieved 24 April 2014.
4. "影／劉德華博命掀《風暴》　訓斥劇組嘆當偶像難".
5. Brzeski, Patrick (18 November 2013). "Andy Lau's 'Firestorm' to Open ScreenSingapore". The Hollywood Reporter.
6. "Andy Lau's Firestorm to open 56th Asia-Pacific Film Fest".
7. "Firestorm | SFFS". Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
8. "Andy Lau Trapped in Car in 'The Storm'".
9. "Fans gathered to catch Andy's shooting Storm".
10. "Firestorm 風暴 review".
11. "FIRESTORM (风暴) (2013) - MovieXclusive.com".
12. "Firestorm Film Review". Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
13. "Review: FIRESTORM Is Extremely Loud And Totally Insane". Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
14. "Firestorm (Fung Bo): Film Review".
15. "China Box Office December 9–15, 2013".
16. "China Box Office December 16–22, 2013".
17. "China Box Office December 30 – January 5, 2014".
18. "December 2013 – December 2013 票房紀錄"". Archived from the original on 24 December 2013.
19. "December 2013 – December 2013 票房紀錄"". Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
20. "Hong Kong Box Office January 23–26, 2014".

External links

• Firestorm on IMDb