| Explosive City | |||||||||||||||
| Native Name: |
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| Director: | Sam Leong | ||||||||||||||
| Producer: | Shin Yoneyama Sam Leong | ||||||||||||||
| Screenplay: | Sam Leong Paul Chung | ||||||||||||||
| Story: | Matsushita Junichi | ||||||||||||||
| Starring: | Simon Yam Alex Fong Hisako Shirata Sonny Chiba | ||||||||||||||
| Music: | Yoshikawa Kiyoshi | ||||||||||||||
| Cinematography: | Edmond Fung | ||||||||||||||
| Editing: | Cheung Ka-fai | ||||||||||||||
| Studio: | Art Port Same Way Production | ||||||||||||||
| Runtime: | 99 minutes | ||||||||||||||
| Country: | Hong Kong | ||||||||||||||
| Language: | Cantonese Japanese English | ||||||||||||||
| Gross: | HK$346,565 | ||||||||||||||
Explosive City is a 2004 Hong Kong action film written, produced and directed by Sam Leong and starring Simon Yam, Alex Fong, Hisako Shirata and Sonny Chiba.
Macau government official Kent Yung (Joe Cheung) who arrived in Hong Kong to attend an international conference. At the Hong Kong International Airport where he was speaking to the press, he was shot thrice by a mysterious woman (Hisako Shirata) who emerged from the crowd. As havoc ensues in the airport, Special Forces superintendent Charles Cheung (Simon Yam), whose squad was in charge of protecting Yung, gives chase to the woman who eventually falls down a building as loses her memory. This assassination attempt at the airport caused a great shock to the Hong Kong police and CID chief inspector Tim Yiu (Alex Fong) was sent to assist Cheung in the investigation. After investigation, the assassin, named Jade, belongs to an international terrorist organization. According to the information, Jade was born into a happy family in Japan, but at the age of three, she was abducted by the leader of the terrorist group, Otosan (Sonny Chiba), where she was brainwashed and trained to become an elite assassin. For this assassination attempt, she snuck into airport as a reporter in order to get close to her target.
While the Hong Kong police was spending great efforts solving the case, Otosan also secretly leads his organization into Hong Kong as he was unsatisfied with the previous assassination and plans to take action himself. Under his command, his underlings murder Yiu's wife, Monica (Chan Lik), and kidnap his son, Joe (Jacky Wong), in order to blackmail Yiu to killing Jade. Yiu helplessly executes Otosan's command and shoots and hijacks Jade, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, when she was being escorted by his team of CID, leading him to become a wanting criminal.
While avoiding being hunted by the police, Yiu also struggles to find the whereabouts of Otosan to save his kidnapped son. While on the process of pursuing Otosan with Yiu, Jade gradually regains her memory and reveals to Yiu that Otosan has planted a mole in the police force - Cheung. However, Yiu and Jade were puzzled by the question of why Cheung did not carry out the assassination of Yung since he was in charge of protecting him for his stay in Hong Kong but Jade was chosen instead.
Andrew Chan of the Film Critics Circle of Australia rated the film a score of 8.75/10 and praised the film's plot and acting and director Sam Leong's original use of camera angles and shots.[1] LoveHKFilm praises the performances of Simon Yam, Alex Fong and Hisako Shirata, the films' pacing, tone and emotions but criticizes the inconsistent language but overall, considers the film engaging.[2] Beyond Hollywood praises the film's action sequences, but criticizes its predictable and unoriginal plot and the casting choice of Shirata.[3]
The film grossed HK$346,565 during its theatrical run from 4 to 24 November 2004.