Transport this back into the trash can.

Rating: Null/10 (10 April 2003)

Spoilers Herein.
I didn't expect much from this movie before going into it since I read some of the comments about this movie. I did hear that it still had some style that made it stand out so I decided to check it out. The plot is paper thin. It's something about 400 Chinese in a container being imported from Asia. Our hero Frank Martin (good combination of two first names, not) gets involved in this matter when he breaks one of his own rules and opens a package (the heroine Lai Kwai) that he is delivering. This is very unprofessional of him seeing as how the first scene in the movie tries to establish him as someone who doesn't fool around and gets the job done. It's hard to believe he goes 'soft' since he isn't prone to killing people.
I don't have enough negative comments about the actress Qi Shu who played Lai Kwai. I think there are enough talented Chinese actresses around to have to resort to someone who doesn't speak English well. Then there is the French police officer who's accent makes it hard to comprehend him, although I probably shouldn't be complaining. Okay so you have British, French, and Chinese people all speaking English. How about some Americans?! Given that British people invented the language, I won't say anything about that.
This movie tried to combine too many things into one. Cool cars? I liked the BMW and Mercedes, but this should probably be left up to Bond. Martial arts? Jackie Chan is your man. Muscle fighting? Did I hear someone say Arnie? Espionage? How about Ethan Hunt? The combination of such disparate elements doesn't fare too well in this movie. I suppose you could say this is second-rate material of the above mentioned established actors/characters.
Frank Martin is an unbalanced character. He seems almost rigid and mechanical at times. He doesn't show much emotion but Lai Kwai takes to him right away. Does he have class? As I mentioned earlier, he's no Bond, but at times he can hold his own. His character reminds me of the bald character in Hitman (a game for PC). We don't learn much about his past except that he used to be a soldier.
The soundtrack, although not great, was not bad. I liked the mix of hip-hop, techno, and rock music throughout the film. The editing does not help complement the background music.
So what's the final verdict? The story sucks. The action is second-rate and needs lots of polishing. The acting is horrible by most of the actors. I would say since it's hard to come by really good action films, this would probably be an average action film better than some, but by no means good. I would recommend people to stay away from this, or at least view with caution.