Naam yi boon sik

Plot synopsis:
An armoured truck carrying $100 million of cash is attacked by a criminal gang which calls themselves the "Ronin Gang" with explosives as it stops at a traffic junction in front of a jewellery shop. All the security guards were shot dead except one, while responding police officers suffered serious casaulties under the gunfire of the heavily armed gang members. The explosions also killed several civilians, including a lady in the shop. Six months later, the same gang reappears in Hong Kong, injuring a group of policemen, two critically, during a spot check. The dead woman in the jewellery shop was Crime Investigation Department detective Chan Chun's fiancee, while the injured policemen are led by Trainee Inspector Fong Yik-wei. Both officers vow revenge on the criminal gang.Wai King-ho is a rookie cop whose older brother, Wai King-tat, also a police officer, has been missing for an extended period. Deeply upset by police allegations that his brother has become a part of the criminal gang while infiltrating as an undercover, he was suspended from duty due to this connections with his now-wanted brother, and later confronted by both Chan and Fong who demand his brother's whereabouts. They form an alliance after Wai is rescued by Chan and Fong in a fight at a night club. Little Tiger is captured by Chan and is forced to lead the police to the gang's hideout. The gang appears however and kills Tiger after a chase, while injuring Chan and several of his colleagues.It turns out that the surviving security guard is Ho Wing-keung, the manager of the security company and who is in colludes with the gang to rob the armoured truck. He is tracked down by the gang to a psychiatric hospital, where he feigns a mental breakdown to escape detection by the gang. Chan, Fong and Wai arrive at the hospital, but fail to prevent his escape with the gang, who threaten his family to force him out. As the three pursue the gang, they run into an accident scene, where the gang shoots several police officers at the scene, hijacks a mini-bus with young children, and takes Wai as a hostage in the bus. Chan and Fong goes after the bus with Ho in another car.The gang members and the police officers engage in a lengthy confrontation, in which Wai discovers that his brother has his background exposed and killed by gang member Ronin Tien Yeng-yee. Ho is killed by Tien Yeng-seng to silence him, Wai is left handcuffed to the bus with the children and a timer bomb, while Chan and Fong are forced to collect the stolen cash from the robbery's mastermind at a funfair at Tamar while chained to another timer bomb. Wai manages to free himself and rescue all the children, and discovers that the bomb is fake, suggesting that Ronin has no intention to harm the children. Chan and Fong approaches a man with a luggage at the funfair as instructed, but the man turns out to be Chief Inspector Sam, who is leading an operation to nap the gang. The operation goes awry, the timer bomb is ignited safely in the nick of time, and Sam was pulled away by Chan and Fong to a secluded area, where they attempt to explain their situation to him. It is then revealed that Sam is also colluding with the mastermind, and is promptly killed, resulting in Chan and Fong becoming suspects for the murder.With the help of Fong's girlfriend Leung Hoi-lam from the Police Intelligence Department, Chan and Fong realise that the real mastermind is Senior Superintendent Cheung Man-yiu, who has orchestrated the armour truck robbery, double-crossed the gang resulting in the death of three of their members, and made off with the loot which he keeps hidden in a car in the Police Headquarters carpark. The remaining four members of the criminal gang arrive at the Headquarters in a police van masquerading as police officers to forcefully get the money back, just before the arrival of Chan, Fong and Wai. Senior Superintendent Mark Law Pui-keung begins to learn about the truth from data provided by Leung.An extended showdown at the Police Headquarters ensues, resulting in the deaths of three criminals, multiple policemen including a Special Duties Unit squad and Wai, who was beaten to death by Tien. An injured Tien was shot by Cheung, who nearly escapes arrest when he was later led to an ambulance by unsuspecting officers. He was subsequently shot dead by Chan and Fong when he tries to kill Law who was led to another ambulance. Both Chan and Fong return to their police duties, but as a detective and a beat cop respectively. They also help take care of Wai's grandmother.

Tags: violence

Review:
Maybe, but now it sure has its work cut out for it, with an amazingly satisfying, over the top, touching and down right honorable release from dear old Benny Chan.Mr. Chan's New Police Story was an admitted wink at good action things past, and Invisible Target bears the same hallmarks of quality only much better implemented.Ostensibly, it's a promising flick with a strong cast finally heralding the return of two of this reviewer's fave tough guys: enigmatic and oft crazed Shawn Yue and sulking, intellectual trouble maker Nicholas Tse.Of course a lot could still go wrong but it dawns on one that Invisible Target is an awesome movie right from the first scene when they proceed to blow things up with extreme prejudice smack in the middle of Hong Kong's Central business area, namely Queen's Road.Yes, Eye in the Sky had a heist taking place in the same locale, but that one was pale and forgettable.
Here we have a ballsy depiction of crooks on the loose that brings a tear to the most jaded of eyes as you sit there reminding yourself that this isn't merely how they used to make them, here they are, making them like that in this day and age.Oh yes, just like New Police Story, Invisible Target has kick ass villains, headed by martial artist Wu Jing, whose deranged but respectable streak was previously flexed in SPL.
The guy's simply spectacular as a bad guy, as is cool dude Andy On. Andy shone in New Police Story alongside Daniel Wu, and here he's even better, adding a sensible, human side to his nefarious character.Indeed, the antagonists here are all well done and conspicuously Putonghua speakers.
Regardless, they help make Invisible Target an excellent release you must not miss out on.As we behold, the baddies wreak havoc in jolly HK, setting in motion a storyline that has Inspector Tequila-inspired Shawn and Nicholas go after them with a vengeance, aided by Jaycee Chan who for once is truly impressive and adds much to the story.The three cops engage with the demented robbers across a variety of locations, using fists, feet, guns, cars and a variety of other tools.
This movie is a field day for makers of breakaway glass everywhere, as literally not a single sheet remains intact for more than a second.Invisible Target isn't a dour-faced, overly serious affair, it gets the balance between crime drama and lunatic fantasy just right as cops and robbers leap huge heights and take more punishment than your average WWII battleship could ever hope to withstand.With good supporting appearances from Sam Lee, Lam Suet and even Aaron Kwok, this is out and out a fun, thrilling and gripping film.
It's also atypically long for its genre or for Hong Kong releases in general, coming in at a hefty 130 minutes, which still isn't close to enough.In the end, good triumphs but there really isn't any evil here, as even the vilest of people seen in the story has an explanation for what they do and a tale to tell, which is an added bonus not to be overlooked.Plus, how can you say no to the first SDU sighting in a long, long, long time?
Yes, they return to battle Wu Jing and his crew, and of course promptly get their posteriors handed to them.Invisible Target is a frenzied, beautiful assemblage of classical themes (there's even a British cop in the briefing room like in the good old days), gorgeous stunts, mind-boggling explosions, intricate fight scenes and ever-shattering glass partitions.The macho-sensitive cast is a perfect fit and we're delighted to see them together and on screen again.
And in actuality, it seems that the constant target for everyone in the movie here, be they the bad guys or the good cops, are the plenty of glass lying around, getting smashed into smithereens by hurled projectiles, or more frequently, human bodies.
Invisible Target is still enjoyable, in that it brings to you the flavour of a typical Hong Kong action movie, with Benny Chan at the helm.
As we slowly get nauseated by the frequent mole versus mole plots that Hong Kong crime thrillers formula usually adopted (no thanks to the success of you know what), I thought Invisible Target was reminiscent about an old John Woo movie Hard Boiled, except that it's minus the guns, and instead you get plenty of fisticuffs.
A similarly long drawn out ending was a little too tedious to sit through, though it had its fair share of big bangs and segmented action sequences which tried hard to hold your attention.
Teahouses remain perfect locales for fights to break out (as in Hard Boiled), and here, it serves as a male bonding moment for our three heroic cops Chan Chun (Nicholas Tse), Fong Yik-wei (Shawn Yue) and Jaycee Chan's Wai King-ho.But in between the action, are the woefully painful monologues that the villain Tien Yeng- seng (Wu Jing) and his merry gang of 7 (which includes Andy On as brother Yeng-yee) dish out, trying to philosophize their actions as "I'm a villain so I kill", and about justice-injustice in the world.
If anything, Invisible Target is a Wu Jing movie, and one in which I'm not surprised if many actually throw their weight of support behind him.
It's a movie that the villain outshines the heroes easily.With three distinct cops, Invisible Target actually spends a considerable amount of time introducing them one by one.
And Jacycee's Wai is probably the wimpiest of the lot, being a by-the-books street cop who's investigating the disappearance of his brother (do a double take on that cameo!), who might have fallen into Tien's hands.
It's no doubt too that all of them are skilled in martial arts, and at any time would prefer to holster their weapons.Nicholas and Shawn are no newcomers to action, having starred together in recent movies like Dragon Tiger Gate, and thank goodness they've ditched their long locks in that movie for contemporary shorter crop here.
It didn't help that his character, the most naive and innocent of the lot, is in total contrast to the classic cop characters his father portrayed, and I surely think it was deliberate that he remains the least buff of the lot, with many goody-two-shoes scenes occasionally played out for comedy, or to reinforce that he's basically a cut above the rest of the good cops in terms of having a good natured character.
Characters like his are hard to come by in an age where grittier cinematic cops roam the street.So while big brothers Nicholas and Shawn get some fantastical set action pieces to show off their mettle, Jaycee got the shorter end of the stick by being quite a deadweight at times.
A typical flower vase role unfortunately, for a combined screen time of less than 5 minutes.Despite its reliance on hard hitting action dished out by the actors themselves, and in all purpose are as realistic as they look with the obvious wire work seen in the trailers drastically reduced, a few noticeable continuity errors marred the enjoyment of the movie at times.
Invisible Target had all the ingredients for a classic action movie, but the run time of more than 2 hours was due to an overindulgence with the slower moments which were fused with a couple of "I'm a cop" moments, and feel good messages rammed down your throat.And what do you know, Invisible Target still can't shake off the mole versus mole type plot line, unfortunately.
If it could have been a little more compact, and gotten to the point faster than it did, it would have been a tad more enjoyable, given the wealth of cameo/ supporting talent at its disposal, like Sam Lee (Dog Bite Dog) and the evergreen Lam Suet, rather than feel the need to tie up all the loose subplots it introduced, and exposing some technical loopholes in some action sequences..
But enough of that, onto the movie itself.Released around the same time (and probably competing for much of the same audience) as the fantastic Donnie Yen movie Flash Point, Invisible Target provides some legitimate competition, albeit in the same sort of tired fashion of OCB cops doing the wrong things for the right reasons.
The fight scenes are very well done (would you expect any less from Jackie Chan's son?), the movie seems for the most part well paced, and it's got a solid story.Now for the bad news.
Where Flash Point is quite a bit shorter, it leaves you wanting a little more whereas Invisible Target makes you feel like you got too much.
HK glass makers no doubt loved this movie...it's putting their kids through university.All in all I'd definitely recommend this movie to anyone who's a fan of contemporary kung fu...just make sure you've got a good chunk of time set aside to watch it..
It was reminiscent of the days of old for an Hong Kong action flick....crazy stunts with a second replay (like the old Jackie Chan flicks), plenty of excellent martial arts, explosions and gun play.
No messing about, no morals...just downright bad.With some of the so called action movie tosh that America churns out today, the west should start looking to Hong Kong and Korea to take a leaf out of their book to see how things are done (Flashpoint was also very good).Watch this and you won't be disappointed..
Plenty of Action As Criminals Take On The Hong Kong Police Force.
Director Benny Chan and staff do a mighty fine job with their cops and robbers story, Invisible Target.
The movie is almost all kinetic action, chases where the actors seem to jump 20 feet down from roof top to roof top, as the HK police try to stop the gang from getting the loot they are after.
There are dull sections,especially when Jaycee Chan is describing his bland philosophy of policing, but, hey, the Chinese censors won't allow movies to be released on the mainland unless they put the police in a good light.In Invisible Target, you don't see any police (aided by goons hired by real estate developers) clubbing farmers whose land was stolen, so a new factory can be built, enriching the local Communist Party boss who gets an ownership share in the factory.
But dealing with life's grim reality in one of the world's great bastions of robber baron capitalism would be too dull for most viewers, besides getting the HK filmmaker in big trouble with the People's Public Security Bureau if he or she ever set foot in mainland China.So Benny Chan and company go the crime drama route, with shootings, car chases and a great explosion sequence at the start that keys in a major plot element.
If there is one thing wrong with this movie, it is another scene at the start where Jaycee Chan's cop gives a ticket to a guy for parking illegally, a big mouth who is out with his young son.
When Jackie Chan's cop character in Police Story 2 stopped and ticketed a line of trucks (all Nissan trucks, then and now a Chan corporate sponsor), it showed Chan was no nonsense when it came to his job.
Jaycee's parking ticket scene is a crummy way to introduce his character, people nowadays don't like cops or anyone else who gives out parking tickets.Invisible Target is a good way to spend a little over two hours watching a very well made if improbable crime story..
There is a lot of action in the movie, in the likes of gunfights, martial arts and chase scenes.The story is about three very different police officers in the Hong Kong police who are chasing after a group of criminals on a wild chase taking them wide and far around Hong Kong.
The officers are heartbroken Detective Chan Chun (played by Nicholas Tse) who lost his fiancée in an explosion during a robbery of an armored truck, the arrogant Inspector Carson Fong Yik Wei (played by Shawn Yue) and fresh-out-of-the-academy officer Wai King Ho (played by Jaycee Chan).
Who is the mastermind behind the well-orchestrated robbery, and whom can they trust?"Invisible Target" is driven by a great story that comes off a very plausible and realistic, but it is also driven by the non-stop action, not to mention the vivid and detailed characters.The people cast for the various roles really did good jobs with their given roles, and that really helped the movie well along.Being a fan of Hong Kong cinema and having lived there myself, I found this movie very enjoyable, especially because it does show off a lot of aspects of Hong Kong, not just showing the glamour, fluorescent lights and the rich and famous.I will say that that music score for the movie wasn't all that impressive, and it was not standing out in anyway.
But towards the end, it ticks over and becomes rather irritating."Invisible Target" is highly recommendable for people who enjoy Asian movies and action movies in particular.
As this Hong Kong action movie opens a young woman is shopping for wedding rings but is killed in an explosion when robbers blast their way into an armoured car outside the shop; several police officers responding to the crime are also killed.
Six months later the gang is back in Hong Kong and her fiancé Chan Chun, a police officer, is determined to get his revenge.
it will all lead to a dramatic confrontation in the police station.If you want full on action you could do a lot worse than this film.
Nicholas Tse, Shawn Yue and Jaycee Chan put in really impressive performances as Chan Chun, Carson Fong Yik-wai and Wai King Ho respectively and Wu Jing is a lot of fun as the gang's leader.
Director Benny Chang's fast paced crime thriller follows three Hong Kong cops relentlessly pursuing a ruthless gang of highly skilled crooks and murderers.More entertaining and absorbing than you might expect, it's not often that action films which are over two hours long can hold the audience's attention for the duration, but in this case the film rarely retreats from the explosive opening scene.
Perhaps it dwells for too long on the inherent good nature of the police officers, and there are no strong female characters worth noting.
However, if it's violence, explosions and a possibly interpretive subtext you're after, this is a film you are more than likely going to enjoy.Guns, martial arts, explosions, stunts and a pinch of philosophy: Invisible Target is a film almost as thought provoking as it is entertaining.
But in my opinion, it's uniquely valuable for being positive in information.Basically it's a story about 3 cops after a gang of robbers, consequently got involved deeper and deeper, and inevitably dig out dirty secrets of the police station.
However, the director didn't invest everything in promoting this one as the HK version of L.A. Confidential, mainly because the sense of social responsibility motivates the makers to create a story of growing up in good directions instead of dirty cop stories.The movie is very effective in editing the fighting sequences.
There's smashing glass a-plenty in this Hong Kong action flick that's almost one long running battle between a criminal gang and a trio of upstanding cops.
It's a film in which the plotting is completely tired and predictable, pitting the flawed-but-human good guys against an array of almost superhuman and sadistic crims in a variety of arresting chases, shoot-outs and martial arts sequences.Such stories are by-the-by when it comes to Chinese action cinema.
These films fall or stand on their action, and in that respect INVISIBLE TARGET doesn't disappoint.
There are some outstanding free-running sequences to tie it in with European fare like DISTRICT 13, excellent choreography in the various combat scenes and plenty of explosive destruction.
In many ways the action's a throwback to Hong Kong cinema of the 1980s, with an emphasis on the destruction of scenery and props and in particular glass.Director Benny Chan delivered the goods in 2004's NEW POLICE STORY and he does so again with the spectacular stuff on display here.
Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue can do this type of stuff in their sleep: they play one dimensional characters but are great when it comes to fighting, and the same can be said of Wu Jing's ultra-villain.
Jackie Chan's lad Jaycee is given plenty of emoting which is slightly tiresome when contrasted with the otherwise great action.
INVISIBLE TARGET gets 1/10 for its storyline and 10/10 for the fights..
I'm generally a fan of Benny Chan's movie.
The story is about an outrageously nice cop played by Jaycee Chen who is now under surveillance because his brother who is also a cop is suspected of turning bad.The fight scenes are pretty brutal, and you'd wonder why a nice guy like Jaycee has to be involved in a situation like this, but he is.
Two other undercover police officers along with him battle for their lives against crooks who are trying to carve a living in society.Jaycee Chen has all the charm, and character of both his mother and his father.
He has looks that resembles them also, but the personality is all his own.This level of brutality is unusual for Benny Chan, but along with the story and its characters, the movie is highly experimental, but it comes together in the end with pretty outrageous fight scenes.Good movie even if you're not a fan of Benny Chan movies..
Good, but too long story of three different cops coming together to take on a band of really nasty robbers who like to blow things up.
What is not cliché is the action sequences which are truly amazing and are amped up versions of the sort of stuff that Jackie Chan used to do, which isn't surprising since director Benny Chan is a close relative (I've read his brother and I've read his son I'm not sure which).