Option Zero

In Option Zero we get to follow a Mission Impossible-like group and its specially trained members, who without problems get in to various hotels and secret crimenests.
Ai (Cheung Chi-Lam) works in the socalled S.B. Forces, i.e. the secret police force in Hong Kong. They battle the local weapons dealers and the bullets fly in their constant show-downs.
Ai gets a complicated life, when his work starts interfering with his private life. This happens when a colleague and close friend is brutally killed during a mission. Ai's work turns into a personal vendetta. His will to advance his career is enhanced and the whole group takes the test to become part of the tough G4.
As the producer of Zero Option, this marks Gordon Chan's third film in his series about the Hong Kong security forces. With First Option, which was screened at the 1997 Stockholm Film Festival, and its predecessor The Final Option, he has profiled himself as one of Hong Kong's most successfu I action directors.
Of course this third outing, directed this time by Dante Lam, is spiced up with rough action scenes. They are choreograp-
hed by Chin Kar-Lok, who has directed and appeared in films with stars such as Jackie Chan. The gun-shot scenes are especially cool, and bringto mind e.g. John Woo. It would not surprise me if the tough CIA-guy (M ichael Fitzgerald Wong) who trains the gang in preparation for G4, yelled: ''FREEZE! MIAMI VICA!'' They actually do scream ''FREEZE! POLICE!'' in this film, but in Cantonese.
The feel i ng in Option Zero is sl ightly western, especially the relationship between Ai and his girlfriend (Carman Lee Yeuk-Yung), but with its roots in Hong Kong, the film becomes an excellent compromise between classic Hong Kongaction and western drama.
EBBA RYDQVIST

Premiärstatus
Skandinavisk premiär: Medverkande
Cheung Chi Lam,Anthony Wong,Carmen Lee: Producent
Gordon Chan & John Chong: Manus
Chan Hing-Kai: Foto
Horace Wong: Musik
Umebayashi Shigeru: Talat språk
Cantonese with English & Chinese