Hit Team (2001)

Director: Dante Lam Chiu Yin

Producer: Dante Lam Chiu Yin

Cast: Daniel Wu Yin-Cho, Alex To Tak-Wai, Ruby Wong Cheuk-Ling, Jo Kuk Cho-Lam, Pang King-Chi, Chin Kar Lok, Joe Lee (Yiu Ming)

Running Time: 94 min.

Plot: An elite team of "heavy artillery" specialists for the HK Police must bend and break the rules in order to get the money to pay for a colleague's operation. An engaging actioner with a twisty plot and cool gadgets and weapons.

ALEXANDER'S REVIEW: I play with toys. Well, not toys exactly (I gave up Transformers long ago), but 12" "action figures" that can be twisted into menacing stances hoisting equally menacing cannons to their camouflaged and grimacing faces. And I don't really play with them really, but rather arrange them in crouches, sniper-like, laden with all sorts of miniature military gear on a shelf above my computer. I avoid the rigid, fuzzy-headed Joes of old and the impostor "Ultimate Soldiers" clogging the aisles at Toys 'R Us and instead focus on the incredibly life-like and super-poseable creations from Hong Kong's Dragon Models, Ltd. What does my obsession with tiny, bendable plastic men have to do with "Hit Team", you ask? Well, Dragon is best known for it's authentic World War 2 releases, but they have also made available a number of figures based on popular Hong Kong films including "My Story", "Storm Riders", "China Strike Force", "2000A.D.", "First Option", and--most recently--"Hit Team". I didn't know "Hit Team" existed until I saw a boxed likeness of Daniel Wu next to a boxed likeness of Jackie Chan next to a boxed likeness of Aaron Kwok...well, you get the idea.

Anyway, "HT" is basically about a small band of former cops who resort to robbery to raise enough money to provide treatment for their recently paralyzed partner. Foiling their plans is a fictitious group of operatives in the police department called Hit Team. Led by Daniel Wu ("2000A.D."), they are supposedly the best of the best, an elite crime-fighting unit highly skilled in weaponry and ass-kicking in general.

I have a soft spot for guys (and girls) dressed up in black jumpsuits with hoods, gas masks, and flak jackets toting submachine guns. I enjoyed the much loathed "First Option", De Niro's "Heat" and "Ronin", Jean Reno's "The Professional", and "The Blood Rules" because of the inclusion of heavily armored, masked dudes causing mayhem with all sorts of big-ass guns. "HT" was particularly satisfying with its scenes of Hong Kong's elite SDU and the super-elite Hit Team.

"HT" is an enjoyable action film on par with other recent HK action releases. The acting is adequate and the mayhem is plentiful. There's a suspenseful scene early in the film involving a bank heist by the aforementioned ex-cops that features a 7-Up bottle bomb, a bevy of AK-47s and rain-soaked gas masks. Wu's relationship with one of the rogue cops is interesting and makes up for some of the film's shortcomings including a ridiculous male bonding rugby scene, a couple of unnecessarily long shoot outs, and a contrived ending. Recommended.

Hit Team can be purchased at HKflix.com

ALEXANDER'S RATING: 7.5/10