Action films, in particular martial arts action, used to be the bread-and-butter of Hong Kong cinema. With the industry in freefall, it’s not easy to find hard-core titles like Undercover Punch & Gun, a throwback to those Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam films that always seemed to end up on freighters.
Philip Ng stars as Wu, an undercover cop who has worked his way into Bob’s (the always reliable Lam Suet) gang. A drug deal in an auto parts junkyard goes wrong, leaving Bob mortally wounded. He bequeaths what’s left of his gang (primarily Van Ness Wu’s flamboyant sidekick Tiger) to Wu.
Wu and Tiger are immediately set upon by Madame Tung’s (Carrie Ng) gang and forced to retrieve a huge payment from Ha (Andy On), who stages his drug and trafficking operations on a freighter outside police jurisdiction. Ha is also after Wu, kidnapping his girlfriend Dawnie (Aka Chio) to force Wu to work with him. Watching from the sidelines: Magnum (Chi Shuai) and his partner Eva (Feng Wen Juan), former elite Trident cops with a vendetta against Wu. (Nicholas Tse plays Ho, Wu’s handler, but his role is so tiny he doesn’t wrinkle his suit.)
Forget the plot, a rehash of drug thrillers from thirty years ago, and the visual effects, which evoke the phony bomb explosions in Twin Dragons. Stay for the hand-to-hand fights and a couple of good car chases. And to watch the sensational Meng Jia, who has my favorite fight scene in the film.
Ng, who also did the solid action choreography, wears the same twisted expression throughout the film. Andy On fares better thanks to his sense of humor. This is the first directing credit for Lui Koon Nam & Frankie Tam, veteran screenwriters despite the evidence here. The film was released in 2019 as Undercover vs. Undercover, and is now available on Digital, Blu-ray & DVD from WellGo USA Entertainment. Fans of the genre will get their money’s worth.
