Cynthia Khan takes over right where Michelle Yeoh left off... well actually she did that already in the last movie, but I didn't know about it when I watched it... they look so alike!

But it's a new start this time around, she's a novice officer handing out parking tickets when suddenly... shit gets real: as real as it can get. Not immediately, but she does get a chance to warm up by catching a thief and give a rich man a much-needed lecture at the same time. She's soon after (or maybe there's a major skip in time here, who knows) assigned to work with her Uncle, lead-officer in a department specialized in special cases, and that uncle is the single most annoying person in the movie, constantly trying to keep her out of danger by eh... by trying to keep her out of harms way (which is not what I as a viewer want). She misses out on a great many fights at the start of the movie, but definitely catches up during the latter part!

There's a Japanese police officer involved once again (just like the first), he's causing trouble once again, his friend 's been killed (deja vu), yet until the main character also looses a near-one in the ongoing battle against evil she doesn't really take him seriously. It's another movie full of tension, sacrifice, needless death and bloodshed... and not to forget, some crazy/great stunts and fights.

The main villains are a couple of villains with a cause, a crazy man and wife (there's a steamy sex scene too, the one and only in this series) slaughtering cops and innocent bystanders alike in a quest for weapons so that they can face the red army. Or maybe they were part of the red army? Things don't really turn out as planned, and it all ends with tons of explosions and fights using all sorts of weaponry the characters come across (also counting tools and various accessories).

In other words, it's another great movie! HK action at its best; a worthy sequel. Though I wouldn't mind if Michelle Yeoh still had the lead role...

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

April, 2021

Sex appeal, class, creative filming, finesse... they really upped their game! The villains too. A few moments in and I'm in love, both with the protagonist and the antagonist. Or at least a part of the duo. Excited to see how the show will unfold this time around. It starts so perfectly.

But then... it didn't keep going that way. Unfortunately. It fell to cliche all too fast, the Japanese cop turned into a liability more so than a furthering element, the annoying uncle annoyingly died right after they somewhat reconciled, the jewelry heist fake jewelry swap thing never got cleared up... soo many loose ends. And very little notable stunts. It started getting better right at the end but it seems too late at that point

That RC helicopter bomb though: props.

But unfortunately this wasn't the grand reboot I'd hoped it'd be. They really did do things differently with the fourth one though. So incredibly balanced there that the surrounding ones barely compare. With the soundtrack too here it's just unfortunately messy most of the film.

 rated 3.5/5: not bad at all