The late Benny Chan directed “The White Storm” back in 2013 starring Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo and Nick Cheung. In “The White Storm 2: Drug Lords” (2019) which starred Andy Lau and Louis Koo, Herman Yau took over as director. Now in 2023, Yau is back in this in-title-only third installment again featuring Koo, Lau Ching Wan and Aaran Kwok, the newcomer to the series. All these actors play different characters altogether but the themes of war against drugs, royalty and brotherhood are still there but told in a new storyline.
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The year is 2021 and Kang Su Chat, a Thai-Chinese drug lord who runs his operation in Hong Kong has his men fish up a few barrels containing heroin off the coast. As they leave the docks after unloading their precious cargo, the police show up which results in an intense firefight. Au Chi Yuen, one of Kong's trusted right-hand men, who is actually an undercover agent, tries to arrest Kong but fails. Nonetheless, Kang and some surviving members including the badly injured Billy, another trusted gang member manage to escape from the docks and finally take refuge in a jungle village in the Golden Triangle, Thailand.
Unaware that Billy is also an undercover agent, Kang has him nursed back to health by Noon, a village girl. The reason he trusts and treats both Au and Billy like brothers is because they saved his life before, but, of course, he does not know they are agents of the Hong Kong Narcotic Bureau. While in Thailand, he learns that the local military Commander Tai Kam Wing is behind the drug trade in the Golden Triangle, and determined to rebuild his drug trafficking empire, he sees that a collaboration with the dictator would certainly benefit him. Meanwhile, Billy manages to contact his Bureau in Hong Kong and before long, all hell breaks loose as the agents join forces with the Thai police to take down the drug traffickers.
Although Louis Koo is the only actor who appears in all three “White Storm” films, he has less screen time in ”Heaven or Hell”. It is almost like a supporting character but he still does an adequate job with his usual cool. In contrast, Aaron Kwok, the franchise's newcomer, has the most screen time and plays his bland hero role with competence. Furthermore, he handles his romantic scenes with village girl Noon (Yang Cai Yu) quite adequately. It is probably due to Yang's sympathetic portrayal of Noon that helps to make this subplot work.
It is a pleasure to see Lau Ching Wan chewing up the scenery as the larger than life drug lord Kang Su Chat who is both arrogant and utterly royal to those who help him. Better still, he is an affectionate criminal and a capable leader with a big heart who stands by his fallen men. All these qualities make him a very complex but interesting character and Lau's performance sure makes him come alive. Furthermore as the film progresses, his friendship with Billy reaches another dramatic level as royalty turns into betrayal.
Interestingly, the secondary villain, drug lord Tai Kam Wing of the Golden Triangle, played by Gallen Lo, is not what he appears to be. At first glance, he is a powerful Commander with a small army but in fact he is a weak character who hides in his underground shelter and needs protection all the time. The forever jolly Lam Suet who plays triad boss Brother Big is a welcome sight to behold. That goes for Alex Fung too, portraying the Superintendent of the Narcotic Bureau. Elsewhere, Sammo Hung's son Timmy turns up briefly as a police officer.
It was a miracle that Yau and his crew were able to finish shooting the third installment of the “White Storm” film series. For a start, the Covid19 pandemic restrictions delayed their travelling and they had to abandon the Thai village set built in Thailand during pre-production with a totally new set constructed in New Territory, Hong Kong. In addition, the accidents on set which resulted in some stuntmen being hospitalized also interrupted the shooting. Nevertheless, Yau and action choreographer Nicky Li Chung Chi managed to finish the film with more than a bang. As seen in the climax where an air attack blows the Thai village11 to bits, numerous cars exploded, flipped in the air and crashed into buildings. Yau sure knows how to make use of a film's huge budget.
Yau's screenplay also uses lots of flashbacks to tell the characters' backstories and how they come to trust each other and bond like brothers, although the downside is that they do slow down the flow of the film a bit. On the other hand, he gives his main leads plenty of room to shine in between the amazingly impressive action set-pieces.
Overall, this in-name-only sequel is a highly entertaining and fast paced action adventure showing that Hong Kong is still able to produce the kind of old-school action films rich in brotherhood and loyalty between the characters that delighted audiences in the past.
