Before heading off to mainland China to direct those patriotic but commercially successful films like “Operation Mekong” (2016), “Operation Red Sea” (2018), “The Battle of Changjin” (2021), Dante Lam's last Hong Kong film starring Nick Cheung was “The Demon Within” (2014). Now, back to his roots and home turf almost a decade later and this time co-directing with Calvin Tong, he delivers us the extremely violent Category III, adults only “Bursting Point”, again with Cheung in the lead.
Veteran chief inspector Bond Sir of the anti-narcotic branch is desperate to apprehend the boss of a local drug traffickers' gang Yang (Shaun Tam). Bond then plants a young cop Jiang Ming (William Chan) as a mole into their organization. After several unsuccessful confrontations with high casualties on both sides, the police manage to retain Yang's brother but he later dies in custody which further angers Yang. Furthermore, Ming seems to have blown his undercover identify with a third party now blackmailing him and Bond.
In the meantime, Ying Xiu (Isabella Leung) a chemist and Yung's associate from the Golden Triangle returns to Hong Kong to manufacture drugs for him. To further complicate things, Bond's neglected and rebellious son gets himself into deep trouble with a local triad. Drug lord Yung then uses this opportunity to blackmail him by kidnapping his son. Now it looks like poor Bond's drug war against the drug trafficking gang has turned too personal.
Newcomer Calvin Tong worked as assistant director for Lam before and now he gets the chance to co-direct alongside him. Lam's “Beast Stalker” (2008), a film that features Nick Cheung as a villain, put him on the map and also won him the Best Director award. Regardless, “Bursting Point” has his signature all over, especially during those chaotic action sequences, that it is hard to pinpoint Tong's involvement. Furthermore, this action thriller clocks in at nearly 140 minutes but thankfully both directors manage to maintain it at a reasonable fast pace.
The film's opening brutal scene shows a policeman dragged and disemboweled and is a good indication of the type of violence viewers can expect. Later on, the body count starts to rise as people are getting shot, stabbed, splashed by acid and burnt to death by fire. At times, it feels like Lam is making a film about killing people in the most gruesome ways possible by the way he tries to top his next death scene with more violence and graphic death. One particular scene even has a father using his own young daughter as hostage and stabbing her. Nonetheless, the simple foot chase through the streets and on the roof of a pedestrian walkway should please fans of Hong Kong cinema. The variety of action sequences choreographed by Stephen Tung Wai and the cave shootouts, filmed in Malaysia are quite distinctive and memorable.
A former police officer turned actor, Nick Cheung started off doing comedies for Wong Jin. After changing his acting style to a more serious one, he eventually won his first Best Actor award for his role in Lam's action thriller “Beast Stalker” (2008). In this production, he plays Bond Sir of the anti-narcotic unit, a role which is quite a walk in the park for him apart from the more challenging fist fights. Portraying the undercover cop in a much more physically demanding role, a matured and energetic William Chan Wei Ting is equally up for the task. He obviously worked out extremely hard preparing for his role.
For trivia fans of Asian cinema, Shaun Tam, the son of Shaw Brothers veteran Ti Lung, plays the local drug lord Yang who gives inspector Bond a really hard time, with an unsettling performance. The famous pseudo-model and actress Chrissie Chau appears briefly as his girlfriend. Actress and former singer Isabelle Leong has a rather decent role as the drug manufacturer from the Golden Triangle who wants a fresh start in Hong Kong. Elsewhere, the always reliable supporting actor Philip Keung turns up as a thug from the drug trafficking gang who takes a shine to undercover cop Ming.
Unfortunately, the filmmakers spend too much time developing the heavy subplots concerning family dynamics, problemed children and parenting. They should focus strongly on the story of the undercover cop instead. Otherwise this is a decent and entertaining but over the top Hong Kong crime film. Those diehard Dante Lam fans will appreciate it more.
