I picked up a copy of the rare all-region DVD by Wide Sight Entertainment on special from HKFlix back in August of 2003 (the film is also available on an all-region DVD from Tai Seng Video). I then proceeded to let the disc sit on my shelf for more than six months. More's the pity -- upon viewing, I discovered to my pleasant surprise that I had been missing an entertaining and well-crafted cops-and-robbers yarn with a sweet flavoring of romance.

The film begins with the standard undercover-cop-with-conflicted-loyalty plot. Lok Man Hwa (Simon Yam, Fulltime Killer, Young and Dangerous 3, Naked Killer) is the right-hand man and best friend of Triad gangster Lu Chan Feng (the charismatic Rongguang Yu, The Enforcer, Iron Monkey). The two show up at a wharf for a late-night drug buy, but the Hong Kong police crash the party. As the Triads and cops exchange fire, Hwa and Feng pile into a getaway car.

But Hwa reveals himself as an undercover cop and gets the drop on Feng. Refusing to be taken alive, Feng first demands that Hwa go ahead and shoot. He then boots Hwa out of the car and attempts a mad dash through the police lines that ends with the car exploding under a hail of gunfire and plunging into Hong Kong Bay.

With Feng out of the picture, Hwa returns to regular duty on the force. Unfortunately, his deep cover assignment earns him the distrust of some of his fellow cops. They question how he could have so successfully passed as a rascal or wonder at his integrity, given his betrayal of his fellows. This suspicion hinders Hwa's investigation of a series of attacks on top Triad figures.

One of Hwa's chief antagonists on the force is the prim, bespectacled Inspector Hwang (Parkman Wong), who's openly suspicious and hostile to our hero. Chan's later film Gen-X Cops would feature a remarkably similar character in Inspector To.

Things go no better when Hwa tries to patch things up with Feng's squeeze, Yung (the lovely Christy Chung, God of Cookery, Gen-Y Cops, The Medallion), who had earlier shown some spark of interest in him. He appears at Feng's funeral, to the disapproving sneers of the assembled rascals, especially foxy tough girl Mindy (Cherie Chen).

Hwa bows contritely before a photo of Feng and vows to help Yung whenever he can. Distraught, Yung takes offense at these gestures and stabs Hwa, wounding him.

Hwa recovers, thanks in part to the ministrations of his nurse girlfriend June (Eileen Tung). The two settle down to play house, but Hwa's heart isn't in it. When Yung finally pages him, he begins visiting her, pretending to be on police business. A tentative romance soon develops between the two.

In a surprise development, Feng reappears outside Yung's apartment. (The surprise is that Feng appears none the worse for wear for having driven an exploding car through a hail of gunfire into Hong Kong Bay.) Feng tells Hwa he bears no grudge for his betrayal, and asks his help in collecting a debt the Triad boss Bald Yin (Kar-Ying Law) owes. With the money in hand, Feng promises, he'll collect Yung and disappear to the Chinese mainland, content to remain officially dead in Hong Kong.

But a series of double crosses soon have Hwa on the run from the cops, suspected of murder. The Triads pump Hwa full of drugs and set him up to be shot down by the police. In desperation, he turns to Yung in hopes that her romantic advances were genuine. Events climax in a guns-blazing showdown in Hong Kong's busy, neon-lit Portland Street as the cops close in.

Director Chan and his talented cast make the most of a lackluster script that throws one genuinely interesting idea -- what happens after an undercover cop takes down a gang boss -- into a blender with any number of standard Triad movie conventions. The result isn't always coherent -- for example, the cops and Triads are both too willing to write off Feng following his disappearance. But just as in his lightweight but pleasing Gen-X Cops, Chan keeps events rolling quickly enough to prevent major problems with suspension of disbelief.

To his credit, Chan maintains a rapid pace even during the film's several romantic interludes (a feat that eluded George Lucas in Star Wars Episode II). Chan also proves adept at lighting and framing even expository dialog sequences to preserve visual interest. Several Cantopop songs on the soundtrack also contribute to the film's various moods.

Strong performances by the leads also bolster the film. Simon Yam gets to deliver not only the standard conflicted-undercover-cop performance, but also display romance, desperation, grief, paranoia, and even the whacked-out throes of a heroin overdose. Rongguang Yu is, as ever, magnetic and commanding as the Triad boss. Christy Chung is feisty yet vulnerable as Feng's lovelorn girlfriend. The leads are supported by an able group of supporting actors and stunt performers.

In an unusual choice for a Hong Kong flick, the characters generally don't use kung fu in their hand-to-hand combat. Rather, the several incidents of fisticuffs are brutal, street-fighting affairs. A brawler might employ a relatively unsophisticated front kick, but mostly they rely on clumsy roundhouse swings and vicious elbows and knees.

Chan makes this contrast obvious by staging his opening exposition around a staged kung fu demonstration. (This choice has the added benefit of injecting a little flashy action into the otherwise mundane introduction of characters and setting.) In a signal of things to come, when one of the fighters accidentally connects with a blow, his outraged sparring partner abandons technique and begins flailing with his fists.

The rejection of kung fu for street fighting also signals the decadence of the Triads. Just as the gangsters shun the discipline of martial arts for a fighting style that is effective mostly due to its straightforward brutality, they are depicted as willing to stoop to any level to make a quick and easy buck. Triad society boasts little glamour in Chan's film.

The 1995 film also displays a slight but understandable anachronism when it refers to the then-upcoming reunion between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Man Wanted doesn't break new ground in terms of story or action, but it's yet another example of Benny Chan spinning an entertaining, action-packed yarn from even a relatively skimpy premise. Fans of Hong Kong cops-versus-Triads flicks will enjoy this well-crafted example of the genre.

Man Wanted is a by-the-numbers cop action/romance movie. There's really nothing new here; some of the action sequences are quite good but the film nearly grinds to a halt with overly-sappy romantic parts that come off as really illogical at times (in terms of plot and character development). The film has sparks of brilliance in certain scenes and feels like it could have been as good some of Benny Chan's other films like Big Bullet -- unfortunately, like many other HK and US crime films, it's the same old situation all over again.