Thunder Cops 2: Quick Takes

This one gets complicated already at the title stage. A sequel in name only to Jeff Lau's horror-comedy Thunder Cops (an effort that in itself was a sequel to Lau's Operation Pink Squad), supposedly it was made to cash in on title and its lead Sandra Ng. Throwing out almost all comedy and horror to instead bring us a downbeat vigilante actioner, Lau's handling is rough and routinely plotted in several ways. However, despite being more or less the queen of comedy at this time, Sandra Ng goes down admirable dramatic roads as an actress for this one, something that would develop into something greater during the latter half of the 90s. Yuen Chueng Yan's action directing is also gritty and brutal (the stair shoot-out is a stylish piece of work in the 80s Hong Kong cinema tradition) and possibly employed due to the impact Tiger Cage made. Finally, the movie features a slight comedic supporting turn by Stephen Chow, before his stardom, as Ng's informant. Also with Shing Fui-On. Sunny Fang, Ann Bridgewater, Woo Fung, Eddy Ko and Jeff Lau.