Into this volatile situation comes merciful hero, Chiu (The Black Sheep Affair) Cheuk, whose nephew is one of the hostages, but who - without explanation - sides with the distraught former soldier by snatching much wanted kid from the custody of his extremely wealthy but irredeemably corrupt father, and trying to reunite the boy with the man who had been bringing him up as his own. What follows is a succession of intricately arranged fights on a train and a ferry boat, in offices, on rooftops and various street locations, displaying Cheuk's astounding kung fu skills. There are car chases, some elaborately staged gunplay, witty nick-of-time escapes and plenty of energetic, but rarely brutal, unarmed combat.

One of the more disquieting aspects of this movie's slender plot is that moral certainty takes immediate and overriding precedence over conventional wisdom and legality. Cheuk looks Wong in the eye just before the main action starts and recognises an essentially good man despite his outrageous lawbreaking, and dire threats to all those little kids. In most American films, Wong's character would have had to die in a hail of police bullets for aiming a gun at Cheuk's nephew's head. In Fist Power, he's a simple but righteous warrior protesting in the only manner left open to him against the callous egotism of the rich, and an unjust system. He's like the dark side of 'Rambo' - caught up in a battle he cannot win. Still, as you'd expect, the philosophical subtext isn't what makes Fist Power so stunning. This is an admirable combination of comedy, glamorous stunt work, and frequently impressive martial arts prowess that will satisfy even the most demanding Hong Kong fu fan...

Now, I'm assuming "Fist Power" is supposed to be some sort of thriller, or at least that's how it starts. Anthony Wong ("Hard Boiled") plays Chau, a retired army officer whose stepson is being taken back by his opportunistic ex-wife and the child's real father. They hope the child will boost their chances at getting a billion-dollar inheritance. In other words, they're the bad guys. When official channels don't do him any good, he does what any desperate parent would do... he takes over his son's school and holds it hostage, demanding the return of his son or it's curtains.

Determined to stop him is Cheuk (Zhao), whose nephew is a student at the school. Accompanied by a nosy tabloid reporter and Chau's brother-in-law, Cheuk races to retrieve the tyke. Of course, the kid's father is a bit of a nogoodnik, and puts all sorts of obstacles and traps in his path. Essentially, this translates to one inane, awkward fight sequence after another. Thankfully, Cheuk just so happens to be the top security advisor in the country; something made painfully obvious when he's able to defeat a whole skyscraper teeming with security guards in 10 minutes.

Now, the reason I assume that "Fist Power" was supposed to be a thriller is that it certainly goes out of its way to be anything but. Somewhere along the way, I think they lost the script, and just decided to wing it. That's the only thing that might explain what ended up on that DVD.

Humor is often a mixed bag in martial arts movies, but here is just downright dumb. If we don't see Cheuk's reactions to sitting down too hard on a bicycle seat, there are the cartoonish actions of Chau's brother-in-law, and the various hijinks of Cheuk's own family. For example, that nosy reporter mentioned earlier just so happens to be a girl that Cheuk's family is trying to set him up with. Let the hilarity ensue! And if that's not enough, it turns out his family is a bunch of martial arts masters... something that comes in surprisingly handy in the film's final minutes (please note the sarcasm there).

And what's with the cute little kids?!? Personally, I'm this close to proposing a ban on all cute little kids in kung fu movies. They're never cute, and all they ever seem to do is get into trouble, fall into disturbing situations (I don't know what's with the scene involving hiding the kid under the woman's dress), or they cry. The only exception to this is Miu Tse, who played Jet Li's son in "New Legend Of Shaolin" and "My Father Is A Hero", but even that's pushing it.

And while I'm on a rampage, can I just go off on the inane moral lessons that seem dished out with every fight scene. I call them "inane" because the movie obviously doesn't take them seriously. One minute, Zhao is lecturing security guards on the problems of violence, the next he's electrocuting people. If the movie's so "anti-violent", than I don't understand why gangsters bashing the brother-in-law's head in with aluminum bats or the reporter cold-cocking someone is played for cheap laughs. And that's not all... this movie's got opinions on the news media, Hong Kong bureaucracies, and class warfare! Just don't expect any of them to be worth taking seriously.

Finally, there are the performances. Only one is noteworthy, that of Anthony Wong. His understated performance feels woefully out of place (probably because it actually has depth and nuance) when compared to everyone else. As the other "star" of the movie, Zhao has nothing going for him, charisma-wise. He looks like that guy that's always plays "Fight Extra #3" who has suddenly been given a starring role. His wushu skills seem formidable, but I really couldn't tell since crappy editing and choreography resulted in fight scenes that looked like nothing more than a bunch of jump cuts and flying props.

"Fist Power". What a horrible name for this movie. That implies something hard-hitting, something with some "oomph" behind it. This movie, whatever it's real title should be, falls flat in every single way. I could go on and on about how crappy this movie is, but I'd end up repeating myself. Stay far away from this one, even if you're looking for something "so bad it's good". It won't even meet those high standards.

Fist Power feels like it could have been a good movie, kind of like Die Hard or High Risk. Anthony Wong and Zhao Wen-Zhuo have done solid work in the past, and Wong Jing is the king of the low-budget action film in Hong Kong -- even if his scripts aren't all that good, he usually surrounds himself with good enough workers that you don't notice the shortcomings. However, the movie really falls apart in its' execution.

For starters, Anthony Wong once again does one of his "phone-in" roles. He generates next to no excitement. It's hard to root against a villain when it looks like he might fall asleep at any given moment. The other actors don't fare much better. It might be a case of a bad script (the stuff in here is pretty generic), but I think most of the fault lies in Aman Chang's lackluster direction. There is absolutely no tension at all in the movie, and for one where there is a time limit to everything (Wong threatens to blow up the school if his son isn't delivered by a certain time), that spells death. The movie follows a simple pattern of a bit of exposition followed by action -- wash, rinse and repeat for 90 minutes, and you have a good idea of what Fist Power is like, but Chang fails to make even this simple formula work.

It would have helped matters immensely if the action in Fist Power was good, but sadly, it's not. Once again, Zhao Wen-Zhuo's talents are put to waste, this time by bad camerawork and editing. Everything is shot too close up and edited much too quickly. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "MTV-style" editing really has no place in action movies except to annoy the viewer. Hell, even US-produced movies like Rush Hour, even though the action is lackluster, seem to grasp the importance of editing. There are a few good scenes, such as a car chase through Hong Kong, a fight with Zhao going against a femme fatale, and a nice bit near the end with Chang Pei-Pei and Law Kar-Wing (who play Zhao's parents) helping out sonny.

However, most of the action is dull and underwhelming. Almost every fight is Zhao taking on a group of generic guys. It gets old real quick -- just like the rest of the movie. While Fist Power isn't the worst movie ever, it may be one of the most annoying. No, I'm not talking about the precocious brats feeatured in here (even though they did have me reaching for the "mute" button), rather the total waste of talent. Wong Jing is known for his "flying paper" style -- working without a script -- but this is ridiculous. I've come to expect half-ass performances from Anthony Wong, but Zhao Wen-Zhuo looks as if he was really trying to do something with what little he had to work with. I hope he can find better material in the future, because he is talented and deserves to work on better films than this.

Anthony Wong stars as Charles, an ex British para locked in a custody battle for his adopted son Dong Dong. When Dong Dong is taken away by his biological father Chui (the wonderfully villainous Jimmy Lee from God of Gamblers), a triad boss, Charles takes a class of school children hostage and demands to have his son returned to him. The story may have seemed rather unbelievable until the events in Luxembourg a few weeks ago.

Chui Man Cheuk plays Brian Cheuk, a security expert whose nephew is one of the hostages. Desperate to save his nephew he sets off to bring Dong Dong to the school. This puts him into direct conflict with Chui who has other plans as his inheritance depends on him proving to his father in USA that he has a son. Chui sends all his men to stop Brian at all costs. What follows is an explosive mix of fighting and car chases as Brian tries to fulfill his mission.

The fight choreography is fantastic and some of the best I've seen for a while. The scene where the character Brian Cheuk is introduced is especially ferocious with Chui Man Cheuk taking on a whole army of baton wielding security guards. Although nothing else in the film manages to quite match the opener there are still plenty of excellent fight sequences. Another standout comes near the end when the villain's gwailo champion makes an appearance.

While the story line isn't too involved it doesn't really matter for this type of movie which is just pure entertainment. It's not completely without moments where you have to suspend your belief in reality but it is a Hong Kong movie after all and there certainly isn't anything here to compare with the ridiculous plot twists of Black Sheep Affair.

In a movie like this the acting really comes second in consideration to the fight action but the performances aren't bad at all. Chui Man Cheuk does a pretty decent job, Anthony Wong is as solid as ever and Sam Lee adds a comedic element. The movie is also helped through stylish camerawork and an effective music score.

Hopefully this is the start of a turnaround for Chui Man Cheuk, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.