I loved this action packed film!!! So much action, a lot more than the dialogue. A lot of the film focuses on the relationship between Ho and Don, former police officers. The film also has a focus on Chung, played with excellence by young talent Daniel Wu, who has already made 3-4 films in 2001, and the year isn't even half over yet. The action is awesome, and there is so much gunplay and explosions that is this wasn't a police thriller, it would be a heroic bloodshed. Singer Alex To plays the former cop Don with sheer energy as there are some great moments with him. The film concentrates on the personal lives of the central characters as well as their interconnection of robbery and police action. I think this film is worth watching if you're in the mood for some action.

Daniel Wu plays Chung, the head of a four man police squad responsible for dealing with heavy arms crimes. He finds his team pitted against a highly professional gang of robbers following the violent robbery of a secret triad underground bank which left all the victims dead.

The team of robbers is actually made up of a group of ex-cops whose partner was left crippled and without any compensation to pay for expensive medical bills. Angry at the injustice of the system the group decide to obtain the money needed by stealing it from the triads. Daniel Wu finds himself and his 'Hit Team' pitted against a group of equally professional gunmen.

The idea of two teams competing against each other is quite an interesting premise for an action film and 'Hit Team' certainly has the potential to develop into an all out classic movie but doesn't quite manage it. The key action scenes, while well handled (if a little reminiscent of other films), just seem to hold back from delivering the kind of prolonged manic scenes we've seen in the past. Perhaps this is due to a limitation of budget rather than the director's intention as some scenes in particular do contain some classic moments.

A couple of scenes that stood out for me include a well crafted shoot out between Daniel Wu's team, the robbers and the triad. This was quite reminiscent of the street battle in 'Heat' but obviously on a smaller scale. Another excellent moment comes in a gun fight in a warehouse with protagonists jumping over cars while they shoot at each other (although this did remind me of that warehouse scene that comes in the first hour of Hard Boiled).

The plot is fairly well developed with as much time given to the background of the robbers as it is to Daniel Wu's team which does help to make the audience sympathetic to both sides. There's also some nice character quirks thrown in such as Daniel Wu misguidedly trying to learn to swim from a manual because he was unable to save a previous partner from drowning. Much background is also given to Alex To's character as the leader of the robbers. While he can be ruthless when demanded there is a very human side to his character shown through his relationship with his single parent girlfriend.

I've not seen any of Dante Lam's previous films but on this evidence he certainly has the ability to direct a decent action movie (there has certainly been much praise for 'Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone') and hopefully he will soon be given the chance to do just that.