In the Line of Duty IV
Cynthia Khan again reprises her role as HK policewoman
Inspector Yeung as she teams up with Donnie Yen and Michael Wong in a case
that initially is to track down some drug dealers in Seattle but widens
into a much larger net that implicates the US government in wrong doing.
An incriminating negative accidentally falls into
the hands of a Chinese immigrant and for the rest of the film both the
cops and the bad guys chase after him. After the initial scenes in Seattle,
the action shifts to HK. There really isnt much of a plot basic bad
guys versus the good guys and an innocent man caught in the middle but
there is a twist or two along the way.
What this film is really about is non-stop action
and with Yuen Wo-Ping directing it is very well done. The producers must
have imposed a rule there must be some action at least every five minutes
and sometimes there is not even that much of an interval. Both Donnie and
Cynthia have some absolutely terrific action scenes that allow them to
display their skills and they have some very tough opponents to go up against.
There are so many action scenes here that would
be considered good in most films - but are almost mundane in this one.
That is because the bar is raised so high by a few truly exceptional ones.
The scene with Cynthia fighting on top of, on the side of and nearly beneath
the moving ambulance is great stuff as is her fight in the elevator shaft
against the gweilo blonde female..
Donnie has a few showcase scenes that display
some amazingly quick moves and in an early fight he uses one of his patented
moves in one jump he kicks one guy going up and a second guy while coming
down. Then in the finale, while overlooking the old HK airport he has a
classic match up against muscle man, Michael Woods, that goes on for quite
a while and is quite astonishing in its ferocity.
In fact much of the film has a sense of visceral
in your face action to it that leaves even the winners exhausted and
badly beaten up. Nothing comes easy in this film. Though opinion seems
to be divided upon which is better In the Line of Duty III or IV I
would have to cast my vote for three. This sequel does have more action
but I think the other had a more interesting story and the wonderfully
charismatic brooding presence of Michiko Nishawaki. As good as Donnie is
in his action scenes, I found his character insufferably irritating as
it was suppose to be admittedly and thought the brutal treatment of the
witness/suspect to be a bit farfetched. In any circumstances though, this
would be considered a classic action and girls with guns film.
My rating for this film: 8.0
DVD Information:
Distributed by Universe
The transfer is excellent as it was for ITLOD
III and V.
Letterbox
Trailer
Previews - In the Line of Duty III and V, Yes
Madam
Written information on Yuen Wo-Ping, Cynthia
Khan and Donnie Yen
8 Chapters
Easy to read subs
Subs in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese,
Thai, English, Bahasa Indonesian and Malaysian.