Writer: Tammy Ang

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Watch this if you liked: “The Beast Stalker”, “Sniper”

Director Dante Lam returns after "The Beast Stalker" and "Sniper" with his usual genre, an action-police-thriller in "Fire of Conscience". However, this time it comes with more explosions, more gruesomeness, intense firing, and gun battling scenes that will leave you breathless and thrilled throughout the film.

Heavy with CGI effects, it opens up with a series of time lapse shots of Leon Lai's character, Captain Manfred transforming his clean shaven look to an untidy bearded exterior. Following are the black and white montages containing interconnected moments, where the meaning behind slowly unfolds. One of the best action scenes to look out for is the rivalry between cops and criminals at a common Hong Kong restaurant, where weapons and drug dealings take place. You will see grenades, heavy weapons, and lots of gun battle here.

Viewers will also get to explore a different side to Leon Lai and Ritchie Ren. Despite the usually smart dressed and charismatic Leon Lai, he is instead a disheveled and violent man. Ritchie Ren, who is a sly person in the movie and more deceitful than ever, will make you wonder: "Is that the Ritchie Ren I know?"

As this is a male-oriented movie, female characters are like flower vases with lesser roles, except for being the ones to lead men into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations: Vivian Hsu plays Ritchie Ren's character, Inspector Kee's girlfriend who affected his career; Captain Manfred became aggressive onto his suspects ever since the death of his wife; Wang Baoqiang's character, Huang Yong also resulted in horrific ending for protecting his pregnant wife who's being held hostage.

"Fire Of Conscience" brings back the traditional Hong Kong police film elements such as on-location chase scenes, perilous building escapes, police corruption, a mole in the rank and violent interrogations. But with the inventive style in piecing the stories together, the director managed to make these all contemporary. Some of the dialogues were carefully crafted to hint the corruption and institutional problems, making you think twice on what the characters were trying to imply. Another intriguing element is its unique narrative style that offers clues and flashbacks to keep the audience hooked into the story.

The director's skill in composing action scenes, powerful visuals, explosions, and gun battles are enough to keep you glued to your seat. So, get ready to be exhilarated by this action-packed movie!

Cinema Online, 13 April 2010