City on Fire – Review

Chan Kam-Wah walks through a marketplace and asks a storefront to use their phone. He calls for Inspector Lau Ting-Kwong (Sun), just before a thug comes up to him. Chan is undercover, but three assailants have figured this out, and murder him violently. A rough start for the cops.

Inspector Lau hits the scene and is caught up to speed by officers. Witnesses are providing no tangible evidence and are protecting themselves. Lau asks for Ko Chow (Yung-Fat), another undercover operative. Chow is currently out dining with pals in Boss Kui’s turf. He spots hottie Hung (Ng) who is being chatted up by a man willing to leave his wife for her. Chow slides over and shoos off this stooge while trying to make moves on the disinterested Hung. They clearly have a past, but things aren’t jiving tonight. As Chow looks to leave, an elevator’s worth of cops arrest him.

These cops aim to keep his cover intact as they take him to Inspector Lau, who looks to use him to solve Chan Kam-Wah’s murder. Chow knew Kam-Wah’s street reputation, but not that he had also been a cop investigating a jewelry thief organization. Will Chow have any better luck, or will he wind up in the same crosshairs? As robberies get bolder, will police be able to slow them down at all?

City on Fire is a solid story setup with some good actors and decent action. It deals with morals and ethics when it comes to undercover agents, and who may get hurt along the way. The criminals are very bad guys, but the cops have to reconcile with what they are willing to do to take them down.

It is a serious flick which is aptly shot and has some good characterizations along with the decent plotlines and complications. Fans of crime and Hong Kong actioners will find plenty here to enjoy. There is a bit of offbeat humor when it comes to the romance angles, but mostly it remains a sober affair.

This film was also a large inspirational piece for Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.