Shock Wave is a quite intense action-thriller starring Hong Kong star actor Andy Lau. It tells the story of an undercover police officers who arrests the brother of a ruthless terrorist who is specialized in using explosives. About a year later, the terrorist has specialized in drug trade but is obsessed with getting his revenge. He kills one of the commanders in charge of his brother's arrest a year ago by making his car explode. The undercover cop who has a successful career, is respected by his peers and has met a teacher who has become his girlfriend over the past twelve months, realizes that the terrorist will challenge him to get his revenge. A series of bombs are found in Hong Kong and it becomes more and more difficult to dismantle them for the protagonist. However, nobody is prepared for the terrorist's magnum opus: he kidnaps hundreds of civilians by blocking the exits of a tunnel with two trucks filed with explosives. His goal is to discredit the Hong Kong police corps, make money with a ruthless businessman and reunite with his imprisoned brother. The undercover terrorist must try to deal very carefully with the excitable terrorist in order to save as many civilians as possible.
There are numerous elements I liked about Shock Wave. The film has vivid pace and is entertaining from start to finish. The acting performances are great as Andy Lau convinces as calm and rational police officers while Wu Jiang delivers the goods as clever and pitiless terrorist. The action scenes in the film are always dramatic and intense. The special effects look great. The settings in Hong Kong are also quite interesting and especially the scenes in the tunnel make for a claustrophobic atmosphere. The film has a few nice ideas that keep it original such as the terrorist's brother who has found religion and unexpectedly doesn't cooperate with the dangerous terrorist. I also liked the movie's unusual ending which distinguishes it from similar movies where an honest officer is challenged by a pitiless terrorist. One wouldn't see such a resolution in an ordinary Hollywood flick.
On the other side, the movie also has a few minor flaws. The story is quite predictable which makes the film lose momentum and tension. The relationship between the honest police officer and the emotionally unstable teacher isn't credible at all as the police officer has the charisma of an iceberg while his love interest seems to be constantly discouraged.
Overall, Shock Wave is a quite good action-thriller that will entertain you from start to finish. It makes me think of the Die Hard series and similar franchises but since these movie have been mostly disappointing recently, it only makes sense to look for something similar but more convincing produced in Hong Kong with its know-how of spectacular action cinema.
