Director: Gordon Chan
Starring Aaron Kwok, Daniel Wu, Gigi Choi, Phyllis Quek, Ray Lui, Francis Ng, Andrew Lien, Ken Lo and Tony Ho (cameo)
Singapore has a terrific air force. And the Island State is prepared should traditional warfare break out in the region. But local military chiefs know they're lagging when it comes to cyber terrorism - the hacker-driven down-the-dialer warfare of the future. So they've set up the Information Warfare Unit (a name more palatable to the public than Computer Warfare Unit) to get the ball rolling. When a jetliner crashes, killing the heads of technology firm TDX on board, authorities on both sides of the Pacific suspect a hi-techy spy ring is up to no good. The Singaporean Unit is in business. And the action is starting in Hong Kong.
Here in the HKSAR, TDX staffer Greg (Ray Lui) is suspected in the incident and the folks at Division D of the Government Security Unit take him in. The CIA and US consular people seem in on things but all is left unexplained as Greg is soon riddled with armour-piercing bullets and has all his computer data wiped. Greg's computer gamer brother Peter (Aaron Kwok) finds he isn't getting the full story on his brother's death and decides to find out for himself with the help of mates Benny (Daniel Wu) and Janet (Gigi Choi), and a couple of new arrivals from Singapore. A dapper hand at gunplay (that computer game experience comes in handy) he sets about finding the right answers in first Hong Kong and then Singapore and foils cyber terrorist plots along the way.
As far as the casting goes, Aaron Kwok plays his small, nerdy character so amiably that you're hard-pressed vouching that he's a superstar. And co-stars Daniel Wu and Gigi Choi do their bits agreeably enough. But they pale against Francis Ng's standout screentime as head cop Ronald Ng. Instead of his usual intense performance Ng plays it cool and restrained, spinning out the most memorable lines of the movie in the process - listen for them. The cast keeps with the general sense of fun in the script (outside the remarkably bloody sniper scene). Side characters in the punchy plot are lighthearted; from Singaporean cops who let their cars get stolen, to idiot hackers who just can't resist hacking too soon. This feel goes a little too far with the Singaporean military forces being run by a buffoon, but that doesn't detract from the laid-back fun factor on offer in 2000AD.
A Singapore-Hong Kong joint effort, 2000AD is clearly directed toward a wider, more international audience. But while it's certainly international in its scope, director Chan doesn't alienate his film from its urban Hong Kong setting during the first half. The streets are well used for some surprising sniper carnage and the Mid-Levels escalator comes in handy as an escape route. Even indoor scenes are shot with large spans of glass admitting views of the city as a backdrop. Perhaps this sounds pernickety, but if viewed parallel to Benny Chan's Gen-X Cops last year (which featured Hong Kong's backwaters, aerial shots filmed abroad and too few downtown scenes) the sense of location in 2000AD is much clearer. I appreciate seeing this. And in the case of 2000AD, it considerably heightened my viewing experience.
![[ billboard image ]](../pictures/2000adbill.jpg)
The Astor Classics' 2000AD painted billboard. This and the Tokyo Raiders billboard around the corner were the last billboards at the cinema before it closed.