The Suspect (1998)

The Suspect's plot centres around a South-East Asian country's elections, in which freshly released murderer Don Lee (Koo) is pulled into the assasination of the leading candidate.

Though he didn't pull the trigger on the rocket launcher (a spectacular scene), he becomes the suspect as the authorities try to get their man. But Don knows who did it, and is weighed down by his relationship to both the killer and the mastermind. This makes for some good action setpieces, good car chases (but nowhere near as good as in Full Alert) and some shattering pyrotechnics.

Set against the current style of filmmaking, it still seemed a little dull, though this may be because it was largely shot outside Hong Kong. However, director Ringo Lam has provided a good, and at times quite dramatic, action movie. A cast has been pulled together that seem comfortable with their roles and very suitable for their parts. Julian Cheung and Simon Yam are suitably cold and, as usual, I'd like to see more of Ada Choi. But I'm quibbling on that one...

Credits:

Director: Ringo Lam
Starring Louis Koo Tin-lok, Julian Cheung, Simon Yam Tat-wa, Ray Lui Leung-wai, Ada Choi Siu-fan