Went out of my way to find this film based on a recommendation from a friend who insisted this was one of best kung fu films ever -- this film also pops up in a Google search for top kung fu films.Reviewers notes: 1. Yen will go down in film history as one of the best MA stars. He can not only pull off the gravitas to play IP MAN but he is a natural in these police dramas. Manages to appear stoic but involved at the same time 2. There is a final fight scene over 5 minutes long which is worth the wait. Lots of MMA moves including some pro wrestling moves. Many fans call this "modern" kung fu but is probably the wrong name. Fun anyway 3. Aside from Yen and the final fight -- forgettable

Flash Point was made to be a prequel to SPL: Sha Po Lang, reusing same actors from SPL. Flash Point follows the story of Inspector Ma's feat on capturing the drug dealers, but his operation went wrong when his mole is discovered.It is no doubt that the extreme violence in this film intensified since SPL. Despite being a law enforcer, Inspector Ma neglect the rules by brutally killing one of the drug dealers with his bare hands. Though justice has been held but it's not his verdict to do so.Although, the story is not as enjoyable as SPL. It still shows significant fight scenes of Yen's potential.--Three brothers Archer (Ray Lui), Tony (Collin Chou) and Tiger (Xing Yu) discusses rival gang leader, Sam (Ben Lam), a rival gang leader on a drug deal.While Inspector Ma Jun (Donnie Yen) and a team of police officers, raids the nightclub for investigation, and fights with Wilson (Louis Koo), who is his undercover agent.Soon, the brothers are betrayed and attacked by Sam and his gang who are impatient on receiving the drugs from Vietnam. Archer and his brothers threaten the elder leaders of their gang when they try to intervene. Tiger is assigned to kill Sam in public but Wilson intervenes.At the hospital, Sam agrees to testify in court against the three brothers. On the night of their mother's birthday, the brothers plan to recover their drug loot, but Archer is arrested by the Hong Kong police. This incident make Tony and Tiger realizes Wilson is a mole.While in court, Archer is forced to turn in his travel documents, so that he will not escape from Hong Kong before his hearing. Tony and Tiger brutally murder Sam along with several other witnesses and crime figures who can testify against them to the police investigation.Their initial plan to kill Wilson fails, Tony and Tiger decide to sneak into a hospital guarded by police. Inspector Ma discovers that Tiger, has disguised as a janitor, is within the building and chase after him, they both end up being in the same elevator where Tiger tries to kill Ma with a silenced pistol.They engage in a fight but a unfortunate female police officer was shot by a stray bullet after hesitating to shoot Tiger. Tony kidnapped Wilson's girlfriend, Julie (Fan Bingbing)and threatens to kill her, because Wilson is the last surviving witness.Inspector Ma chases Tiger when he tries to escape and brutally beats him to death in front of a crowd after Tiger severely injures a little girl by throwing her on the concrete. During the court hearing, Wilson refuses to testify, and the case is dismissed for lack of evidence. Wilson attempts to rescue Julie, but is captured by Tony and his gang.Happily Archer walks free but Inspector Ma holds him captive, and calls his brother, Tony, for an exchange of hostages, at a rural Chinese village. Inspector Ma exchanges Tony for Wilson and Julie, while he and Tiger goes across to Tony's side, to take them all down. Wilson drives Julie to a safe point and returns to help Inspector Ma but he got killed during his pursuit with Archer. The final battle ends with Inspector Ma and Tony, with Tony defeated after a long and tough fight.

Donnie Yen is a cop whose pursuit of three Vietnamese criminal brothers comes at a high price – not so much to him as his undercover partner who is run over by the brothers when his cover is blown and then has his flat blown up by them for good measure and then has his girlfriend kidnapped and then is shot. The film's plot is fairly ordinary, but it's enlivened by some stylishly shot set-pieces and, for the most part, an avoidance of the kind of unlikely plot twists or overwrought emotionalising to which many Asian films are prone.The martial arts sequences – which is presumably what attracts most viewers – don't actually take centre stage until the last third of the film, but as you'd expect, they are choreographed with an incredible intricacy of movement. Too often, though, the action is slowed down so that we can see (apparently) fist or foot making contact with face in excruciating detail, leaving the film open to accusations of the glorification of violence. Naturally, those at whom the film is targeted won't give a jot about that

Unlike Sha Po Lang (SPL / "Kill Zone"), Flashpoint lacks the character depth and memorability of its predecessor. The action scenes in Flashpoint are good -- sometimes great -- and something you would expect from the actor and director from SPL. However, there is a lack of the emotional intensity of the previous film.As the characters are never really developed very much, nor are the relationships between them very well explored -- its hard to feel the emotional build up to the finale.In short: a fun film with some good fighting scenes, but a largely forgettable and somewhat implausible plot. If you haven't already, go see Sha Po Lang / SPL / Kill Zone instead.