The Film centers on Cheung Sung-pong (Donnie Yen), a seasoned Senior Inspector at his Crime Unit, who has accomplished much success cracking cases in his years on the job.  He testified against a promising young protege gone rogue in Yau Kong-ngo (Nicholas Tse), who had beaten a suspect to death. Yau promises to exact revenge on his mentor and Cheung is left to crack the mystery of who is behind a string of murders among his colleagues. Confident it’s all Yau‘s doing, we are placed in a deadly cat and mouse chase where the mouse is always within reach, but a lethal ticking time bomb.

If you are a fan of Hong Kong Television and Cinema, there is lots to be excited about. Several veterans surface in the Film in Supporting Roles including Simon Yam, Ray Lui, Deep Ng and more.

Clocking-in at over two hours, the stylish Film is satisfying on the action front including a final duel between its two leads – smartly-choreographed, brutal and unforgiving. This is what fans came to see and they get exactly that. Yen particularly is great, while Tse’s performance which is at times good, though lacking the feeling of being lived-in enough to be the imposing threat to Yen‘s Cheung. A side note, Yen has a hand even singing the Film’s Theme Song alongside legend Andy Lau.

Where Raging Fire falls short though is its pacing. The story moves along, and then come frequent flashbacks and a litany of underdeveloped characters which give us history and context between the two lead characters. Perhaps the story could have been told in a more linear way that focused on what truly mattered, the main revenge plot. At times we lose sight of the whys.

Well Go USA Entertainment release RAGING FIRE, in theatres now.

*Please ensure you exercise caution in observing COVID-19 protocols if seeing this in-theatre.*