Notable Cast: Jacky Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Karena Lam
Kar-Yan, Liu Yase, Francis Ng, Kenny Kwan Chi-Bun, Carlos Chan Ka-Lok, Michelle
Wai, Ben Yuen Foo-Wah, Michelle Yim
Considering that director Herman Yau has been one of Hong
Kong’s most prolific directors since the early 1990s, it’s fascinating how he
has transformed his career to match what the market is looking for. His most
recent stint combines a love letter to golden-age 1980s HK action and a craving
for Hollywood-style spectacle. He still occasionally slides back to dramatic
thrillers or horror films, but he has mostly stuck to his “guns” in recent
years.
After dropping four (!) large-scale action flicks in 2023,
he’s back with Customs Frontline, which is receiving quite a bit of
international press. Featuring two icons of Hong Kong cinema with Nicholas Tse
and Jacky Cheung, Customs Frontline follows in the footsteps of some of
his previous action blockbusters like The White Storm 3, Moscow
Mission, and Shockwave 2. It’s bigger than life, filled with soapy
melodrama, and brimming with action sequences that border on refreshingly
insane. So, despite a thinly threaded script and characters that feel more like
caricatures than people, it’s hard to deny that Customs Frontline
doesn’t entertain. It does have a giant ass boat tear through other boats and
docks in the neon glow of the Hong Kong skyline. There’s that.
