CUSTOMS FRONTLINE – Review

In CUSTOMS FRONTLINE, Hong Kong delivers plenty of high-octane, large-scale action in this subtitled contemporary cop adventure. The protagonists are the city’s harbor patrol, charged with stopping maritime smuggling. They learn a major international arms dealer that no one in law enforcement has ever seen may be routing heavy-duty weaponry through their waters. The case begins with their boarding an inbound ship with all its crew having been murdered. The retirement benefits for employees in that “industry” seem severely lacking. No union? No perks.

The harbor police teams with reps from Interpol in the pursuit. Our heroes are two guys leading the way. Cheung (Jacky Cheung) is the grizzled veteran. Lai (Nicholas Tse) is his adoring disciple. The story is complex, with scenes occurring in multiple countries, on land and sea, keeping lots of balls in the air, including who is trustworthy among the authorities. We know who the big bad boss is long before the cops do and witness the level of cold cruelty on that side of the crime coin. Many times.

Although Erica Li’s script is above average for the genre with a few surprises along the way, the real stars are director Herman Yau and the horde of stunt and F/X specialists who crafted the sets and choreographed the mayhem. Several sequences are epic in proportion, with a stunning array of shootouts, explosions and crashes while running up an impressive body count. Hong Kong’s sleek, modern architecture and picturesque harbor contrast nicely with the sordid events occurring therein.

Character development is better than most but the action provides more than sufficient reason to watch, and preferably on the largest available screen.

CUSTOMS FRONTLINE, in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese with English subtitles, opens in theaters on Friday, July 19.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars