AllMovie

Chin Kar-lok spins this gritty police drama featuring longtime Hou Hsiao Hsien collaborator Jack Gao Jie. The film opens with soldier Chan Wei-cheng (Gao) demanding justice after his buddy is accidentally killed by his British superior. After several years, the case is stalled in Hong Kong's labyrinthine legal system and Wei-cheng decides to take matters into his own hands. Finding himself in jail, dishonorably discharged from the military, and divorchis ex-wife. Soon after, he starts blackmailing the city with a series of strategically placed pipe bombs throughout the city. Meanwhile, a crew of rookies struggle to crack the case while keeping their private lives under control.