Most Wong Jing movies are difficult to quantify, they have tones that go from 0 to 100 within the same scene with a flair for inventive action, High Risk is no exception to this rule. Parodying Hollywood action vehicles Die Hard and, to a lesser extent, Speed, High Risk is far from a shallow and shabby clone, at least when the nonsense backs off and Jet Li is allowed to get down to business and do what he does best, kick arse. Jing's camerawork has a visceral urgency and there's a particularly brutal edge to the violence (this is the movie that blows up a busload of innocent school children in its opening scene after all), Jing wants to show whenever possible that these characters are getting hurt and when it's not possible does stuff to dummies that are beyond descriptions. It's all highly enjoyable stuff with a great musical score to boot, but, where this movie falls apart is Jing's relentless send-up of Jackie Chan, played by Jacky Cheung (go figure), which ultimately feels childish and out of place in the stronger aspects of this movie.
Review of High Risk
