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Edmund Lee

3.5/5 stars
Yet another Hong Kong landmark is spectacularly blown up around Andy Lau Tak-wah in this thematic sequel to Herman Yau Lai-to’s 2017 action blockbuster. Released in mainland China over the Christmas period with much fanfare – while local cinemas were closed by the government’s lockdown measures – Shock Wave 2 should easily satisfy aficionados of the city’s fabled police thriller tradition.
The movie revolves around Poon Shing-fung (Lau), who had been an elite member of the Hong Kong Police Force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau alongside his buddy Tung Cheuk-man (Lau Ching-wan) until five years ago. It all changed when the bomb disposal expert lost his left leg in a mission, was denied reinstatement to his frontline position, and became a social outcast harbouring extremist views.
Fast-forward to the present, and the city is gripped by a new wave of lone-wolf bombings that are all seemingly linked to Vendetta, an underground terrorist group led by the anarchist Ma Sai-kwan (Tse Kwan-ho). When Poon is found at the scene of the latest attack, he becomes the prime suspect. The fact that Vendetta swiftly sends its armed soldiers to free him from custody appears to confirm the suspicion.


Just when the entire police force is out to catch the fugitive, however, Pong Ling (Ni Ni), Fung’s ex-girlfriend and chief inspector of the police’s Counter Terrorism Response Unit, shows up to convince Poon that he is instead an undercover policeman on a secret mission to halt Vendetta’s plans of mass destruction. And so Poon, suffering from memory loss caused by the latest explosion, listens to her.
Although Shock Wave 2 proves a taut and often exciting watch, the screenplay written by Yau alongside regular collaborators Erica Li Man and Eric Lee Sing doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. While the motivation of Vendetta is arbitrary to a fault, the good-guy-turns-bad-then-comes-good-again trajectory of Andy Lau’s character would look bizarre to everyone – except, apparently, the Chinese film censors.

Still, there is so much here for genre fans to savour, it’s easy to look beyond the overwrought story. Shock Wave 2 races through bomb disposals, a manhunt and multiple shoot-outs in public places, suspenseful undercover action, and an explosive finale to match the first film’s. Yau does not do subtle; indeed, he blows up the Hong Kong International Airport with nuclear bombs in the very first scene – just to show us the hypothetical scenario of how it would look like.
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Andy Lau plays an ex bomb disposal expert who becomes a suspect in an explosion
The plot is patchy, but there’s no shortage of action, up to the nuclear bombing of Hong Kong International Airport 



Andy Lau plays bomb disposal expert turned suspected terrorist in this taut and exciting police thriller. The plot may be bizarre, but there’s no shortage of action, including Hong Kong International Airport getting nuked.


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An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


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Review | Shock Wave 2 movie review: Andy Lau plays another bomb disposal expert in Herman Yau’s explosive action sequel

Andy Lau plays an ex bomb disposal expert who becomes a suspect in an explosion The plot is patchy, but there’s no shortage of action, up to the nuclear bombing of Hong Kong International Airport

Andy Lau plays an ex bomb disposal expert who becomes a suspect in an explosion

The plot is patchy, but there’s no shortage of action, up to the nuclear bombing of Hong Kong International Airport