Not a bad modern day Hong Kong action thriller. When I saw the involvement of the Chinese mainland I worried a little, but this feels much more like a Hong Kong film rather than Chinese one. The emphasis is on the story rather than pure action and constant special effects, although there are plenty of the latter too. By turns police procedural, by turns a DIE HARD-style hostage drama, this has nods to THE HURT LOCKER et al but has enough of its own style and flavour to work. It's nice to see that Andy Lau still impresses as a charismatic hero after all these years, although some of the supporting players are less well assured. An unconnected sequel followed three years later.

I had the chance to sit down and watch "Chai Dan Zhuan Jia" (aka "Shock Wave") and must admit that it was nice to be in the presence of the gracious Andy Lau once more. I had not even heard of the movie prior to finding it. But seeing that this was a Hong Kong movie and it had Andy Lau in the lead, I needed no encouragement to pick it up and watch it.

While the storyline in "Shock Wave" is nothing that haven't been seen already, then it was still a very enjoyable movie. Especially so since I used to live in Hong Kong, so it was particularly thrilling to see the Cross Harbour Tunnel being the focal point of the movie. However, the storyline was rather streamlined, and there were no shock moments or surprises along the way, well aside from the ending - which I am not going to give away. But it was a story that headed straight ahead at 200 mph without any turns or climbs.

The acting in the movie was good, but then again Andy Lau is such a skilled actor that he masters many different genres, and he is no stranger to action movies. So it was no surprise that he carried this movie quite well. The characters in the movie were nicely detailed, and brought to life by an ensemble of different talents that each brought their own touch to the movie.

There is a good amount of action in the movie, and that is supplemented by character build and interaction. So that made for a very wholesome movie experience.

The downside to "Shock Wave" was its predictability. You saw things coming a mile away. But being able to look past that, then the movie was good entertainment and definitely a movie I would recommend that you take the time to watch if you enjoy Asian cinema.

The film features some incredible action sequences and also a few very tense moments. A great premise convincingly executed thanks to believable acting and an experienced director. The humor was kept to a minimum, making the film an effective nail-biter.