The Brink

Year: 2017
Director: Jonathan Li
Cast: Zhang Jin, Shawn Yue, Wu Yue, Gordon Lam, Janice Man, Yasuaki Kurata


Plot: A renegade cop goes all out to apprehend a ruthless smuggler attempting to smuggle gold retrieved from a sunken ship.


Review: The Brink is director Jonathan Li's first feature film, serving mostly as assistant director prior to this. While the film isn't perfect, it shows some promise for sure.

Action star Zhang Jin plays Cheng Sai Gau, a cop who follows his own book when executing his duties. After being freed from suspension following his act of accidentally causing another cop's death, he and his partner A-De (Wu Yue) investigate a case of black market gold being smuggled out of a sunken ship by Jiang (Shawn Yue), whose greed is only matched by his ruthlessness. When Jiang kidnaps A-De, Cheng is forced to use his questionable tactics to stop the former, much to the chagrin of his superior, Chan (Gordon Lam).

As an action film, The Brink scores mostly high points. Li successfully executes and films a handful of creative and hard hitting fight sequences, some taking place in locations we don't normally think of, like an open air parking lot, a wet market and an unstable ship being rocked by a storm. Li's uncanny eye for camera movements during these sequences ought to be commended.

The cast perform competently for the most part. Zhang isn't a great actor but he is quite believable as the rebellious cop Cheng, and excels tremendously in the fight sequences. Yue turns in a cold performance as Jiang, which works well when he's trying to torment someone, but not otherwise. The ever reliable Gordon Lam once again does well as Chan, while his SPL Paradox co-star Wu Yue gets less screen time here as A-De, but still gets a few opportunities to show off his fighting skills. Legendary Japanese actor Yasuaki Kurata gets a supporting role as a gang boss but unfortunately doesn't get to fight here.

While The Brink has the right amount of action, violence and grittiness that is reminiscent of the SPL films, its story and characters deserve more exploration. Cheng's penchant for violence isn't properly explained, and his relationship with a young girl he adopted feels tacked on. Jiang's girlfriend, played by Janice Man, has an undying loyalty towards him, but it's not fully explored either. Even A-De's partnership with Cheng, which seems quite crucial considering the lengths the latter would go to to save him, isn't given the backstory it deserves. If Li had given all these more time, the film would be much improved.

All in all, The Brink is an entertaining action film that gives Zhang Jin an opportunity to be the leading man for the first time, but the story itself could be better overall. (7/10)