SPL: Paradox

Year: 2017
Director: Wilson Yip
Cast: Louis Koo, Wu Yue, Gordon Lam, Chris Collins, Hanna Chan, Jacky Cai, Tony Jaa, Ken Lo


Plot: When his daughter is kidnapped in Pattaya, a Hong Kong cop travels there and teams up with a Chinese born local cop to find her.


Review: Paradox is the third entry in the SPL anthology of films, which began with Donnie Yen, followed by Wu Jing and Tony Jaa as the heroes, and now Louis Koo and Wu Yue in those roles.

Koo plays Lee, a Hong Kong cop who raised his teenage daughter by himself after his wife's death in a car accident. When she travels to Pattaya and subsequently gets kidnapped by an organ trafficking ring, Lee heads there and joins forces with Chui, a Chinese born local cop, (himself an expecting father) to find her. But their investigation is hampered by interference from someone in the higher ranks of the police department, who is in the pocket of the mayor's assistant. The mayor is in dire need of a heart transplant, and Lee's daughter is a candidate for an involuntary donation.

From the way this movie was filmed, and the fact that organ trafficking is once again the chosen subject matter (SPL II covered the same crime), one has to believe that director Wilson Yip wants to highlight the seriousness of this issue, and to that end he succeeds. This is a despicable crime that goes from the ruthless criminals running the syndicate, to people in power that are willing to abuse that power to keep it going smoothly. Yip shows all of that in a gritty, no holds barred manner, focusing more on the violence than the action that the film keeps marketing.

Koo does well as the desperate dad who is willing to overturn every stone in Pattaya to find his only child. Wu is also equally commendable as the expecting father who tries to uphold the law while helping Koo in his quest. Gordon Lam plays the cold mannered, goal driven mayor's assistant to perfection, though he isn't really the film's main villain. That role belongs to Chris Collins, who although fights very well, isn't quite a convincing actor. Tony Jaa unfortunately only gets a brief appearance here as Wu's partner, though he manages to squeeze in one solid fight sequence with Collins, so if you're a fan of Jaa, you might be a bit bummed like I was.

Sammo Hung, the man himself, did a splendid job in choreographing the fight sequences, even managing to make Koo (an actor not well versed in fighting) look good. Granted, Koo's style is mostly grounded, while Wu is given the more complicated sequences with Collins, but bottom line is Hung has done a great job here.

The only issues I have with the film are a couple of scenes that didn't quite make sense, and Jaa's brief appearance (along with his precognitive ability which is not explained). Otherwise, Yip deserves credit for tackling this subject matter and not sugarcoating the outcome.

Overall, SPL: Paradox is a commendable action thriller worth checking out. (7.5/10)