Cold War
Longman Leung, Sunny Luk
The story: An explosion goes off in a bustling part of Hong Kong. A fully equipped police van disappears. Rattled, the law enforcers launch operation Cold War and rival deputy commissioners Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) and Waise Lee (Tony Leung Ka Fai) fight to take charge. At stake are the lives of the cop hostages, the force’s reputation and the powerful post of police commissioner.

Cold war refers to the operation to recover the hostages and the van as well as to the battle for power between rival deputy police commissioners.
From the get-go, first-time writer-directors Longman Leung and Sunny Luk ratchet up the tension with choice pacing and plenty of questions.
Who is behind the disappearance of the van? Why is it timed to coincide with the absence of the police commissioner? Why are Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok) and Waise Lee (Tony Leung Ka Fai) such bitter enemies?
Beyond the deputies’ jockeying for power, there seems to be a long-standing rivalry fuelling their animosity. Actually, rather than a cold war, it is more like an open battle between the two.
At first, Waise seems to gain the upper hand by quickly usurping command. Then Sean makes his move in a showdown that makes the two men look like rival gang leaders rather than fellow cops.
Leung sinks his teeth into the showier role of the brash Waise, keeping one guessing as to whether he is an insufferable good guy or a devious bad cop.
Despite his two Golden Horse trophies for Best Actor, Kwok does not quite have the chops to go against Leung mano-a-mano.
Also, Sean feels like a more passive, put-upon character. The viewer’s sympathy is more clearly steered towards him which also means there is no intriguing question mark hanging over him.
The film-makers also hold your attention with competently staged action sequences including a drawn-out scene of Sean following instructions to hand over the ransom money and a final showdown complete with firepower and fireworks.
Apart from the veterans, including Charlie Young as a feisty public relations officer for the police, a newer generation of actors add to the star power.
Aarif Rahman (Bruce Lee, My Brother, 2010) is Billy Cheung, a dogged investigator looking into operation Cold War after its conclusion. And the busy Eddie Peng (Love, Taichi 0 and Taichi Hero, 2012) has a small but pivotal role as Waise’s son, who is also one of the police officers in the van.
The investigation part feels less satisfying, like a tacked-on extended postscript to the main event, its chief purpose being to pave the way for an ending which screams “To be continued”.
Watch out for the scene in which Waise is interrogated. The wily old fox schools the wet-behind- the-ears Billy in the rules of the game and it is Leung’s masterclass in acting.
It seems that Cold War fancies itself this year’s Infernal Affairs (2002), what with conspiracy theories and talk of there being a police mole. It certainly opens the door to that connection with Infernal Affairs star Andy Lau having a guest turn here as the territory’s Secretary for Security.
Cold War does not quite reach those heights but it does generate quite a bit of heat, thanks to a riveting Tony Leung.
(ST)