"Purple Storm" is, along with the recent "Beast Cops", one of a new generation of tough, action-thrillers coming out of Hong Kong. Dark in mood, this tension-ridden tale of a terrorist double-cross boils down to an ultimate test of the bond between father and son.
Todd Chow (Daniel Wu) is the son of Khmer Rouge terrorist Kieron. Loyal to the death, he tries to get his hands on an incredibly dangerous chemical weapon so that his father can complete the dream of Year Zero in Cambodia. Injured in the process. he falls into a coma only to awake a total amnesiac in the hands of the police. They convince him that he was a secret agent on a mission to bring Kieron to justice. With the deception complete, Todd is sent out to destroy his father.
Lies, loyalty, and the race to capture the chemical weapon add up to a cracking action-thriller plotline. While it's perhaps slightly overlong, and the pace a little slow, the film is redeemed by its brooding raw mood and by plot twists offering devastating consequences that are fearlessly explored.
Winner of ten awards between the 1999 Golden Horse Film Festival and the 2000 Hong Kong Film Awards, this film also represents an increasing number of technically excellent Hong Kong movies. The styling is immaculate, the plot is tight, the acting less theatrical, and the special effects good. Hollywood should be more worried by the movies exploding out of Hong Kong.
Read a review of the DVD.