Andrew Lau and Corey Yuen are the two directors for The Avenging Fist, and given the two's directorial histories, you would expect this to be something special. And so I applaud them for creating the most dazzling futuristic sci-fi film to come out of Hong Kong, although most of the credit has to be awarded to the CG artists and set-designers. From a Hong Kong film industry point of view; The Avenging Fist is simply stunning.

The beginning intro takes you on a tour of a futuristic metropolis (the film never really tells you the city's name), and immediately, it is apparent that the designers must have been influenced by Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, as it is reminiscent of that film's intro - with cars flying everywhere, huge skyscrapers, a permanent dark skyline, and the usual massive neon billboards, along with the gigantic videoscreen showing adverts, weather and news reports. Plagiarism or homage?

The plot is rather farfetched, and takes a while to comprehend. Basically, humans only use 10% of their brain cells, the other 90% lies dormant. Scientists have tried to tap into this dormant area, known as the "Forbidden Zone", and with the huge advance in genetics, they were successful. One hundred police officers were selected for the experiment, and three "Power Gloves" were created to utilise the "Forbidden Zone". (Didn't Nintendo invent the Power Glove for their NES back in the 80s?)

Three police officers were given the gloves for experimentation: Thunder (Yuen Biao), Dark (Ekin Cheng), and Combat 21 (Roy Cheung). But the gloves also had side-effects, and Combat 21 became a power-hungry megalomaniac. He brainwashed Thunder into helping him destroy the Federal Government, but Dark saves the day.

Twenty years later, and we see Thunder's children, Mega Nova (Wang) and Belle (Yang), enjoy the comforts of life, oblivious of their heritage. Nova has inherited Thunder's self-created "Avenging Fist" technique, and this hothead of a lad has a thirst for fighting. While Belle, the calm, beautiful, and seriously hot babe, has the ability to release heat energy from within herself - again inherited from Thunder. The reason for Nova and Belle's extraordinary powers is that they were also experiments: scientists had used Thunder's sperm to create two advanced human beings, able to tap into the "Forbidden Zone" without the aid of a Power Glove.

Nova, Belle, and their best friend, Jazz (Chin Kar Lok), later meets Iron Surfer (Stephen Fung), a talented fighter, and Erica (Gigi Leung), a pin-up star, who Nova falls in love with. Even though Nova's mum forbids him to use "Avenging Fist" in public, Nova does so anyway, which ultimately leads to Dark and Combat 21 knowing of Nova's existence.

Combat 21 and his Red Dragon Army has returned to the metropolis, and he wants Nova and Belle. Therefore he sends his best agent, the brainwashed Thunder, to get them. Nova's mum dies while fighting Thunder, and Belle is captured, but Nova is rescued by Dark (Sammo Hung).

Dark is now the head of the Police Force, and he explains to Nova his past history, and that of his father. He also tells him that Combat 21 wants "Avenging Fist" above all else, because the combination of the Power Glove and the Avenging Fist would give the user unlimited power.

The rest of the film is fairly predictable as Nova and Iron Surfer tries to save Belle and Thunder, and destroy Combat 21. I'm not going to tell you what happens, as that would really spoil it - needless to say, there are a couple of silly moments, and the ending was crap as well.

So, as I said in the beginning, this film has to be applauded for its style, and some of the special effects are quite good - not on par with Hollywood, but good nonetheless. The fight scenes were fun to watch, especially during the first half of the film (if you ever thought what a live-action Tekken, Soul Calibur, or Dead or Alive would look like, then look no further), but by the end, it just gets a bit silly, and what's the point of watching three people flying around the city shooting lightning bolts at each other?

There were a number of cool ideas in the film, although not innovative by any means. The Cyber Bike - a cross between a moped and a skateboard, is quite cool, but unfortunately, looks a bit fake during the flying scenes. I also like the fully immersible 3D holographical program, but that has been done before in Star Trek: The Next Gen. Another favourite idea is the literally "hands-on" mobile phone: you have two metallic rings on your thumb and little finger, place them in relative position to your ear and mouth, and just say out the phone number and it rings it for you. If someone calls you, your hand would vibrate. Talk about coolness. However, would it be technically feasible in real life?

There are plenty of homages (or plagiarisms) throughout the film. Most notably are Blade Runner, Fifth Element, Streetfighter and Star Wars. The style and structure are very much evident from Blade Runner and the Fifth Element, but I thought storywise, they had taken a leaf out of both Streefighter (awful) and Star Wars (classic). Other filmgoers may not have noticed, but as I am a film fan, I notice these things.
1st, Combat 21 reminds me of General Byson (hell, they even dress the same), and he too creates a mutant monster. Combat 21 is also like Emperor Palpatine, brainwashing his friend into becoming his slave and killer instrument.
2nd, Thunder is like Darth Vader, with even a mask to hide his features. He has a son and daughter, both hidden from him over the years by his wife.
3rd, Dark is Obi Wan, giving Nova the Power Glove which belonged to his father (substitute with lightsabre).
4th, Belle falls in love with Iron Surfer, a streetwise rogue, who gets himself encased in frozen carbonite (or whatever) trying to save her. She rescues him.
5th, Nova is saved by the sudden awakening of Thunder, who later dies from his wounds.

If all of these were just a coincidence, then damn me for being so pedantic. Nevertheless, Avenging Fist is an enjoyable film, with some great set-pieces and fast action to please the audience. Just don't expect Blade Runner's quality. There are a lot of flaws in the film, especially as the second half certainly fails to live up to the first half, but I am not going to criticise the film for that, because the film has exceeded my expectations of what the HK film industry can do so far. If they continue to make films of this calibre, coupled with a good script and plot (and better casting), then maybe there is a rosy future to look forward to.