Purple Storm

Crammed with fights, pyrotechnics and CGI effects, this is a mildly spectacular polit-thriller let down by formula plotting, slack writing and a bathetic ending. Soong (Kam, bleached blond) is a fanatical Khmer Rouge terrorist stranded in Hong Kong with an apocalyptic bio-toxin up his sleeve; his US-educated son Todd (Wu), a key member of his team, is an amnesiac in the hands of cop Ma (Chow) and a psychiatrist (Joan Chen in a cameo, defeated by the script's idea of doctor-speak). The plot hinges on parallel races against time to de-program Todd and decode the CD-ROMs which contain details of Soong's planned strike, a belated fulfilment of Pol Pot's 'Year Zero' project. There's one surprise: a guest spot at the start for mainland director Huang Jianxin as a Khmer Rouge commandant.