Sky On Fire (2016) - A Review

 

This is not an accurate representation of the movie!

Sky On Fire is an action movie released in Hong Kong in 2016, and stars Daniel Wu, Joseph Chang Hsiau-Chuen, Amber Kuo Tsai-Chieh, Zhang Jing-Chu, Zhang Ruo-Yun, and Fan Kuang-Yao. The movie was written (along with Sam Chak-Foon and Shen Shi-Qi) and directed by Ringo Lam, with action choreography by Cheung Bing-Chuen. Sky On Fire is Ringo Lam's final film.

Daniel Wu plays a hero who has to make a tough choice.

In Sky On Fire, Daniel Wu plays Tin Bo, the chief security officer (and mourning the death of his wife) at Sky One, a top-secret medical facility in Hong Kong. The top scientists at Sky One, Tang (played by Fan Kuang-Yao) and Ko Yu (played by the incredible Zhang Jing-Chu), (who are also husband and wife) have found a way to use stem cells to cure cancer. Tang is driven by money, Ko Yu is driven by helping people. As you can imagine, their relationship is strained.

Brother and sister getting in over their heads. They really care about each other.

Jia (played by Joseph Chang Hsiau-Chuen) has only one person in his life that he cares about, his little sister Jane (played by Amber Kuo Tsai-Chieh). Unfortunately, Jane has a very rare cancer that is in the end stage. Jia is desperate for help, and the only way she can get treated is by going to a special medical facility. After being rejected from being seen by a doctor there, they stumble onto a robbery of a truck full of the stem cells being used to cure cancer! They somehow get into the truck being stolen, along with one of the robbers, Zi Wan (played by Zhang Ruo-Yun), with Tin Bo and his security troop in pursuit.

We later find out Zi Wan's father was in charge of the research done on those stem cells, and that his father died in a fire. Zi Wan wants revenge on Sky One for this. All Jia cares about is getting his sister the treatment she needs. They work together to get her the treatment, with Tin Bo having to make a choice on who to work for: Tang or Ko Yu. Let's just say, there is a final showdown at Sky One...

Sky On Fire is Ringo Lam's last movie before he passed away, and it is the last movie in his "On Fire" series. This movie is...just okay. The action is good, the movie looks slick and cool, but the story is lacking a bit. The whole story is given out slowly throughout the movie, during flashbacks and explanations. Which is fine, but there is still a lot that is not explained. Things just happen all of a sudden sometimes. It does make the movie kind of hard to follow. Despite that, it kept my interest throughout. You do care about Jane, and hope that she gets the treatment she needs. Daniel Wu is a stoic hero who has to choose between helping those in need or following his boss's orders. Joseph Chang Hsiau-Chuen as Jia is great as the selfless brother. Of course, Zhang Jing-Chu kills it as the heartbroken scientist who just wants to help people. Great actors in this movie, the story is just lacking in depth.

The action is very good in this one!

The action in this movie is pretty good. There is one major fight scene in this. Daniel Wu takes on Li Hai-Tao in a close-quarters fight. The choreography is good, but they can't really go all out in the small space they are fighting in. Still, it's an enjoyable fight. The rest of the action is car chases, gun battles, and explosions. The vehicle action is good, with some cool crashes. The gunplay is good, too. I will say, there is a lot of CGI/camera tricks in the action scenes. It's fine, because it is safer for the actors and stuntmen, but it is very noticeable.

So, should you watch Sky On Fire? If you are a Hong Kong movie purist, and want to see the legendary Ringo Lam's final movie, or you just want to watch a fun action movie, I say yes. Otherwise, it's just an above average action movie. If you're looking for something deeper, you may be disappointed. I liked it for what it was, but this is not one of Ringo Lam's best. The actors and action are great in this, but as I said before, the story is a bit lacking in detail. I do actually want to watch this again, though!

Reviewed by David Williams