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Fri/Sat/Sun September 15~17, 2017

(Sept. 15)

TheatersTheatersChina Film CinemaTel: 8661-7199Add: Block A, Building 2, Qushui Bay, OCT Bay, Baishi Road 8, Nanshan District (南山区白石路东8号欢乐海岸园区内的曲水湾2栋A区)

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ScheduleScheduleCurrently playing

Paradox (Cantonese)——————————————War for the Planet of the Apes

(English)——————————————

Dunkirk (English)——————————————

Spiderman: Homecoming(English)

——————————————Gintama (Japanese)

——————————————Valerian and the City of a

Thousand Planets (English)——————————————

Paradox 《杀破狼•贪狼》

Starring: Louis Koo, Gordon Lam, Tony Jaa, Wu Yue, Chris Collins, Ken Low, Vithaya Pansringarm Director: Wilson Yip

Louis Koo in “Paradox.” File photos

POWER, corruption and lies are at the heart of “Paradox,” “Ip Man” director Wilson Yip’s brutal, bloody action thriller that rounds out the extremely loose cops-and-robbers trilogy he started with “SPL” in 2005 and handed over to Cheang Pou-Soi for “SPL 2: A Time for Consequences” in 2015. Reuniting with the legend-ary actor and action choreographer Sammo Hung, alter ego Louis Koo and acrobatic Thai martial arts star Tony Jaa, Yip whips up an effi ciently sleek actioner that knows its comfort zone and doesn’t stray from it. Sur-prising as often as it is conventional, “Paradox” will easily fi nd the same audiences that responded to the fi rst two fi lms, regardless of how unrelated they are, and that should hold for dis-tributors as well.

Like the earlier entries, “Para-dox” trades in bone-crunching fi ght sequences and creative use of its loca-tions — in this case, Thailand’s grimier side — as well as anything Hung and the nimble cast can get their hands on. This can include, but is not limited to, laundry, houseplants, patio furniture and, of course, exotic fruit. Hung’s fi ngerprints are all over “Paradox,” and under his masterful guidance he and Yip have managed the impossible: making Koo look bad.

The story begins with Koo (in full snotty, teary, lip-trembling mode), as Hong Kong cop Lee Chung-Chi, refl ecting on his adorable daughter Wing-Chi, waking up in the morning and recalling a time she bounced into his bed with a video camera. Clearly, disaster looms. After meeting the now-teenaged Wing-Chi (Hanna Chan) and her boyfriend, the news that she “wants to keep the baby” does not go over well. The next time

we see Wing-Chi, it’s when she’s being abducted from the Pattaya waterfront. After a nervous call from a friend, Lee heads down to Thailand, where he inserts himself into the investigation into Wing-Chi’s disappearance. Lee works the case with local cops Chui Kit (Wu Yue, “Police Story: Lockdown”), whose wife is six months pregnant and whose father-in-law is high-rank-ing police inspector Chai (“Only God Forgives”), and the possibly psychic Tak (Jaa).

Yip and writer Jill Leung (“Ip Man 3”) do a leisurely and nearly silent job of laying the foundations of the story and what amounts to its larger con-spiracy. Leung also makes good use of playing with time to uncover some of Lee’s indiscretions (his reaction to Wing’s pregnancy is even worse than we thought), and drops in the heav-ies effortlessly and without disrupting the forward momentum. We know the ailing mayor of Bangkok, his political lackey Cheng Hon-Sau (Gordon Lam), rapist thug cop Ban (Ken Low) and American meat packer Sacha (Chris Collins) — possessed of an endless supply of Panama hats — will all

play a part down the road, so there’s no need to get fancy. There’s also a hooker with a heart of gold (Jacky Cai) for good measure.

The narrative is largely in service of the action, and despite a protracted third act, “Paradox” moves along at a healthy clip, slowing down only to give Lee and Chui time to connect over their shared fatherhood and fi nd a common quest for vengeance. The lurking idea that those with power give not a whit for those without it — and will use it to their benefi t — is underplayed, as is the systemic corruption that gives it life and our collective unwillingness to confront it.

Kenneth Tse’s assured cinematog-raphy toggles between cool blues and steely grays, and vibrant urban color, giving the best sequences — the jack-boots storming in during the fi nal showdown to protect the status quo, moped-hurdling foot chase — room to breathe, and perfectly complements Wong Hoi’s frantic editing during close quarter fi sticuffs.

The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen.

(SD-Agencies)

A poster for “Paradox.”