The last time we have an ICAC-themed crime thriller was not one but three horrendous Storm <風暴> movies directed by David Lam. Even Wong Jing’s star-studded I Corrupt All Cops <金錢帝國> (2009) and David Lam’s First Shot <廉政第一擊> (1993) could only muster a mildly entertaining piece of work. Which is why Integrity <廉政風雲 煙幕> sounds as if we finally get the ICAC movie that we truly deserved, given the calibre of its all-star cast led by Lau Ching-Wan and Nick Cheung. And most of all, it was spearheaded by acclaimed writer and director Alan Mak, best known for his works in Infernal Affairs <無間道> and Overheard <竊聽風雲> trilogies.
Integrity <廉政風雲 煙幕> follows ICAC chief inspector Chan King-Cheung (Lau Ching-Wan), who relies on his whistle-blower accountant Jack Hui (Nick Cheung) to testify in court against a tobacco company involved in bribery and smuggling. Unfortunately, Jack somehow fled to Sydney on the day of the hearing and the judge is only given the ICAC a total of seven days to salvage the case or risked having all the charges dropped.
As time is running out, King’s superior (Alex Fong Chung-Sun) assigned ICAC negotiator Shirley Kong (Karena Lam) to persuade Jack to return to Hong Kong from Sydney, while King continues to discover several new pieces of evidence and information involving the case.
First things first, I applaud the way Alan Mak chose to showcase his movie in a more story-oriented approach rather than relying heavily on the typical action-centric mode commonly seen in most Hong Kong/China productions. You can say that Integrity <廉政風雲 煙幕> is akin to a densely-plotted Hollywood thriller than your average HK crime drama, which may frustrate casual viewers with short attention spans.
Alan Mak even takes his time to tell his story, as he carefully building up the dramatic tension upon layer after layer. And for a while there, the story provides an interesting hook that keeps us guessing who is the real mastermind behind the bribery and smuggling. It also helps that Lau Ching-Wan delivers a typically engaging performance as the no-nonsense ICAC chief inspector Chan King-Cheung, while Jake Pollock’s atmospheric cinematography gives this otherwise dialogue-heavy crime drama a distinctive visual polish.
But for all the ambitious moves that Alan Mak tries so hard to give us a different type of Hong Kong movie released in the crowded Chinese New Year season, he failed to wrap up everything into a coherent whole. This is particularly evident during the final third act, complete with (frankly) unnecessary plot twists that derail whatever intricate build-up presented earlier in the movie. It’s like as if Mak isn’t satisfied with his already-labyrinthine narrative and feels the need to add in some twists to spice up the movie. I wouldn’t mind if a director opted for such an approach but in the case of Integrity <廉政風雲 煙幕>, the twists in this movie feel awkwardly misplaced than rightfully earned or justified.
Even before the twists start to take place, the movie still suffers from its fair shares of flaws. Despite the star-studded cast anchored by Lau Ching-Wan’s worthwhile performance, it’s a pity that the rest of the actors are either plain mediocre or reduced to thankless roles. Nick Cheung’s role as the whistleblower Jack Hui is disappointingly stagnant, while the long-missed Karena Lam — appearing in her first starring role since 2016’s Heaven In The Dark <暗色天堂> — is pretty much ineffective in her supporting role as ICAC negotiator Shirley Kong. Even she is also portraying as King’s estranged wife, there is little emotional weight that justifies the marital problem between her and Lau Ching Wan’s Chan King-Cheung. The same also goes to Alex Fong Chung-Shun, who is given little room to shine in his otherwise limited appearance as King’s superior and Anita Yuen’s cameo role as a high-ranking customs officer Chung Ka-Ling is sufficiently introduced but quickly forgotten when the story shifted into another direction. As for the rest, both Carlos Chan and Kathy Yuen are all wasted in their minor roles as King’s subordinates.
Then, there’s the lame attempt on adding comic relief and lighthearted moments into this otherwise serious-minded crime drama. I get it that it was a common practice in most Hong Kong/China productions but the jokes feel largely awkward. For instance, there’s a scene seemingly out of place involving Shirley decided to teach her husband a lesson by purchasing a luxury item using his supplementary credit card.
Given the fact that Alan Mak intended his movie to be the first in the proposed trilogy, Integrity <廉政風雲 煙幕> is pretty much a missed opportunity which could have been better if he doesn’t get overwhelmed with his heavy-handed narrative approach.
