User Reviews

Warning #1: One of the alternate titles of this movie apparently is "Jackie Chan's Second Strike"!! Jackie does not appear in it for a single second!

Warning #2: The main star of this movie is supposed to be Yukari Oshima. After a brief cameo at the start, it takes 50 MINUTES for her to appear again.

Warning #3: The "plot" of this movie is utterly incomprehensible. Do not expect to have the slightest idea of what is going on, or who is shooting whom in the action scenes.

If you can live with all that (and it ain't easy), "Final Run" does have a handful of redeeming moments: Yukari, when she finally appears, is in top kicking form, there are some hard-hitting stunts (falls from high places, etc.), and the cast includes lots of familiar faces for fans of HK action cinema, like Dick Wei and Mark Houghton. The fight scenes in general are decent but far from classics. *1/2 out of 4.

FINAL RUN is a fine slice of butt-kicking action from Hong Kong, directed by Phillip Ko who also takes on a main bad guy role. The action takes place in both Hong Kong and Thailand and has a complex back story involving golden triangle criminals, drug smugglers, corrupt cops and one good cop and his extended family and friends. There's a huge cast populated by cinema favourites and a large body count to boot. The budget isn't huge on this one but that doesn't stop Ko from staging frequent and lavish spectacle. Yukari Oshima is off screen for the first hour but makes the most of every second that she does appear, while Simon Yam shines in a small bad guy role and the great Dick Wei gets to play a hero for a change. Watch out for Beardy too! The incredible action-packed climax seems inspired by COMMANDO but manages to top that movie in terms of on-screen stunts and physical combat.