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Among Hong Kong action stars, Andy On is a special one.

He made his debut in the sci-fi action film "Black Mask 2" directed by Tsui Hark and has been filming action scenes for 22 years.

During the post-golden age of Hong Kong action movies, he won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Actor for his role in "Young and Dangerous". The award was presented to him by the young Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung.

Later, he starred in classic Hong Kong action films such as "New Police Story", "True Man" and "Detective".

A domineering line from the action film "Special Identity" co-starring with Donnie Yen, "My rules are the rules," has become widely circulated.

In the past five years, the sales of Hong Kong action movies have become increasingly rare.

He has also established himself as a golden brand in the domestic online film industry.

In 2022, he starred in "Blind Fight", which had a box office share of over 27.06 million, surpassing the well-received "No One" to win the annual championship of the action film network.

In 2023, he starred in "Zero Killer", and the box office share reached 42.64 million, defeating the popular "Northeast Police Story 2" and retaining the annual championship of the Internet.

At the beginning of this year, the movie "Chasing Evil" he collaborated with Xie Miao once again hit the Spring Festival box office.

Just today, his action film "The Last Strike", co-starring with another tough action star Louis Fan, was released on iQiyi Cloud Cinema.

Wait. Are there any domestic action movies that can make people excited these days?

Without further ado, look at this action——

One word: cruel.

Compared to those slow-motion action movies with formulaic moves and soft movements that lose the interest of the audience.

When I saw this action movie with two tough guys fighting from beginning to end for 91 minutes, there was only one word in my mind: exciting.

The audience's eyes are also sharp. The film topped the new list on the platform within two hours of its release.

Are action movies really back? At least, this "life-and-death struggle" between two action heroes has made a splash in the summer action movie season.

1. Is the scale close to that of a B-grade movie? This action movie caught my attention as soon as it opened

What is the most eye-catching part of "One Last Strike"?

First of course is the action.

The second is realistic topics.

I think the cruelest thing is that the movie unveils the true face of human trafficking organizations.

On a certain island in the Pacific, an illegal human trafficking organization with extensive connections is kidnapping and defrauding Chinese people overseas. The logic of each link is very clear, allowing people to get a glimpse of the truth of this evil industry chain.

The first step is seduction.

For good-looking women, they either seduce them with money, or use deception, or directly resort to violence... leading them into the abyss.

Step two: control.

Beating, scolding, drugs. Step by step, women are completely controlled.

The third step is utilization.

In the nightclub, he entertained the corrupt policemen who were in collusion with him and threw the girl directly into their arms. That was quite outrageous.

Or, simply remove the organs and trade the human body.

Why are evil forces so arrogant?

The police and the criminals colluded with each other and were like snakes and rats in the same nest. With the protection of senior local police officers, they committed all kinds of evil, including kidnapping women, human trafficking, and organ trading.

But they offended someone they shouldn't have offended - the powerful chef Lao Chen (played by Fan Shaohuang).

What's so scary about a lame cook who usually doesn't dare to say a word when faced with the provocations of gangsters?

Until this taciturn "lame chef" sneaked into the human trafficking factory to save his adopted daughter and confronted the local "corrupt policeman" A Chan (played by Andy On).

But is Andy On really playing a villain again this time?

It seems wrong. He walks between the black and white worlds, and seems to be searching for the truth about his father's death.

Two heroes take different actions, but achieve the same goal.

One of them defeated many thugs from the human trafficking factory with one punch and fought his way in and out of the factory.

One goes deep into the tiger's den to find criminal evidence of evil forces in order to catch the Pakun Group in one fell swoop.

But as Lao Chen's past experiences were discovered by the evil forces, they came to his house and killed his current lover.

At this point in the film, a life-and-death battle is about to begin.

Why does the lame chef have such skills? What is the truth behind the death of the young policeman's father?

Will these two people fight to the death, or will they join forces to fight the evil forces to the end?

Let me leave you a bottom line first...

But what is certain is that the story of the film is really cruel.

The fighting is really beautiful.

This style of fusion of fictional background + realistic scale + Hong Kong-style action films has also found a new way out for domestic action films.

2. Fan Shaohuang + Andy On, four fight scenes, enough to be written into textbooks

For an action movie, the story is the main factor, but the decisive factor in whether the action movie is good or not is only one:

Fighting scenes.

Action is the soul of an action movie.

I don’t know if you have noticed that with the development of action movies today, real kung fu is no longer needed in most movies, and slow motion is used instead.

But what about "The Last Strike"?

The two leading actors are Fan Shaohuang, who has practiced martial arts for 47 years and has been shooting action scenes for 33 years, and Andy On, who has been shooting action scenes for 22 years. Both of them have real kung fu skills.

The director deliberately reduced the use of firearms and let the protagonist use real kung fu as much as possible to show the bloody beauty of close combat and cold weapon battles.

Group fights, slashing, gunfights, and combats make the action scenes dizzying.

Close combat, sword and gun duels, stick chases, and heavy firepower confrontations.

There are not only a lot of action scenes, but also a variety of types.

Four major action scenes will definitely make your blood boil.

The first category is the most intuitive and hard-hitting action scenes.

For example, at the beginning of the film, when Lao Chen faced his enemy who came to his door, he punched him out with one punch. The force of his punch shattered the glass door, which reminded people of Fan Shaohuang's classic role, Li Wang. What a wave of memories.

There is also Andy On, who went undercover as soon as he appeared on the stage and destroyed a drug trafficking den. He was chased to a dark alley and was surrounded by a group of thugs.

Seeing him calmly rolling up his sleeves, he said, "I advise you not to make things so complicated."

The next second, he punched one person left and right.

First he blocked, then he chopped with his hand, then he kicked one away sideways, and finally he did not forget to use his special skill of throwing bottles. After such a series of continuous operations, who could stop him?

The crisp and sharp movements, and the skillful moves like muscle memory, give the film a full visual impact.

Even through the screen, we can all intuitively feel that our opponent is in pain.

The second category is the action scenes involving two heroes using various "weapons".

The two heroes, of course, refer to Louis Fan and Andy On.

The two have two one-on-one kung fu duels in the film.

Both scenes were set in cramped spaces (a human trafficking factory and a restaurant), and the two actors actually went into battle, delivering two of the best kung fu duels this year.

Let’s look at the first scene first: Lao Chen and A Chan met unexpectedly in a human trafficking factory and started fighting without saying anything.

Every punch of Louis Fan demonstrates his power and dominance. His movements are bold and open, and every move hits the vital points.

Andy On's character is a policeman, whose original intention was to find evidence. He did not want to hurt Lao Chen, nor did he want to alert the enemy. Not only did he mainly fight on the defensive, he also had to pay attention to silencing everywhere.

In this fight scene, everything from the factory's door panels and partitions to a cup can become a weapon for both sides.

Andy On even looked at the thugs outside while fighting, and his fighting gave off the feeling of Jackie Chan's early kung fu comedies.

In another scene, the two of them had a head-on confrontation in the kitchen of Lao Chen's restaurant. Lao Chen had just lost his lover and was looking for someone to vent his anger on.

In this scene, Achan's handcuffs, the electric fan, tables and chairs in Lao Chen's restaurant become weapons to defeat the enemy.

The two sides used close combat, head-grabbing, traditional wrestling, and all kinds of action techniques.

One can't help but sigh that these are real fights.

Both of them took turns moving around in the narrow and long space, punching each other real hard, making people's palms sweat.

The third category is action scenes that make use of complex environments.

What I'm talking about is the action scene where the two male protagonists meet in a human trafficking factory, become friends from enemies, and fight with dozens of thugs in the factory.

In my opinion, the quality of this action scene, if it were released among the summer theater action blockbusters, would not only not be shabby, but would even stand out from the crowd.

The key is to place two real kung fu masters into an environment where the human trafficking factory is under siege.

The use of space in this part is not only the "tools" that Fan Shaohuang and Andy On pick up at will, but also in the exciting and tense chase scenes.

As soon as the two men finished fighting and tried to break out, they were surrounded by a large group of thugs on the corridor. In order to prevent the human snake from escaping, all the surroundings were blocked with iron nets.

One of the two men was fighting with the thugs with his fists, while the other jumped onto the side rail of the barbed wire, jumping up and down to deal with the thugs with weapons.

The scene switches again, Andy On flies down and finally finds a suitable weapon - a fire hydrant. He blocks it first, then hits it, and then throws it several meters away to Fan Shaohuang's end.

Louis Fan uses it differently. He wraps his hands with the fire hydrant belt and uses it like a boxing glove.

Just like that, in the cramped factory corridor, the two men kept using fire hydrants to fight against the thugs. The most exciting thing was the switching and coordination between the two in the melee, integrating martial arts into the chase. Was it a surprise?

A truly good action scene is one that can be seamlessly integrated into the plot.

It grabs the audience so naturally that they don't even realize...oh, this is an action scene.

The fourth scene is a collaboration between two heroes that adds violence and is integrated into the plot.

At the end of the fight, it's time for the two heroes to join forces to fight against the villain group.

This action scene in the empty ruins is both the action climax and the dramatic climax of the entire film.

All the foreshadowing and arrangements, the grievances between good and evil, Lao Chen's revenge, and the suspense of the death of Acan's father must be resolved and concluded here.

The villains not only have a large number of people and power, but also hold Lao Chen's adopted daughter hostage.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Achan arrived with the police.

This action scene is quite rich.

There are tense and thrilling police-criminal gunfights and sniper battles;

There are also dangerous action scenes caused by the villain taking hostages.

For example, in one scene, during an explosion, Lao Chen jumped to save his adopted daughter, but was blown away by the shock wave of the explosion. He fell from a high place, passed through obstacles, and finally used his body to protect his adopted daughter to the ground. It even had a bit of extreme sports meaning.

At the end, there is the ultimate fight with hormones erupting.

This multi-party confrontation is not only intense, but also has a few different colors.

For example, the feeling of grief when the battle reaches its end and everyone is dead.

There is also a sense of risking one's life to save loved ones.

The number of scenes, the scale of the scenes, and the strong emotions are truly dazzling.

By the end, the film gave me not only the thrill of fist-fighting and exhilarating action.

There is also a sense of shock that the dust has settled and a resonance deep in human nature.

Action scenes are the soul of an action movie, and these four visual feasts are worth the price of admission.

3. Fan Shaohuang and Andy On joined forces, and two powerful actors helped out. They both caught my attention with their acting skills.

An action movie needs to have a strong flavor, and the action stars must be of both high quality and quantity.

In this regard, "One Last Strike" has done a great job.

From the leading roles to the supporting roles, the film is filled with familiar faces from action movies, which can definitely evoke our childhood memories.

The first one is our male protagonist Fan Shaohuang.

The Lao Chen he played, who changed from a lame chef to a lame war god, definitely supported the action quality of the film.

But Fan Shaohuang has practiced martial arts for 47 years and has portrayed classic characters such as Li Wang, Xu Zhu, and Jin Shanzhao. It is not enough to rely on skills alone, he also needs to be very stable in controlling the characters.

He has many "different faces" in the film.

Before the character transformed into a cook, he had the face of a helpless killer.

He endured for the next 15 years and turned into a cook who was gentle and affectionate to his family.

But he was forced back into the underworld by evil forces, and when he was forced to take action against the villains, every punch he threw was filled with anger.

From a cold-blooded boxer to an honest cooking god and then to a vicious fighter, Louis Fan’s switching between the three styles is quite accurate.

The 51-year-old action movie veteran gave a very steady performance this time.

Second place, Andy On.

If Louis Fan is "ruthless", Andy On, who plays the policeman, is "steady".

In the past two years, Andy On has mostly played villains in action movies.

Andy On’s superb skills, coupled with his ferocious action scenes and cruel expressions, are chilling at first sight.

In this film, Andy On, dressed in police uniform, performed the character's dilemma.

In an action movie, I saw his acting skills, especially in the finale when a gun was pointed at him and he knew the truth. The struggle and confusion in his heart slid down with his tears.

An actor like this really has ten thousand reasons to be famous.

Also, Donnie Yen’s apprentice Yu Kang is very sharp in martial arts, behaves evilly and looks vicious throughout the film, and has a strong aura when playing the villain.

Lou Xuexian, who has given wonderful performances in classic action films such as "Fist of Fury" and "Police Story 4", also plays a corrupt policeman with great impact.

With such talented actors, we have to admit that the acting of this film is guaranteed.

4. The word "righteousness" is the most important, and the core of this action movie is also right

What is even more eye-catching is the film's presentation of the core of action movies.

The producer of this film is Ye Weimin, who directed "The Warlords" and "Lost on Journey". He has experienced the peak era of Hong Kong action films, so naturally he brought the core of Hong Kong action films into this film.

This is the last surprise of "One Last Strike" - righteousness.

Martial arts scenes are a hard requirement for action movies, but literary scenes are the foundation of movies.

Many action movies put the cart before the horse, using action scenes to fill a lame story into a powerful pill.

But without a complete story, the emotions are naturally bland, and once the game is over, it’s forgotten.

"One Cut of the Dead" is not like that. It has ambition and refuses to be a brainless action movie.

It seems like a simple story - an adoptive father saves his adopted daughter, gets dragged into evil forces, and joins forces with the "black police" to fight against them.

But it also incorporates social issues such as human trafficking and overseas fraud.

There is a silly chef who is reborn into a fighting master through literary adaptation, a rogue police officer who walks between black and white to avenge his father and fights violence with violence to seek justice.

The film's interpretation of "righteousness" and the adherence to justice make the two male protagonists share the same hatred for the enemy even though they meet by chance. There is justice, the simplest justice in people's hearts, and also the love and righteousness of the classic era of Hong Kong action films.

Where there is Kung Fu, there is passion and justice.

I never thought that when Hong Kong-style action movies are gradually fading away, I can actually see this inheritance of righteousness in an online action movie.

Real kung fu movies are becoming increasingly rare, and one of the main reasons is that there are fewer and fewer real action stars, and the action scenes in big productions are used to being sloppy with slow motion.

This is why action movies like "One Cut and One Dice" are rare and precious.

In this era when action movies are buried, there are still people willing to make such movies, and there are real kung fu stars like Fan Shaohuang and Andy On who fight from beginning to end in the film. This in itself is worth being thankful for.

It's a pity to miss it.