2000 AD

This millennium blockbuster offering is a joint production by Hong Kong's Media Asia and Singapore's Raintree Pictures. It is filmed partly in each city with a stellar cast of respective origins. As such, it is perhaps unintentionally reflective of the cultural differences of the cities. $$ID=Aaron Kwok$$ plays Peter, an innocent computer nerd, somewhat against the grain of his usual action hero/heartthrob portrayals - caught unwittingly in a plot of international intrigue. He runs a software engineering company, a losing concern, which survives on funding from his brother Greg (($$ID=Ray Lui$$) - with his girlfriend's brother and partner Benny ($$ID=Daniel Wu$$). Unbeknownst to Peter, Greg is the developer of a deadly computer virus and has been earmarked by the CIA. Peter's idyllic, yuppie lifestyle is suddenly shattered by a spectacular hit during which he watches helplessly as Greg dies before him. This witnesses his transition from wide-eyed innocence to a wary fighter, in search of vengeance. He follows a seemingly hapless trail of clues involving encounters with Greg's enigmatic fiance, Salina (Phyllis Quek), a CIA operative and a Singaporean agent (James Lye). These encounters lead him to Singapore where he discovers that all is not as it seems and he unravels the mystery with his newfound strength and independence.

The plot buildup is first rate for the first part of the picture, expressly the rapidfire action sequences in Hong Kong, tense and stylishly explosive. That alone is worth the price of admission. Director $$ID=Gordon Chan$$ achieves a high-tech, monochromatic designer look with appropriate (sometimes overdone) product placement from Sony's Robodog to Motorola. Francis Ng is slickly cool as Hong Kong task force chief Ronald, who looks out for Peter, before dying in yet another bloody shootout. Aaron Kwok plays the transformation from mild-mannered techno-geek to raging rebel with a cause credibly. Daniel Wu provides some comic relief as a youngster with raging hormones. However, with such a promising beginning, the ensuing and concluding sequences shot in Singapore seem tepid and staid in comparison, almost like a touristy romp through the island city's skyscrapers and attractions like Boat Quay. In fact the initial air-force test sequence, which opens the movie, a second rate "Top Gun" knock-off at best - seems like no more than a display of Singapore's fire power.