From the title to the story to the acting, Kant Leung's 2001 release Ultimatum is about as generic and tedious as an "action" movie could possibly be. Those fans of the great thespian Michael Fitzgerald Wong hoping to hear him utter bon mots are also going to be disappointed, because Mikey's voice is dubbed in, and very poorly at that.

The movie actually starts out promisingly enough, with a decent action sequence where a gangster is killed by a mysterious woman. The cops (led by our boy Mikey) lose her, but soon discover a conspiracy to kill some of Hong Kong's top crime bosses. The assassin turns out to be Michael's girlfriend (Yoyo Mung) who is after the criminals to get revenge for her father.

If you're worried that the above synopsis spoiled the movie, don't worry. The major plot points are put out within the first fifteen minutes or so, and then Ultimatum takes its' sweet time tying the loose ends together. The film moves forth with the speed of Harry Knowles after ingesting a KFC Double Down sandwich, and viewers can be forgiven if they have to fight the urge to take a nap during the proceedings.

Ultimatum's action scenes do liven things up a bit, and Yuen Wah looks to be having fun with his role of a crime boss, but these small slivers of enjoyments can't compensate for Ultimatum's pedestrian story and leaden pacing. The early 2000's were, for the most part, a fairly low point in the history of Hong Kong cinema, mostly because the releases tended to be uninventive low-budget fare such as this. Even the most ardent Hong Kong movie fan can probably find something better to do with their time rather than actually setting aside ninety minutes to watching Ultimatum.

RATING: 4