The final film in the five-part Tactical Unit series inspired by Johnnie To's PTU, Comrades in Arms manages to overcome the inherent problems of a low-budget production made for television, and manages to create a solid police thriller. It's nothing terribly original, but the proceedings here should satisfy fans of Hong Kong cop dramas.

After happenings in the previous films, the PTU teams led by Sam (Simon Yam) and May (Maggie Siu) now do not get along or trust each other, especially after May is promoted to First Sargeant, which Sam's team attributes to May's relationship with Commander Ho (Ben Wong). After a group of robbers hit an armored truck and flee into the wilderness, the teams must try and put their differences aside to catch the criminals.

The plot is not really anything mind-blowing and doesn't present any twists that will come as a shock to the seasoned viewer, but the film-makers allow things to proceed organically enough so that the developments and resolution don't seem contrived. Sure, ultimately, this is still pretty much a by-the-numbers cop drama, but it's a sound one that you won't feel insulted or bored by while watching it.

Perhaps it's a matter of lowered expectations due to the overall lesser level of recent output from Hong Kong, but Comrades in Arms actually ends up being better than it would appear to be on the surface. Bolstered by a good performance from Lam Suet (though did we really need to see him with his shirt off?), strong cinematography and editing, and a good old-fashioned shoot-out at the end, Comrades in Arms is one of the better cop dramas to come out of Hong Kong over the past year or so.

RATING: 7