On a base comparison with director Dante Lam's other cop-oriented picture from 2010, The Stool Pigeon, Fire of Conscience would seem to be a lesser entry, with Leon Lai's scraggly beard seemingly being the biggest point of discussion around the internet about the film. But sometimes, you just need the cinematic equivalent of a cheeseburger, and Lam seemed to have realized this, making a lean and mean thriller that pulls no punches when it comes to the action. Sure, Fire of Conscience is no Citizen Kane or The Killer, but it's still damn good popcorn entertainment.

Fire of Conscience's story isn't Shakespeare, cut from the same "mismatched partners" mold that has been popular in cinema from all over the world for decades. Manfred (Leon Lai) is the loose cannon of the equation, regulated to living in a van after he fails to catch his wife's killer. Straight-laced go-getter Kee (Richie Ren) comes to Manfred to help with the search for a stolen cell phone that contains confidential information. You know the story -- they don't trust each other at first and become friends... or do they?

Dante Lam and co-screenwriter Candy Leung do try and shake up the usual rules of the cop action/drama by introducing a few twists into the proceedings, which has almost become a mandatory modern genre film-making method in itself that is quickly becoming tired. But Fire of Conscience never takes the high-falootin' semi-arty-fartsy path for too long, thankfully keeping the emphasis on conflict. By the end of the movie, it's clear who the good guys and the bad guys are, and there's nothing at all wrong with that.

Fire of Conscience isn't a deep movie, nor does it need to be. Even with pedestrian performances from the leads and a story that treads well-worn ground, the viewer never feels bored or gets that deep sense of deja vu far too many recent Hong Kong cop action/dramas generate. Bolstered by blistering action scenes helmed by Chin Kar-Lok and Wong Wai-Fai, including one that will bring back warm memories of the teahouse shootout in Hard Boiled, Fire of Conscience is one of those movies that's perfect for just kicking back and watching the pyrotechnics that seemingly only Hong Kong film-makers can truly provide to audiences.

RATING: 7.5