Reviewed by: mrblue Date: 09/27/2005 Julian Cheung plays an undercover cop sent in to get an arms smuggler (Michael Wong). When the attempted arrest goes wrong, Cheung is put under investigation by the police force, including a psychiatrist played by Francis Ng (in a startlingly "normal" performance). Shunned by everyone except his girlfriend Gigi Lai, Cheung eventually hooks back up with Wong for a major arms deal. With a large stash of missiles heading for Hong Kong, the cops must decide if Cheung is still on their team or not. Theft Under the Sun has a number of problems going for it -- a weak plot and script (Gigi Lai's character is totally unnecessary and only serves to annoy despite looking good in short skirts and hotpants), bad acting (pretty much a given in any movie featuring Michael "dead wood" Wong, who seems to be trying to legitimize himself by adding the laughable "Fitzgerald" to his name), really bad computer effects (your average art student could probably come up with better stuff than this), and an ending so contrived and sugary sweet (not to mention wholly implausible), it would fit in better with your average '80s US low-budget action flick rather than a relatively high-budget Hong Kong affair. However, all in all, Theft Under the Sun isn't too bad if you take it as a no-brain action movie. The action sequences (excepting the cheesy effects) are pretty well done and manage to generate at least some excitement -- something which cannot be said for many more "prestigous" films that waste too much time with dramatics rather than pyrotechnics. It's the type of movie that you won't be raving about, but it's a nice way to kill some time while quaffing a few brews and laughing at its' shortcomings. [review from www.hkfilm.net]

Reviewed by: Gaijin84 Date: 06/18/2005 Summary: Standard action fare at best... Standard action fare at best, Theft Under the Sun stars Cheung Chi Lam and Michael Wong in this story of the thin line between loyalty and doing one's job. Chi Lam is a very popular singer in Hong Kong, and like a majority of pop-stars in Asia, he also has an acting career. In this film he stars as Leung Ka Ho, an undercover cop who gets in the middle of a bust gone wrong involving a triad gang, and subsequently gets suspended from the police force, his trustworthiness having been called into question. Feeling like he has no option but to get the bust himself, Ka Ho gets re-involved with Dan Peterson (Michael Wong), the leader of the gang he had previously infiltrated. He travels to Northern China to help him deliver stolen missiles to the Middle East, all the while keeping in touch with his girlfriend Fai-fai (Gigi Lai) back in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the police are battling internally on whether or not Ka Ho can still be trusted, and if they should intervene and arrest the two as they try to come back into Hong Kong. After an ambiguous ending, you are left wondering if they ultimately made the correct choice. A mediocre action film at best, Theft Under the Sun bills itself as a "Hollywood style" action thriller, but fails to deliver on those terms. Although it has a decent plot, the characters in the movie are very one-dimensional and the acting isn't great. Being a singer by profession, Cheung Chi Lam needs to polish his acting skills. Although Michael Wong does a good job portraying the charismatic villain, he uses a mix of Cantonese and English (sometimes in the same sentence) that becomes very distracting. With no one else speaking a word of English, you start to wonder if anyone has any idea what he is saying. Throw into the mix sub-par special effects that don't add to the story, you have a pretty average action flick that is anything but thrilling. 5/10 Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: Fatty Date: 02/20/2001 Summary: aiight movie Ok when I first watched this movie, I thought it was gonna be cool but all we got was cheap effects and a aiight ending. The story (I guess) Is about how a Undercover (Julian Cheng) works with a baddie called Dan Peterson (Micheal Wong) and goes on a journey with him to get some missle's I really think this movie was ok, it had somewhat of a dull plot and was abit confusing, the action was pretty good but I have seen better. I do like Micheal Wong, but he was the villian, I was supposed to hate the guy, not root for him (Especially near the end when he kisses Julian and says "Relax! I like women, Guish Guish!" while pretending to a...ummm (do it up tha @#$) Funny but this was a action movie thou, not some cheap Comedy action movie. As I said I was rooting for Micheal Wong in this film, he was a cool bad guy but I wanted to hate him. But he was sorta a goodie goodie to me(He should talk to Shing from ABT about being a true baddie) All he talked was english but it was good for me, reading those subb stuff tires me out, lol. Anyways Julian Cheng was very good aswell, he did a good job but this is one of his only films I have seen him in. If I ever go to a HK Video Store I will try and get some of his stuff. Gigi Lai was aiight aswell as the Girlfriend who like does drugs(One weird part was when Leung Ka-Ho and Gigi *Forgot her character name* hated each other, Leung saves her from some druggy and then bang! They do it. It looked like crap when they shot it aswell, lol. and as for the rest of the cast, pretty aight job. Now the plot, well I didn't get it abit and all I know is that it involves missles and stuff and some explosions(Suits me fine) but it was bad in this film, odd thing was that I liked the beginning then the end. The ending was good but it did suck. Only one missle went off and I was expecting a huge explosion and all we got was a *Puff*...ugg.... well in all, this was a aight film, good acting and characters, plot was confusing but ok. Plus the action was bad except for the beginning and ending was abit cheap. I really did like the music aswell especially when they were at the border to Russia. Oh yeah I was rooting for the baddie aswell, that's a no no in this film I really like to hate villains but I didn't in this film... 2.6/5