HK police thrillers keep audiences on edge of their seats

Other fans said the film was "up to the usual standard", with Hong Kong action movies being in the doldrums for a number of years.

Liu Yifan, a movie critic based on the mainland, said, "Raging Fire is a real, authentic Hong Kong film, the likes of which haven't been seen for a long time."

The movie is typical of Chan's often-violent scenes, showcased by sensational explosions, Liu said, adding that such settings are even more evident in this film. Moviegoers can feel "a strong sense of catharsis" in the storytelling and camerawork, according to Liu.

The film marked the end of Chan's long and successful feature movie career, which began in 1990 with A Moment of Romance. He made his mainland debut in 2003 with Heroic Duo, before he and Jackie Chan collaborated on New Police Story the following year. Over the next few years, Benny Chan kept the genre flying high, along with stars such as Andy Lau, Louis Koo and Daniel Wu.

Diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer while filming Raging Fire in 2019, Benny Chan died during post-production on Aug 23 last year. He was 58.

His last post on Sina Weibo, which celebrated completion of the film on Aug 7, 2019, drew hundreds of comments including: "Thank you for the great film"; "We miss you"; and "May you rest in peace".

Many posts on the official account for Raging Fire called for a longer version of the movie after reports said that about an hour of footage had been removed from Benny Chan's draft version.

One viewer, who gave the film full marks, said, "Benny Chan dedicated his whole life to defending the glory of Hong Kong action films."