Cynthia Khan's movie debut, as she fills the gap left by the retired (at that time) Michelle Yeoh. Cynthia plays Inspector Yeung, who when we first meet her is walking the beat in her Hong Kong Policewoman uniform and issuing parking tickets. Things kick into high gear though, when she has to apprehend a robber. This is the film's first action sequence, and a terrific one at that. Cynthia is very believable as a tough cop, and displays such intensity in the role that you know she's someone you don't want to mess with. Yeung then transfers to her cop uncle's squad, because she feels she get to do some real police work.
Meanwhile, two Japanese Red Army terrorists, Nishiwaki(Michiko Nishiwaki) & Nakamura(Stuart Ong) stage a bloody raid on a gem exhibition in Japan. They escape with a fortune in loot, but not before killing Ken, a Japanese cop. The terrorists flee to Hong Kong, where they plan to use the gems to buy weapons. In pursuit is Ken's partner(Hiroshi Fujioka), who plans on exacting revenge upon the pair.
The Hong Kong police are informed of Nishiwaki's & Nakamura's presense, and Yueng's uncle decides to assign her to escort Hiroshi around the city in order to keep both of them out of the way, while the authorities search for the terrorists. Of course, Hiroshi won't be prevented from exacting revenge on his partner's killers, so Yeung joins him on his quest to bring Nishiwaki & Nakamura to justice.
The desire for revenge fuels the action in this movie, as Hiroshi, Nishiwaki, and Yueng, for various reasons, want vengeance. This leads to a series of terrific action sequences. Cynthia has a couple of good run-ins with Michiko, the most brutal one at the finale of the film. Cynthia simply shines in all of her action sequences, displaying her considerable athletic abilities. Michiko is terrific in her role as a vicious and bloodthirsty terrorist who just exhudes evil, yet at the same time is vulnerable & emotional, as shown in the scenes with her partner/lover Nakamura. I will admit, though, as good as the final fight is, I did expect a little more from it. It seems all too brief, but I guess I just can't get enough girls with guns action.
At any rate, I highly recommend this movie. In comparing this film to it's immediate sequel, "In the Line of Duty 4", the biggest difference is the number of action sequences. Whereas, ITLOD 3 has only about 6, ITLOD 4 has about 10 or 11. Both have excellent action sequences, although 3's are little better. But where 4 goes for wall to wall action, 3 takes the time to develop the plot & characters, so the action is a little more interspersed. Whether you enjoy one or the other more depends on what you're looking for--more action or more story. I, myself, enjoyed both movies.
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