SPL: Sha Po Lang

This article is about a 2005 Hong Kong martial arts film known as Kill Zone in the US. For other uses, see Kill zone (disambiguation).

SPL: Sha Po Lang
SPL: Sha Po Lang DVD cover
Directed by	Yip Wai-shun
Written by	Yip Wai-shun Szeto Kam-Yuen Ng Wai-lun
Produced by	Carl Chang
Starring	Simon Yam Donnie Yen Sammo Hung
Cinematography	Lam Wah-chuen
Edited by	Cheung Ka-fai
Music by	Ken Chan Chan Kwong-wing
Production companies	ABBA Movies Co. Ltd. 1618 Action Limited
Distributed by	ABBA Movies Co. Ltd. (Hong Kong) The Weinstein Company (U.S. DVD) Dragon Dynasty (U.S. DVD)
Release dates	Hong Kong: November 18, 2005 (2005-11-18)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Languages	Cantonese Mandarin

SPL: Sha Po Lang (released in the United States as Kill Zone) is a 2005 Hong Kong martial arts action crime film written and directed by Yip Wai-shun, starring Simon Yam, Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung.

Yam portrays a retiring police detective who resorts to the use of questionable methods in order to catch Wong Po (Hung), a ruthless triad boss.

The film title Sha Po Lang refers to three words derived from Chinese astrology that each represent a different star capable of good or evil depending on their position in the heavens.

Plot

Hong Kong police inspector Chan Kwok-chung has devoted his career to putting Wong Po, a notorious triad boss, behind bars. While escorting a witness with damning evidence of Wong's wrongdoings to court, Chan's car is rammed at high speed by another car driven by Jack, a ruthless assassin hired by Wong. The impact severely injures the witness and his wife, whom Jack proceeds to kill after getting down from his car. The witness' young daughter, however, is spared. Chan survives too, but has a piece of glass stuck in the back of his head. When the glass is removed, doctors notice a tumour in Chan's brain and informs him that he does not have long to live. Chan becomes even more determined to bring down Wong Po, using any means necessary.

Three years later, Ma Kwun, a police officer from another precinct, is assigned to replace Chan, who is going to retire soon, and take over leadership of Chan's team, composed of Luk, Kwok and Lee. All the three men are very protective of Chan, who has since adopted the slain witness' daughter.

An electronics shop owner brings to the police station a video tape of Wong Po murdering an undercover agent planted by Chan in the triad. In the video, Wong is seen swinging a golf club repeatedly, allegedly at the agent's face, but does not kill the latter, and instead allows one of his men to finish him off. Chan and his colleagues decide to alter the tape, intimidate the shop owner into accusing Wong Po of being the murderer, and eliminate the real killer (Wong Po's henchman, the one caught on tape shooting the undercover agent).

Ma Kwun, who had once beaten up a drug trafficker so badly that the latter has become mentally-handicapped, has vowed to abstain from using questionable means in his career as a policeman, unlike Chan and the rest of the team. He is upset when he sees Chan and his colleagues resorting to those "dirty" methods to frame Wong Po for murder. He witnesses Chan and the three men cornering Wong Po's henchman (the one who killed the undercover agent) and pushing the latter off a building, and confronts the four of them, resulting in a brief fight. Despite their disagreements, Ma still assists Chan and the team later in the arrest of Wong Po, which culminates in a brawl in the lobby of a department store with the rotund crime lord.

The squad receives a warning that all of them will not make it to see the next day if they get out of the police station that night. Ignoring the threat, Lee goes to buy a gun to serve as Wong Po's "murder weapon", but is trapped in an enclosed area and killed by a knife-wielding Jack. Jack later sneaks up on Luk and Kwok and stabs them to death. Ma Kwun rushes there to save them but is too late. Before dying, Luk confesses to Ma that he, Kwok and Lee had stolen money from Wong Po to help Chan raise his adopted daughter, and were targeted for retaliation by Wong. In the police station, Chan's superiors discovered that he had tampered with evidence to frame Wong Po for murder and reprimand him and free Wong.

Chan later goes to Wong Po's office alone to return the stolen money. He attempts to catch the crime lord off guard and shoots a few goons but is eventually overpowered by Jack, who knocks the revolver out of his hand. Jack then thrusts his knife through Chan's hand.

In the meantime, Ma Kwun has a heated argument with his superiors over the handling of the case and he turns in his badge and gun. He receives a call from Wong Po, who tells him that he has taken Chan captive. Ma encounters Jack in a back alley. Armed with only a baton, Ma engages in intense martial arts combat with the knife expert. Jack wrestles the baton away from Ma's hands, but Ma manages to eviscerate Jack with his own knife.

Ma then heads up to Wong Po's office and sees Chan strung up and unable to move. He fights with the crime lord and seemingly kills Wong when he backdrops the latter onto a tall display of glasses and bottles. Ma then sits down at the bar and starts to pour himself a drink. Chan, still strung up, starts to speak to Ma. Wong then suddenly gets up and charges at Ma, throwing him out of the window. Ma lands on the roof of the car in which Wong's wife and baby son is in, crushing them, and all three are killed instantly. When Wong gazes down at Ma's body, he notices the car underneath and recognises the number plate. He slumps down and starts sobbing, broken with grief over his actions.

In the final scene, Chan and his adopted daughter are seen on a beach, as the girl is playing near the shore. Chan finally succumbs to his tumour and dies.

Cast

• Simon Yam as Inspector Chan Kwok-chung
• Donnie Yen as Inspector Ma Kwun
• Sammo Hung as Wong Po
• Liu Kai-chi as Inspector Lok Koon-wah
• Ken Chang as Inspector Lee Wai-lok
• Danny Summer as Inspector Kwok Tze-sum
• Austin Wai as Cheung Chun-fei
• Jing Wu as Jack
• Vincent Sze as Chan Wai
• Lau Ching-lam as Hoi-yee (Chan's adopted daughter)
• Maggie Poon as Kwok Tze-sum's daughter
• Timmy Hung as drug trafficker
• Chan Tat-chi as Uncle Ba
• Liang Jingke as Wong Po's wife
• Tanigaki Kenji as Wong Po's henchman
• Tsui Wai as Wong Po's henchman
• So Tung as Wong Po's henchman
• Au Hin-wai as Wong Po's lawyer
• Yuen Kin-leung as Murder witness
• Kam Chun-man

Box office and DVD release

SPL opened in Hong Kong on 18 November 2005. In its first three days it grossed HK$2,166,088. It stayed in the number one position at the Hong Kong box office until 6 December, and eventually grossed HK$7,425,473 in its entire run.

Sequel plans

Dennis Law initially planned to make his own sequel to SPL, but realised his script had limited potential, and rewrote the script for his film, Fatal Move.

See also

• List of Hong Kong films
• List of Dragon Dynasty releases
• Donnie Yen filmography
• Sammo Hung filmography

External links

• SPL: Sha Po Lang at IMDb
• SPL: Sha Po Lang at AllMovie