During a raid on some gunrunners, cop Chow and his buddies shoot up almost everyone in the place except for a little girl, who then goes to live with her aunt (Chung). Knowing that the gang may target the girl, Chow begins to protect both her and the aunt. As with most movies of this type, Chow and Chung begin developing feelings for each other, but can't consummate the relationship -- Chung still has ties to her ex-husband and Chow is trying to shake the demons from the past.

Well, well, well... it's the same "protector who falls in love with the protected" plot that we've all seen many times before. So it all boils down to a question of how well the film is done. Not suprisingly, under the direction of Ringo Lam, Wild Search is done well. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it is a solid cop action/romance. Both Chow and Chung are good in their roles (Chow, as is most always the case, does manage to look better than many of his co-stars and is quite excellent as the tortured cop) and have nice chemistry together, though not as developed as in their next project together, John Woo's great crime caper Once a Thief.

As would also be expected from Lam, Wild Search also sports some excellent action sequences, even though they do fall prey to melodramatics at times, which undercuts a lot of the built-up tension. The film's main drawback is a lack of focus. I felt it spent too much time with small subplots, such as the one between the little girl and her ornery grandpa, which slowed down the pacing of the movie. Wild Search is also a bit more lighthearted than many of Lam's other movies (which may put off those looking for Lam's signature gritty action/drama), but still should not disappoint fans of his (and Chow Yun-Fat's) work.

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