“Black Ransom” is a surprisingly decent film. Surprising, because most people had low expectations walking into the theater. And you can’t blame people for that, after all, the leads are two TVB actors (Michael Miu and Fala Chen), and Simon Yam. Helmed by Wong Jing’s collaborator Keung Kwok-man, an award-winning cinematographer who is directing Wong’s screenplay here, “Black Ransom” has an interesting premise packaged with excellent pacing and cinematography.

The movie opens with a bang: an infamous drug lord is kidnapped soon after being acquitted in court because the main witness testifying against him has vanished. The kidnappers are, as it turns out, a team of former elite members of the police force (led by Ho, played by Miu) who have also kidnapped and killed other acquitted triad leaders in the past year. They are not just kidnapping them for money, but are also acting as vigilantes to eliminate bad guys who get away with breaking the law. Investigating this case is Cheung (Yam), a middle-aged police inspector who used to have a glorious career in the force, until his wife was killed in a hit and run orchestrated by triads. The film follows how Ho outwits the police at first and eventually encounters his match in Cheung, and how the two men’s lives are intertwined. It is an interesting storyline that rarely appears in Hong Kong films.

With Keung’s direction and Wong’s tightly packed screenplay, “Black Ransom” is intriguing enough to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. The movie moves along, sometimes through Cheung’s train of thought, sometimes through Ho’s, making you guess what will happen next. And another surprise—if you are familiar with Wong’s taste in filmmaking, you will find “Black Ransom” surprisingly classy. There is only just a smatter of blood, violence and sex throughout. While no one really stands out, all the actors perform well and are convincing. Martial art movie stars Andy On and Xing Yu (Stephen Chow’s frequent collaborator in his recent films) both play smaller roles as a kidnapper and a cop respectively—and you wonder why they are placed in the background, until they show their fists to each other near the end. It might be the most out-of-place moment in the film but it is one kick-ass fight scene. So the bottom line is, don’t be scared off by its D-movie package, “Black Ransom” is well worth watching.

3/5 Stars by Winnie Yeung.

(Hong Kong) Directed by Keung Kwok-man. Starring Simon Yam, Michael Miu, Fala Chen, Qu Ying. Category IIB, 95 minutes. Opened January 7.