Directed over the course of three years, in between and around other films made by director Johnnie To and his stars, PTU: Police Tactical Unit is an exercise in style over substance. Over the course or a single night we are taken inside the tensions and improprieties that mount up between various law enforcement groups and the gangs that run the darkened streets.

It is a film that offers little besides style. On the level of an exercise in style and technical filmmaking it is a complete success. If you are looking for a film with a deep and expansive set of themes and a storyline to get involved with, you will likely want to look elsewhere. Although, I am sure there is more here than meets the eye, I just did not have any desire to dig beneath the surface; I was not interested enough.

The story follows Sgt. Lo (Suet Lam), a bumbling officer who, following a round of musical chairs in a restaurant, pursues a thug into a dark alley. It is here that he slips on a banana peel just prior to running into a trap, thereby making the thugs' jobs all the easier. They beat Lo and leave him bloodied on the ground, and missing his gun. There lies the problem for our bumbling protagonist — an officer of the law should never lose his gun. The loss of your firearm is an offense that will be hard to overcome when you are looking to move up the ranks.

Recognizing his dilemma, Lo sets out to retrieve his weapon before anyone can find out. To aid him in his quest he enlists Sgt. Mike Ho (Simon Yam) of the PTU, leader of a four-man squad that works the night shift. Ho agrees to give Lo until dawn to find his weapon before reporting it to headquarters. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, you have to believe that nothing will go as planned. In order for there to be a movie, everything needs to go wrong.

Lo's search is most impacted by the assassination of a local gang leader known as Ponytail. This murder sets in motion a war between rival gangs, led by Ponytail's father, leader of one of the larger syndicates. Further compounding the gun hunt is the conflict between Mike Ho's squad and the squad led by Kat (Maggie Siu).

As the night progresses, Lo bumbles from one situation to the next, drawing ever further towards the center of the fast escalating conflict. We also get scenes of Ho and his ruthless methods in keeping the thugs in order, always willing to bend the rules. There are also scenes of Chang and her by-the-book rigidity as she investigates Lo's suspicious behavior.

The film culminates in a gun battle of coincidence, with all of the various groups arriving at the same place at the same time, allowing the plot to wrap itself up in a nice little bow. While the sequence is stunningly executed, it is a little too convenient as everything comes to a head and concludes.

Now, all story weakness aside (after realizing that this is just a new version of Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog), this is a gorgeous film. That is a fact that is enhanced further by the length of the production. My head just spins considering all of the continuity issues that can arise from fitting in scenes here and there over a three-year period. Think about how difficult it must have been to match all of the prior footage.