General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

S Storm (S风暴)

S Storm (S風暴; mainland Chinese title 反贪风暴2, Anti-Corruption Storm 2) is a 2016 Hong Kong crime action film directed by David Lam (林德祿) and the second entry in the Storm film series about the work of Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It stars Louis Koo as ICAC principal investigator William Luk, with Julian Cheung, Vic Chou, Ada Choi, Bowie Lam, and Dada Chan in supporting roles.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title	S風暴 (Cantonese: 'S' fung bou); English title S Storm; mainland title 反贪风暴2³^•⁴
Director / writer	David Lam (林德祿); screenplay by Wong Ho-wah (黃浩華) from a story by Elliott J. Brown¹^•²
Release	Mainland China, 14 September 2016; 95 minutes; Category IIB in Hong Kong⁴^•⁵
Lead cast	Louis Koo (William Luk), Julian Cheung (Lau Po-keung), Vic Chou (Song Yan Sheun), Ada Choi (Wong Man-ling)²
Series position	Second of five main Storm films (Z Storm 2014 to G Storm 2021), all directed by David Lam and led by Louis Koo⁶
Box office	HK$8,707,069 in Hong Kong (tenth among 2016 Hong Kong films); about 200 million RMB in mainland China⁷^•⁸
Critical scores	Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 5% from 3 reviews; IMDb 5.2/10 from 878 votes⁹^•³

Spoilers

Plot

While tailing a Jockey Club (hong Kong's licensed horse-racing and betting organization) trader as part of an ICAC investigation into irregular soccer betting, principal investigator William Luk (Louis Koo) witnesses the trader's murder by a lone assassin, Song Yan Sheun (Vic Chou). Because the murder falls to the police, Crime Unit inspector Lau Po-keung (Julian Cheung) is assigned to the case, but Luk, bound by ICAC confidentiality rules, refuses to disclose anything about his own investigation, and the two agencies clash.¹⁰

The police trail leads to a bookmaker known as Teacher (Lo Hoi-pang), who controls illegal football bookmaking in Hong Kong. During the investigation, Jockey Club security manager Terry Lun (Bowie Lam) is murdered, and the assassin escapes with the help of Lau's sister Ebby (Dada Chan). The killings are traced to Big Boss, head of an international crime syndicate that manipulates football match results in Europe; his Hong Kong partner is Ha Chi-yin (Shek Sau), a Jockey Club director in line to become its next chairman. The two disciplined forces, starting from mutual distrust, build a working rapport and move to uproot the syndicate.¹⁰

Title and production

Director David Lam explained that the "S" in the title stands for "Soccer"; the idea came from the World Cup two years earlier, when he saw people ruined by football gambling and, while researching the film, learned the range of betting practices involved.¹¹ The film was a Hong Kong–mainland co-production, registered with China's film authority as a co-production filed by Zhejiang Huace Film & TV and Pegasus Motion Pictures (Hong Kong), with Wong Ho-wah as the credited screenwriter.¹² Production companies included Pegasus Motion Pictures Production Ltd.⁵

Louis Koo returned to the incorruptible investigator role he played in Z Storm (2014). Director Lam, working with him for the second time, said Koo's suggestions on this film were far more useful to the production than on the first, reflecting his growing command of the character.¹³ Vic Chou, known from the television series Black & White, played a professional hitman for the first time, describing the police–ICAC–assassin triangle as a highlight of the film.¹¹

Release and box office

The film premiered in mainland China on 14 September 2016 in Mandarin and Cantonese versions.⁴ In Hong Kong it earned HK$8,707,069, placing tenth among Hong Kong films released that year.⁷ In mainland China it grossed about 200 million RMB, up from the roughly 95 million RMB of Z Storm; the series continued to grow with L Storm (400 million), P Storm (800 million), and G Storm (630 million RMB).⁸ Producer Raymond Wong and David Lam made five main-series films between 2014 and 2021, each named for a letter tied to its theme, with S Storm covering illegal gambling.⁶^•⁸ A Japanese theatrical release, distributed by Twin, was scheduled for 6 November 2026 as part of a complete retrospective of the five Storm films.¹

Reception

Critical response was largely negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 5% Tomatometer score from three reviews.⁹ Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post gave it two stars, calling it an awkwardly paced, largely forgettable sequel that does not even explain its title, and wrote that at a time of growing fears about political interference in the ICAC, "S Storm is not even good propaganda."¹⁴ Boon Chan of The Straits Times gave it 2.5 out of 5, writing that it was "not the kind of storm that makes for exciting viewing."⁹ James Mudge of easternKicks.com was more positive at 3.5 out of 5, finding the film enjoyable for viewers who like a lot of shouting with their action.⁹ On IMDb the film rates 5.2 out of 10 from 878 votes.³

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Franchise and series entries as standalone works › Action, thriller, and crime series film entries › Entries released in the 2010s › Crime and heist entries

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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