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2.5\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n Any suspicion that logic would prevail over the cool factor is dispelled in the opening scene, when No 4, the poker-faced Hong Kong assassin played by Ngai, engages his unarmed target in a brutal brawl on a moving tram before finally strangling him. He could have simply started with the strangulation.<\/p>\n The \u201cvendetta\u201d in the film\u2019s English title refers partly to No 4\u2019s traumatic childhood, during which he survived a mystery attack that resulted in his mother\u2019s beheading, before being taken in by a secret organisation of assassins. The connection between these events is as straightforward as one might guess.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAs one of the most handsome faces to emerge from Hong Kong\u2019s latest generation of film actors, Jeffrey Ngai Tsun-sang\u2019s ascent to a leading role was inevitable. After playing several supporting parts, including two rather silly ones (in the comedies Everything Under Control<\/em><\/span> and Table for Six 2<\/em><\/span>), he is finally getting the chance.<\/div>\nRoad to Vendetta<\/em>, a violent, John Wick<\/em><\/span>-inspired action thriller co-produced by Hong Kong and Japan, delivers as a pop idol vehicle with its ample visual style. For all the effort to make an anti-hero out of Ngai, however, the film\u2019s screenplay appears multiple revisions away from telling a convincing story.<\/div>\n