And so, after a vessel carrying a large cache of weaponry is found in Hong Kong waters, mid-level customs officer Lai (Tse) leaps into action. Things get much worse when an army of mercenaries appears out of nowhere and, with deadly force, shoots its way into a government warehouse to retrieve the seized cargo.

Amid the mayhem these personal dramas add a refreshing element, but whatever intrigue viewers may harbour will soon give way to incredulity as Customs Frontline takes some very bizarre turns. These include a clumsy reveal of mental illness and a shocking scene of self-harm that inspires more giggles than gasps from the audience I watched it with.

It is a mystery why this messy battle with terrorists stays on the plate of the customs service – and not the police or the Chinese army – although the fact that it does allows the narrative to go off on ever wilder tangents, such as when Lai goes on a globetrotting espionage mission alongside a Thai Interpol agent (Cya Liu Ya-se).

Tse has done a fine job in his first official credit as an action director. It’s just a pity that his hard work is in the service of such an outlandish piece of fantasy. Instead of an insider look at how the customs service operates, we are left with an empty spectacle in which Tse’s superhero outshoots every nameless goon in sight.