Another great independent review of Extraordinary Mission.
Extraordinary Mission
Directed by Alan Mak and Anthony Pun
Lin Kai (Huang Xuan), a police officer, goes undercover to infiltrate Twin Eagles, a drug cartel. He befriends the cartel's head honcho, Eagle (Duan Yihong), and becomes addicted to heroin while trying to take down the cartel. Eagle might be the notorious drug lord whom Lin Kai's handler, Li Jianguo (Zu Feng), had tried, but failed to capture ten years earlier.
Extraordinary Mission feels suspenseful and thrilling with a plot that becomes increasingly complex while remaining easy to follow. Director Alan Mak, who also directed the classic Infernal Affairs, and co-director Anthony Pun waste no time by hooking the audience from the very beginning with an intense sequence. The tension escalates even further once Lin Kai infiltrates the cartel as the audience wonders whether or not Eagle will discover his true identity. The filmmakers maintain a fast pace an wisely avoid relying on gore as a means of entertaining the audience. Yes, there are plenty of action scenes, but there's nothing gratuitous in terms of blood and guts.
What makes Extraordinary Mission truly extraordinary, (pun-intended) is that it offers not only spectacle but also some truth because its villain actually has a backstory that makes him seem all the more human even if he's not particularly likable. He's not cartoonish or one-note like the villain in most blockbusters. The very well-cast Huang Xuan makes for a charismatic lead who's well worth rooting for and caring about. At running time of just under 2 hours, Extraordinary Mission is a riveting, exhilarating, white-knuckle crime thriller.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Released by Hannover House and CMC Pictures.
Opens at AMC Empire 25.
http://nycmovieguru.com/april7th17.html#extraordinarymission
Extraordinary Mission
Directed by Alan Mak and Anthony Pun
Lin Kai (Huang Xuan), a police officer, goes undercover to infiltrate Twin Eagles, a drug cartel. He befriends the cartel's head honcho, Eagle (Duan Yihong), and becomes addicted to heroin while trying to take down the cartel. Eagle might be the notorious drug lord whom Lin Kai's handler, Li Jianguo (Zu Feng), had tried, but failed to capture ten years earlier.
Extraordinary Mission feels suspenseful and thrilling with a plot that becomes increasingly complex while remaining easy to follow. Director Alan Mak, who also directed the classic Infernal Affairs, and co-director Anthony Pun waste no time by hooking the audience from the very beginning with an intense sequence. The tension escalates even further once Lin Kai infiltrates the cartel as the audience wonders whether or not Eagle will discover his true identity. The filmmakers maintain a fast pace an wisely avoid relying on gore as a means of entertaining the audience. Yes, there are plenty of action scenes, but there's nothing gratuitous in terms of blood and guts.
What makes Extraordinary Mission truly extraordinary, (pun-intended) is that it offers not only spectacle but also some truth because its villain actually has a backstory that makes him seem all the more human even if he's not particularly likable. He's not cartoonish or one-note like the villain in most blockbusters. The very well-cast Huang Xuan makes for a charismatic lead who's well worth rooting for and caring about. At running time of just under 2 hours, Extraordinary Mission is a riveting, exhilarating, white-knuckle crime thriller.
Number of times I checked my watch: 1
Released by Hannover House and CMC Pictures.
Opens at AMC Empire 25.
http://nycmovieguru.com/april7th17.html#extraordinarymission
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