Director: Huo Suiqiang
Year: 2024
Country: China
Alternate Titles: Ji e
Genre: Action
Plot:
After a series of operations, a police officer on the Narcotics Enforcement team finds himself no closer than he used to be to uncovering the identity of an underworld boss smuggling a deadly new drug into the city. When he finds a potential link to a major figure in the city being responsible for the drugs pouring into the city, he finds that a secondary kingpin is looking to move into the territory and started a war against the other figure in the city, forcing the officer to put his duty aside to figure out where he stands in the middle of the situation.
Review:
This was a fairly fun and enjoyable genre effort. Among its better qualities is the strong-willed storyline that manages to incorporate just enough story into a film designed for a lot of fighting. The idea of the drug war at the center of everything going on here is quite intricate for a movie of this type, focusing on a long-standing war with drug runners and smugglers in the city looking to introduce a new strain of narcotic in the city while they’re efforts are countered by both the team of police officers trying to prevent it and the secondary smuggler looking to gain his own empire in the process.
This three-pronged war creates a lot of fun with the different sides coming together nicely, with the police attacking the drug-smelting and transportation sites while the secondary kingpin picks up the pieces. The war for control over the drug trade makes for as much fun as the rest of the film involves the intriguing possibility of the two joining forces to take down the main drug lord so that the secondary one can take over the operations in the city, a tantalizing treat that plays on the old-school shifting of alliances that the genre usually plays well.
That lets the film work through a series of impressive and stand-out Action set pieces throughout here. Offering a series of explosive, close-quarters fighting, whether it be hand-to-hand combat or gunfighting, there’s an exhilarating element present within the film that brings out the breakneck pace of this quite well. From the opening assault on the officers swarming his lab that results in the scientist escaping with the assistant, the following police raids on their waterfront hideout, or the daring tunnel heist of the stolen drugs, the action is usually fast, frantic, and highly enjoyable throughout here, giving this quite a lot to like.
There’s not much to dislike here. The main element found here is the overblown finale that tries to incorporate too many aspects for what it’s trying to accomplish. With a revenge mission for a drug bust set up years earlier, allegiance shifting for no reason, and numerous double-crosses galore are all a part of a story that introduces too many elements at this time when it didn’t need to. On top of that, some of the stunt work attempted here gets undermined by some dodgy and highly obvious CGI that spoils the scene so that both the story and the visuals in this part are problematic. This is the main area that holds it back.
Overview: ****/5
A strong and generally effective Action effort, there’s quite a lot to like here that manages to make for a generally enjoyable time, as the few minor negatives are not that damaging or detrimental. Those with an interest in this style or approach, as well as those who are fans of the creative crew, will have the most to like here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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