:
Anthony Wong,
Anthony Wong,
Francis Ng,
more...
:
Johnny To,
Law Wing-cheung,
Johnny To,
more...
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Tai Seng
: Foreign, Hong Kong
: 84 min.
: English, Chinese
: English, Chinese
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Veteran Hong Kong director Johnnie To spins this wild, kinetic crime thriller. Following a failed assassination attempt on his life, crime boss Lung (Ko Hung), instructs his henchman Frank (Simon Yam) to find the villain behind the plot. Frank soon hires a quintet of hired guns to guard the boss, including the laconic Curtis (Anthony Wong), the flinty Roy (Francis Ng) and his protégé Shin (Jackie Lui), the haggard Mike (Roy Cheung), and firearms expert and peanut enthusiast James (Lam Suet). The group manages to thwart three attempts on the old man's life -- one from a sniper, a second in a shopping mall, and the third in an old warehouse -- until they figure out that rival crime boss Fat Chung (Wong Tin-lan) had order the hit. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
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| To at His Peak? Maybe.
by talltale
November 12, 2007 - 3:31 PM PST
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1 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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In Johnny To's Hong Kong thriller THE MISSION, an attempt is made on the life of a crime boss, and so he forms around him a posse of protectors who wait, then act, wait some more, then act again. So what, you ask? If both sides of this coin--the action and the repose--were not handled so well, full of lived-in detail that adds to character as well as plot, you might have a point. But this 1999 movie shows To at just about peak form. A little over halfway along, a monkey wrench is tossed into the plot, and things change and change again.
I must say, as much as I enjoy these deadly, vicious romps among the Triad families, I am consistently impressed with how little women figure into things in any kind of solid manner. In "The Mission," the sole woman is used solely for a bit of plot twist. She possesses a single characteristic: infidelity. Gheesh! This makes me appreciate even more a movie such as the Korean "Lady Vengeance" by Chan-wook Park. (One Hong Kong exception is the sweetly funny then shocking and ugly "One Nite in Mongkok" by Tung-Shing "Derek" Yee.)
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| Quiet and deep
by MHam
April 12, 2005 - 6:54 PM PDT
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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| For an action film, this movie is quiet. There are some white-knuckle scenes, but the real story is in the quiet by-play among the bodyguards. Not be missed. It is well worth the award that it won. |
| this one stands out
by ZArkles
March 27, 2004 - 1:26 PM PST
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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| I was expecting to sit down and watch another standard-fare action flick, but instead I was blown away by this smart, tight, chilling, sexy movie. The shoot out scenes were exceptionally well-done and have stayed on my mind for days. The sound track was a bit strange but ended up working very well. The plot involves five men hired to defend the life of an organized crime boss. I'm definitely checking out director Johnny To's other films. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.19)
36 Votes
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