Hidden Strike (2023)
There is a plan. They just don't know what it is.
A new movie came out and I wanted to watch it, so that’s the plan. The general population has ratings pretty low - so you know what that means. No, not that it’s bad, that it’s going to be an absolute fun time because people are way too nitpicky about movies! So yeah, put your snooty-pants in the closet and bring out your detector goggles so you don’t miss half the movie - tonight we watch Hidden Strike.
Yes, it;s a cheap John Cena joke. I’ll try and contain myself. Anyways, the movie is pretty straight forward, with it turning into a buddy-esque movie about halfway through. Leading up to that, we have the story of a Chinese team extracting a bunch of refinery workers from a threatening situation, and a team of mercenaries looking for a paycheck. The two intertwine when the mercs job is to kidnap a special target - supposedly a real criminal, but actually the refinery head. When one of our main characters see’s it’s no criminal, he drops the job and leaves, only to find out there’s been some double crossing and now the stakes are personal. On the Chinese front, our other main is trying to do his job of rescuing the hostages kidnapped from the escape attempt, and the two must join forces to come out the other side the heroes. Misunderstanding hijinks and hand to hand ensues, and things get entertaining.
One of the things people seem to complain about is the acting in this. I don’t particularly find it that bad. Yeah, it isn’t something that you will necessarily find up for an emmy or something like that, but I’ve seen some bad acting in my days, and this isn’t something that’s standing out. I think more of it could be called somewhat cookie-cutter writing that leaves a bit to be desired from the acting front. People are putting in effort, it doesn’t feel like it’s phoned in for any of the main characters - with Cena or Chan hamming it up at times for added effect. There’s a level of the movie not being played entirely seriously whilst some of it is - but I don’t think that’s entirely distinct from something like Rush Hour, which a lot of folks do like. Part of it might be Tucker in that movie is far more overblown about being dramatic and center focus, or perhaps it’s just the more interesting backdrop and story to the movie. Either way I think where it might fall apart - if you could even call it that - is the side characters feel rather two dimensional when they are even given anything to work with, and so most the acting in the movie doesn’t get any chance to illuminate, let alone shine.
Most the side-mercs might as well just be nameless soldiers, the main villain is generic “what’s owed me” plot, and most the side-line good guys don’t even get so much as name drops half the time. Cena’s character has a bit of a history that gets dropped later in the movie, and his main driving force is good motivations and a dingus brother - who most the watchers won’t care about since he’s kind of a dink. On Jackie’s side, it’s classic sometimes serious sometimes wacky soldier antics, where he’s doing a job but also partially at time trying to protect the character that is his daughter and the both have a strained relationship that comes up so the daughter and him can bond by the end of the flick like you fully expect from the moment it’s brought up. They aren’t bad as far as main characters go, but there is a small section for allowed growth in the main characters, so it ends up feeling far more akin to the action flicks of old then the more modern stuff people are probably now accustomed too. Honestly, the chemistry works pretty good in my opinion, particularly between Chan and Cena - a good thing since most the movie is them - but I think since it’s something we’ve already seen in things like Rush Hour and plenty of other frenemies kind of buddy movies that it would need to stand out far more than it does to make most people notice. Thankfully I’m me in that regard, so I can enjoy it for what it is, which for me is good enough and most importantly fun.
Nicknames are important
Perhaps where the movie suffers the most is that everything is a bit bland. It’s a desert, so when it comes to interesting sights to take in it feels a bit like a less colorful eccentric Mad Max movie. Fun things will happen within this bland desert - sometimes minor emotional bits with questionably acted kids, sometimes with gunfights and hijacking buses - but the desert is just a desert as far as the eye can see. Of course, there’s a little village, a bunker-like radio facility, and the probably pretty CG’d refinery to visit as well, but I could understand the backdrop not really impressing someone much. Likewise, although the CG effects work like enhancing the size of the refinery or some of those helicopters can be noticeable I don’t find it enjoyment-breaking bad. Yes, I won’t mistake the big cargo helicopter taking off as real, but I’m watching a movie where inevitably wacky events are going to happen, I don’t need it to be super realistic. It also doesn’t get used as often in such a noticeable way as that. The practical stuff that’s there like some of the car carnage is good to go, but you can’t force someone to like effects if they don’t want to, and it’d be heresy for me to act like the special effects are always the best stuff out there - but quite frankly, I don’t find this worse than I did some of the stuff in the first Black Panther movie, so I don’t feel it’s bad enough to rag this thing down to some of the ratings people give it.
The action scenes can be good. There’s some questionable shots at times, perhaps a few times it’s a bit more cut heavy than needed, but overall it isn’t bad. They try to do things to liven stuff up, like the swirling camera during the bus fight that loops around and over the fighters to try to add more energy to a very close in fight. I appreciate that it’s not just 70 cuts in the fight as it goes back and forth, but I also don’t know how effective it actually is during that shot and might have preferred a more static shot if given the two side by side. Things will cut back and forth between the characters, but given the dramatic difference between the looks of each person’s main support staff, it’s pretty hard to not follow whats going on. Some of the fights incorporate classic moments of fun, such as silly antics, that you’d expect from a lot of Chan stuff when he’s not being fully serious, and at times they can perhaps oversell how massive Cena is but it’s enjoyable for the vast majority in my opinion. There’s also a moment, intentional or not, of Cena invisibility in the movie, and that got a good laugh and finger point out of me.
That is another thing that will always be hit or miss - how much laughter the movie brings you. A lot of the jokes or silly moments caught me in a good mood, so I’m already predisposed to laugh at them, but some of it is just some funny slapstick style moments. Misunderstandings play a good role in the humor, such as during a situation with grenades and the phrase “pull the pin.” It’s a nice touch that makes up for not having a ton of one-liners that would fit the classic action movie feel, and at least I got a few laughs. Audio is all heard fine thanks to balancing, although I still don’t speak Chinese so the subtitles had to help me out there. There’s some right classic Netflix subtitles fun going on there to, for folks who enjoy some of the ways subtitles describe sounds and events. There’s also some play in the Chinese with pronunciations that might be more comedic for those who know Chinese and get it as the joke is being told, whereas someone like me had to have it explained by the joke folding out in order to fully get it. Music is there, it does it’s background role pretty well and has some semi-distinct theme action for the heroes. It doesn’t, as usual for me anyways, stick around afterwards, but it still does good. Costumes get a bit of a chance to stand out here or there, with plenty of military attachments useful and not.
Pausing fast-moving action scenes can lead to blurs.
I had fun here, but at this point I would be surprised if anyone thought I wouldn’t. I don’t require much from a flick, and it gave me what I wanted at the core of it - fun buddy action between Chan and Cena with some explosions and antics. It’s not overly violent thanks to most the folks barely using guns, and when when the guns do get used things aren’t overly explicit about things. It has some fun action scenes, although some can carry a good number of cuts or fancy camera work that might help or detract from the scene depending on the person. There’s some jokes and silliness, but there’s also some heart and impacts when it wants them. If you’re looking for a fun action flick that doesn’t have to be a masterpiece but won’t overstay it’s welcome, this isn’t a bad choice at all.