Mei Gong he xing dong (2016) Reviews

• One of the most exhilarating movies of the year, 'Operation Mekong' boasts spectacularly thrilling action set-pieces that represents some of director Dante Lam's finest work

  moviexclusive2016-10-01

  As well-intentioned as his inspirational youth cycling drama 'To the Fore' may have been, we'd much prefer Dante Lam's character-driven yet action-packed cop dramas 'The Stool Pigeon', 'Beast Stalker' and even the under-appreciated 'That Demon Within'. It should therefore be relief to his fans that Lam is returning to familiar territory with his latest, based upon the Chinese government's response to the real-life incident often referred to as the 'Mekong River Massacre' in which a special narcotics investigation was assembled to enter the Golden Triangle to arrest the notorious drug lord Naw Khar and his compatriots responsible for the killing of 13 Chinese fishermen and crew on board two merchant vessels. And true enough, Lam does not disappoint – not only does 'Operation Mekong' represent his return to large-scale hyper- kinetic action cinema, it is his most ambitiously action-packed movie ever and will quite likely be one of the best action movies you'll see this year. True to its title, the focus is on the covert operation led by Captain Gao Gang (Zhang Hanyu), a no-nonsense hard-nosed anti-narcotics officer handpicked by the Home Affairs Minister. Except for an opening prologue that tells of the devastating impact of the drug habit in Chinese society and introduces the Golden Triangle as a key producer of the narcotics, there is no attempt at social commentary. Nor does the film try to portray the politics involved, aside from mentioning the multi- national task force that was set up among China and the three aforementioned Southeast Asian nations in the days following the massacre to conduct joint patrols of the Golden Triangle and the titular river. Whether to avoid becoming propaganda or risk becoming a flashpoint in complex geopolitics, Lam and his four co-writers steer clear of the vagaries surrounding the unilateral move by the Chinese government to sanction its officers sent under the guise of the multi- national task force to bring the criminals to face trial back in China than in any of the other countries. Brought to the fore (pun intended) instead is the intricacies of the operation, as Gao's elite squad teams up with locally based intelligence officer Fang Xinwu (Eddie Peng) to identify the location of Naw Khar's base deep in the jungles of the Golden Triangle Special Region. That entails trying to rescue one of Naw Khar's men Yan Taung Pha responsible for setting up the deal that led to the massacre, which inadvertently exposes Xinwu's informant Gong Chai; when that fails, posing as a rich businessman looking to use Naw Khar's drugs to complement a new casino venture; and by doing so, getting closer to Naw Khar's inner circle, in particular his son Naw Htuu, to extract that crucial piece of information in order to apprehend Naw Khar. Each one of these three new leads is opportunity for Lam to stage a high-octane action set-piece (with impressive direction by Tung Wai) – first, a breathless foot chase through a claustrophobic market and a busy train station that turns into a jaw-dropping car chase complete with gunfights and RPGs; then, a shootout in a crowded mall which ensues in mass chaos and a tragic outcome for one of Gao's men; and finally, the all-out assault on Naw Khar's jungle lair that culminates in a spectacular boat chase along the Mekong River. Lam's insistence on realism, whether in terms of sets or props, ensures that every one of these elaborate sequences looks, sounds and feels real and thrilling. Coupled with that is his flair for build-up – prior to the mall shootout for instance are gripping parallel theatres of events, one led by Gao masquerading as businessman Mr Qian meeting Naw Khar's number- three Ya Ta and the other led by Gao's man Wenfeng trailing the bag of money used for the exchange – which accentuates the tension and sheer white-knuckle suspense of each major sequence. Compromised in the process is character detail or development, which frankly is somewhat of a pity. The most we learn about Gao aside from his solid leadership of his team is through a few occasional scenes where he looks at videos of his young daughter and one where he shares with Xinwu that the tolls of his job have led to his divorce years earlier. Xinwu gets a tragic backstory with Xing Deng which leads to questions about his ability to remain objective during the operation, but that little history hardly builds to anything compelling. The rest of Gao's team are defined only by their unique skills as well as by their Greek God-code names. There are also no shades of good and evil here, such that Gao and his men are uniformly heroes whereas Naw Phar – depicted as an over-the-top villain who snorts heroin and laughs when his child soldiers blow their own brains out playing Russian roulette – is unquestionably to be despised. There is never any doubt that Lam has set out to make a wall-to-wall action movie, and on that count, he succeeds tremendously. Mind you, this is not some Hollywood B-movie, but one where every gunfight, car chase and explosion is choreographed with panache, adding up beautifully to a single movie that has nary a dull moment. Unlike his peers who have taken on similar subjects (such as Johnnie To in 'Drug War' or Derek Yee in 'Protégé'), Lam isn't taken so much by the fallouts of the drug business or its victims – notwithstanding the brief nod to the limbless villagers punished for disobeying Naw Khar's orders – as he is on the complexities and minutiae of the clandestine operation that helped bring to justice one of the biggest criminal kingpins in the Golden Triangle. If you accept 'Operation Mekong' on its terms, you'll find this one of the most exhilarating movies of the year, an accomplishment which cements Lam's reputation as the foremost Hong Kong director for big-scale action cinema.

• 2 hours non-stop action thriller

  rchui2016-10-01

  In my opinion, this movies is comparable to Star War or Expandable 3. It is based on a real story: 13 Chinese cargo ship members were murdered on 10/5/2011 by the drug lord in the Golden Triangle. It took the undercover anti-drug several years to penetrate the drug circle. It reveals the dark side of the drug gang, where they use kids as soldiers for suicide bomb and control them by drug. I just saw the first show in the U.S. yesterday. You won't be disappointed. Plus, every Chinese should see this movies. There was a police dog name "XiaoTian" was very smart, brave, and he died at the end trying to protect the lead cop for the operation. Also, there are several undercover agents got killed during the operation. It is one of best films I have seen in years. It is much better than Expandable 3 or Star War.

• Could've been great... but came across as an insult.

  tl30002017-01-18

  This film is intended to be a nationalistic exhibition and exultation of the mighty prowess, fortitude and ingenuity of their Special Forces. Instead the film portrays a bunch of inept and amateurish 'military' personnel--with Greek mythological figures as nicknames no less--lacking real leadership, conviction, training, and strategic experience in undercover and covert operations. This film would probably appeal to the uninformed simpletons. Anyone with any type of military understanding would find this film laughable and appalling. The filmmaker really did a disservice and insulted every member of the PRC military--along with the 13 Chinese victims, the real life casualties. They must be cringing if they could see this shameful account unfolding like a Mickey Mouse escapade. Instead of what potentially could have been a great showing of national pride, this film is just an embarrassing foray into the shoot-and-blow-them-up genre. If you're into that type of films, then this one is for you.

• Great action movies to watch

  reginazyr2017-02-12

  Action scene well done. Full of thrill and tension all the time. You won't get bored since there are different fight scenes with variations. The plot is somehow simple. Well, I would say most action movies are not focused on weaver a complicated plot. The patriot of main characters serves its purpose, yet a bit more depth would be nice. Some of the reviews are quite judgemental and not based on the movie per se. If we see all movies as somehow a Propaganda then all American movies with heroes in it will fall into the category. Since when does IMDb cares about politics rather than the movie itself? This is kind of disappointing.

• A Rip-Roaring Action Thriller

  ebossert2017-02-13

  Note: Check me out as the "Asian Movie Enthusiast" on YouTube, where I review tons of Asian movies. In October 2011, the 13 crew members of two Chinese cargo ships were shot to death on the Mekong River, which runs through the Golden Triangle, and a large amount of metaamphetamine drugs were recovered from the crime scene. The Chinese government dispatches an anti-narcotics task force to the area to investigate. There they team up with an intelligence officer for a dangerous mission that takes them deep into the lawless jungles of the Golden Triangle and the lair of a ruthless drug-lord. Now although there are a handful of protagonists here, two of the actors really step to the forefront, get the most screen time, and carry the film from start to finish – Hanyu Zhang and Eddie Peng. Hanyu Zhang previously appeared in films such as "The Taking of Tiger Mountain", "Special ID", "Bodyguards and Assassins", "The Message", "The Equation of Love and Death", and "Assembly." The thing I like most about this actor is his screen presence. He has a very commanding presence that keeps you engaged. With regard to Eddie Peng, I just covered him last week while reviewing "Call of Heroes" – so it's nice to see him in this one as well. One criticism that I've read regarding this movie is that the story and character development are rather thin. I would agree with that criticism. The structure of the film basically goes like this. The narcotics unit gets "intel" about one of the drug lords, or someone who is associated with one of the drug lords, and they immediately take action. Sometimes, it's an infiltration and undercover sting – other times it's an extraction (or pseudo rescue mission) that takes place in a hostile area. These infiltrations and extractions may last anywhere between 10 minutes to 30 or more minutes of screen time, depending on the complexity of the particular mission. But in-between the missions, our protagonists basically do nothing but get ready for the next one. So there's really not much time for adding complexity or depth to the characters. But with that said, "Operaton Mekong" more than compensates for this flaw with its blistering pace and action set pieces. The action design is mostly gritty and diverse, with an emphasis on urban apprehensions and special ops strikes that involve gunplay and hand-to-hand combat that does get quite violent at times (there are a few intense scenes involving children and oppressed villagers). This creates a sense of thrill and suspense even though it does get unrealistic (especially in terms of how much damage our two heroes can take). This is definitely neat stuff, incorporating some creative equipment and technology, as well as one of the coolest dogs in recent memory. The dog in this movie – I think his name is Bingo – is awesome, and his usefulness contributes a certain creativity that you don't see in many action movies. And the sheer quantity of action is significant, meaning that things move at a very fast pace. A few other positives I'd like to mention: There are some beautiful natural environments, as well as some great overhead shots of various country locales. International conflict and cast are also a nice mix. This is a no nonsense crowd-pleasing action from Dante Lam, who previously directed "The Beast Stalker", "The Stool Pigeon", "Beast Cops", "Fire of Conscience", "Unbeatable", and "To the Fore."