Hidden Strike (2023)

[Greg]

Jackie Chan! John Cena!

Nope!

[Drunk Monk]

So judgey.

Actually, this isn’t bad. 

It starts out with Jackie as a leader of special ops team, lots of young beautiful actors and I’m thinking crap, is this another Vanguard? (See http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=7537). It’s got Jackie dealing with father/daughter issues and then I’m thinking, really? Ride On again? (See http://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFor...p?tid=7638). Cena is an ex-pat ex-mercenary living in the oil rich desert.  There’s a massive oil refinery with a lot of Chinese workers and their families that’s being threatened by pirates so Jackie and his team are called in to evacuate them to the Green zone, but the path there is the ‘road of death’. Cena gets duped into helping the bad guys. Ok whatev. 

The first half hour or so is a lot of cgi. About a dozen buses run the road of death gauntlet right into an obvious trap. There’s fire fights, choppers, dune buggies with machine guns, rocket launchers and grappling hooks, plus some absurd rappelling. There’s a good random oner fight with one of Jackie’s female squad members vs a merc pirate ninja bad guy. It’s done with camera work that swirls around the fight in a gratuitous way but it’s still a remarkable bit of choreo and cinematography. Impressive tease.

Then Jackie and Cena meet for an Arthurian/Lancelot duel which is okay, albeit with a lot of wire work and Jackie stunt doubles. Jackie is pushing 70 and Cena is only 46 but the match comes off well. It’s comical, which is where this film wants to be. Once they get together, this becomes a classic buddy flick, and Jackie and Cena have a good chemistry. They play off each other well. Their banter is funny, as it should be, although there are some jokes dealing with subtleties of Chinese that might escape most westerners (make no mistake here - this film is made more for the Eastern and Middle Eastern markets, not the USA so much). Large portions are in mandarin. But some things like Cena’s faulty tones when he speaks Chinese, and the way numbers are shown with hand gestures are distinctly Chinese, and perhaps not as funny to anyone unfamiliar with Chinese culture. But still, there’s plenty of humorous bits that work just fine.

The last half hour is Jackie & Cena raiding the refinery to rescue hostages. The refinery is a good device for Mano a Mano fights, because shooting guns could trigger crazy explosions. The action is solid - both Cena and Jackie deliver and Jackie even busts out some of his signature acrobatic evasions. Not bad for an old man. Jackie v Tim Man (a pro martial arts champ and noted stuntman) is pure Jackie with bungee bouncing and foam (it makes more sense when you see it) a fine tongue-in-cheek fight reminiscent of Jackie’s more creative days. 

All in all, not bad. It’s an entertaining action comedy, at least after Jackie & Cena buddy up. Here’s my suggestion - turn this on and watch the first half hour or so as you collect your cheesy snacks and whiskey. You don’t have to pay that much attention because a lot of characters are tossed to the curb once the buddy act starts. Then sit down and enjoy. It’s a decent buddy flick, funny, good fight choreo, ridiculous cgi car chases, and several physics defying solutions.

D00M recommended as long as you don’t take this too seriously and fast forward over the pre-buddy flick act.

[thatguy]

Am I the only one who confuses John Cena with Michael Cera when I read the names? When I realize the mistake, my mind gets stuck on how would this same movie be if it actually was Michael Cera in the role…

—tg

[Drunk Monk]

Yes
You are the only person that confuses Cena with Cera. 
The only one in the whole world.
I’d get that checked by a medical professional. Could be serious.

[Greg]

You are very generous man, DM. All that CGI in the beginning bugged me. It was like they had the budget for CGI, just not good CGI. I think Michael Cera was the best thing about this. He seemed to be having fun. But the buddy cop aspect was a pale imitation to pairings in the past. I understood the language and number jokes, they just weren't all that funny. The movie was a loose conglomeration of great ideas from the past with mediocre execution.

Why didn't Jackie Chan just call in his security force to help at the refinery? Why didn't the helicopters stay as top cover to the convoy?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

G-Man is back in his element.

[Greg]

G-Man is back in his element.

Low hanging fruit.

[Drunk Monk]

Why didn't Jackie Chan just call in his security force to help at the refinery? 

Because he had Cera. I mean Cena. If I had Cena, that's all I'd need.

Why didn't Jackie Chan just call in his security force to help at the refinery? Why didn't the helicopters stay as top cover to the convoy?

Same as above. 

Mind you, I didn't say this was a great film. It just wasn't that bad, at least in context of Jackie's latest films. If you want to see bad, check out Vanguard.

Worthy of note - when this project began in 2017, Stallone was cast in Cena's part.

Am I the only one who confuses Sylvester Stallone with Megan Thee Stallion when I read the names? When I realize the mistake, my mind gets stuck on how would this same movie be if it actually was Megan Thee Stallion in the role…