The Director of ‘The Sniper’ and ‘Blind War’ returns with another fast-moving Domestic Chinese produced potboiler that sees cop and criminal (tentatively) joining forces to take down an even bigger threat. Andy On (‘Black Mask 2’, ‘True Legend’) is the crim and Xie Miao (‘My Father is a Hero’, ‘Eye for an Eye’) is the cop who after a couple of explosive showdowns realise they have a more deadly enemy in common: Andrew Lin’s (‘The Blacksheep Affair’) wannabe Governor is actually a crime lord who goes by the name of King Long and wants to flood the city of Wusuli with a new drug called Ice Spider. Having his own reasons to take down King Long, On’s criminal suggests an unlikely alliance with Miao’s no-nonsense cop, but can these two adversaries ultimately trust one another?
Loaded with breakneck action, ‘Hunt the Wicked’ gets by on its energetic execution and its two martial arts stars facing off before teaming up. Action is really what it’s all about here and on those terms, the film excels. Delivering exhilarating and huge set-pieces on a seemingly modest budget, ‘Hunt the Wicked’ overcomes any narrative illogicalness to sate action fans. The director and his action team deliver the goods in terms of well-choreographed fights and mayhem, offering up a surplus of fights, gunplay, and vehicular destruction. It’s a nice, varied mix of action that the cast and crew orchestrate well, with heavy artillery often featured and a great sustained battle below the city within its sewers. Xie Miao and Andy On are on top fight form and get to highlight their considerable action experience on several occasions, the standout being their brutal one-on-one fight featuring the innovative use of a sledgehammer as a weapon.
On is also great as the antagonist, his motivations given a unique twist that keeps the proceedings interesting. He gives good bad and shares great chemistry with Hong Shuang (‘Sniper Vengeance’), playing his equally deadly wife and partner in crime. Xie Miao equips himself well in the action but is so po-faced serious, he comes off a little one-note and wooden, which the film tends to be when the action is not lighting up the screen. The action really drives the film here and everything in between falls either a little flat (overly serious cops enamoured of their leader) or over-the-top silly (the pantomime array of villains working with King Long). This means the film never quite grasps the grit it craves and the subplot of dirty water running through Wusuli gives the film an unwelcome grimy feel: more cheap exploitation than gritty cop vs gangster vibe.
Still, the action is copious, the stars go at it with energy, and when everyone is either chasing, shooting, or fighting, ‘Hunt the Wicked’ is some fast and furious action fun.
Well Go USA recently released ‘Hunt The Wicked’ on US Blu-ray and Digital, and you can order it now from Amazon.com, and Hiyahtv.com.
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