★★★☆☆
Fans of Hong Kong filmmaker Dante Lam will be familiar with his visceral approach towards crafting exhilarating genre moments in cinema. From gritty psychological action thrillers like Beast Stalker and The Stool Pigeon to his recent sport action drama endeavours like To The Fore, Lam’s ability to devise action customised for different stories and genre settings has always been revered.
Lam’s qualities derive from the fact that he doesn’t explicitly glorify his genre deliverables. In his latest crime action thriller Operation Mekong, there are no lack of large scale action set pieces. Interestingly, they are catered to accentuate the scenes as against exploiting action to an implausible extent.
For instance, there’s a scene where Chinese Inspector Ko (Zhang Hanyu) attempts to save an informant from a squad of assailants at a rail yard. The close combat action that ensues (within the span of about five to eight seconds) are quick, impactful and just adequate to get the audience’s blood boiling with adrenaline.
Ko teams up with his colleagues and partners a native intelligence officer Fong (Eddie Peng) who’s a master of disguise and quick wits to survive in the harsh environment. The characterisation of the two protagonists are relatively superficial for proper appreciation, but the onscreen portrayal by Zhang and Peng respectively sees strong performances.
Along with Lam himself, there’s a team of over five screenwriters adapting a story based on the actual Mekong River massacre of thirteen Chinese nationals who’re crew of two cargo ships that traversed along a stretch of the Mekong River within the Golden Triangle region. It is however noticed that Operation Mekong does not over politise the incident to generate political and social commentary.
Through a largely touch-and-go approach, the first half of Operation Mekong sees a weak exposition where Lam’s experimentation with handheld shaky camera footage of a chase across a market felt disoriented with too many rapid cuts by the editing department.
Lam’s decision to reside his focus on his adapted narrative might not sit well with people who are attracted to the film’s premise. This is however celebrated with much fanfare by genre fans.
There are two scenes of a military canine disabling landmines in the jungle and also disabling an armed fugitive who is attempting his escape in an automobile within a shopping mall. There is a grand scene where three tactical squads attempt to infiltrate a drug lord’s base that is heavily guarded by firearms. These provide a lot to watch for in the final third of the film.
Operation Mekong is a celebration of Hong Kong filmmaker Dante Lam and his return to explosive genre territories that should be well appreciated by most viewers despite lacking in the grounds of narrative and psychological thrills.
Also published on InCinemas.sg
cineJay 