Extraordinary Mission - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Extraordinary Mission

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Mainland Chinese films have a sort of stigma about them, and for good reason. Hong Kong was once the mainstay of Chinese action films, but their time has faded, and we have mainland China pumping out more and more films as the years go by. The problem is, they’re mostly propaganda fueled set pieces that ring of over the top, forced patriotism that just doesn’t ring true in a movie setting. Extraordinary Mission was one of those movies that I looked over when it was initially released as it seemed to mirror the annoying Operation Mekong, which opened up the same month. Operation Mekong left a sour taste in my mouth in regards to mainland Chinese films, and the fact that Extraordinary Mission seemed like just another movie about drugs in the golden triangle, I shrugged it off as just a cheap knockoff of Dante Lam’s Operation Mekong. Even though it has the tag line “from the same director of Infernal Affairs” I was still hesitant. Infernal Affairs is the godfather of Chinese undercover cop movies, and is probably my favorite Chinese police film of all time (sorry, Jackie Chan’s Police Story films are great, but Infernal Affairs is legendary for a reason). It even was the original that sparked Martin Scorsese to remake it when he did The Departed (another amazing movie), but with so many directors not living up to their glory days, and with Operation Mekong so prevalent on my mind, I was still a bit hesitant. Luckily Extraordinary Mission surpasses my expectations with ease, even though it doesn’t live up to the legend of Infernal Affairs (which is something that I never expected it to do, as lightning almost never strikes twice).

Extraordinary Mission happens to be one of the most entertaining action/thriller/cop movies to come out of China for the last decade, and I’m actually really surprised it didn’t get more coverage when it came out on the mainland. Alan Mak’s skills are well utilized here as he forms a film that is part drama, part thriller, and end the movie in a 40 minute action sequence that puts most modern action movies to shame.

Xuan Huang is undercover officer Lin Kai (at least that’s his assumed name for the mission) as he is disavowed by his superiors in an undercover mission that will send him into the heart of the Heroin drug lords in the famous Golden Circle. If he completes the mission, he gets his life back. But if Lin Kai doesn’t, then know one will ever know that he isn’t a scum bag drug dealer. Delving deep into the bowels of the inner circle of the heroin dealers, Lin Kai forces his way into the good graces of Eagle (Yihong Duan), the head of the biggest drug cartel, and soon works his way up the rank. Strung out on Eagle’s drugs (a control technique exerted by the crafty drug lord), Lin Kai finds out that things are darker than he ever expected. Eagle not only has plans to turn over Heroin into “Ice”, but he also has the partner of his own superior officer, but plans to use him and his contacts to lure Lin’s boss out in the open so that he can finish him once and for all.

As I said, Extraordinary Mission is a three part film. The first couple of acts are full on cop drama. Lin Kai has to infiltrate the organization and find out what is going on before he can report back to her superiors, but Eagle is a bit craftier than expected. I won’t spoil the surprises and twists, but lets just say that no one should be surprised if they understand Alan Mak. There are double crosses, triple crosses, and good Sherlock Holmsian layer of secrecy that keeps the viewers in the dark about the inner workings of Eagle’s plans. This allows for the setup to unveil an explosive third act that throws all caution to the wind and rocks the subs with an all out action shot that lasts a full 40 minutes. Guns, knives, explosions, AK fire and lots of stunt work make for a thrilling conclusion to the film that I wasn’t expecting considering the rather steady paced first and 2nd act.

While the undercover cop drama has been done to death, Mak and his crew manage to keep it feeling fresh and exciting due to his ability to keep secrets from the audience, and still not feel disconnected. Xuan makes for an engaging lead character, and Duan is delicious as the crime lord, Eagle. Even though it’s set midst the same Thailand setting that so many Chinese movies are moving to, Cinematographer Fletcher Poon does an amazing job of allowing the film to stand out from among all the rest, as his excellent cinematic pedigree is a cut above most other cinematographers in the same local. Everything just looks and feels way better than I was expecting, and actually feels like I was watching a movie made 15-20 years ago, when China was the king of action movies.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Extraordinary Mission was shot digitally using the Red Epic Dragon cameras and finished at 2K resolution for the master, and the Blu-ray looks quite good for what it is. Chinese have a certain style and “flair” to them that is all their own, and Extraordinary Mission is no different. There is a distinct gold and green hue to the color grading (the gold comes out majorly in the night time shots), but the daylight sequences are extremely sharp and clean with the digital shoot. Fine details are usually excellent, but there is some softness in the darkness, as well as some of the long shots. Otherwise you can see every drop of sweat, or bit of grime on the faces of the rough and tumble drug dealers. Black levels are excellent, with some of the gold color grading washing out bits and pieces here and there. It’s a good looking transfer, with only mild banding and some mild crush to keep it from being excellent.





Audio:

The Mandarin 5.1 DTS-HD MA track fares about as well as the video encode does, giving us an extremely enjoyable mix that does everything right without being overly incredible. The dialog is well defined and I could find no issues with the balance. Even among the most kinetic of action sequences, or the quietest of dialog driven moments. The surrounds get a hefty workout with the car chases, and gunfights, but also fade evenly into the background when the dialog heavy scenes are prominent. Mild ambient noises keep them from being completely inactive during the dialog (such as when they are in Eagle’s underground lair and the scratching of feet along the stone floor, or the muttering of the drug lord elders hums in the background). LFE is powerful and explosive during the battles, but it’s never a sonic bombardment except in a few precise moments.






Extras:

• Making of Extraordinary Mission
• Previews

Final Score: ​

Extraordinary Mission doesn’t redefine the under cover cop thriller, but it is a competent action film that does everything by the book. Action is fun, drama intense, and the film is well edited, considering that this is the usual weak spot for Chinese films. The Blu-ray itself sports impressive audio and video specs, but the extras are one small behind the scenes featurette and some previews, so not a whole lot there. It’s a good disc and if you like action thrillers, then Extraordinary Mission will fill that niche quite handily. Worth a good watch at the very least.





Technical Specifications:

Starring: Yihong Duan, Xuan Huang, Yueting Lang
Directed by: Alan Mak, Anthony Pun
Written by: Felix Chong
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English
Studio: Cinedigm
Rated: NR
Runtime: 121 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 6th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Good Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will try and catch this one.