Hidden Strike Film Review, Pelipur Rindu Aksi Comedy Jackie Chan

JAKARTA - Hidden Strike can be the right longing coverage after not seeing Jackie Chan's face on the big screen with the action-medical genre. Hidden Strike can be watched on Indonesian cinema screens starting July 13.

Hidden Strike has a simple premise, namely about a former special forces soldier Luo Feng (Chan) who must guard and rescue civilians along Baghdad's Highway of Death towards a safe Green Zone.

Luo is now working as the leader of the operation to evacuate residents and workers at the constantly terrorized Chinese oil refinery company in Baghdad. Armed with 11 buses, Luo and the team started the rescue effort by passing through a dangerous path amid sandstorms and rock cliffs.

On the other hand, there is also a former US special forces Chris Van Horne (John Cena) who has another mission on the same land. He was invited by his younger brother, Henry (Amadeus Serafini) who was paid to take a number of passengers hostage in Luo-led operations.

Chris is motivated to follow the mission in order to get money to help residents in the village he lives in to have access to clean water.

Sure enough, Luo and Chris, who originally had different missions, instead led them to new missions that were more challenging and needed their cooperation.

Quoted from ANTARA, Chan and Cena are actors who are able to present action scenes wrapped in comedy elements easily and naturally, as if this duo had met in the same project before.

The duo, which both stands for JC, can be said to have chemistry, so it is very fun to watch. Their relaxed jokes, to miscommunication caused by language differences are also striking in this film, thus making audiences rot and entertained.

Moreover, Cena, who is indeed in the real world, can also speak Mandarin well, has produced a successful and interesting element of humor.

On the other hand, it would be nice to also see Chan -- a cinema hero for many people in Asia and the world who is famous for his acrobatic sprints and humor -- can again amaze the audience and fans, even when he is now 69 years old.

The presence of two main characters as Chan's partners in his films is nothing foreign. Call it the duet with Michelle Yeoh in Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992), to Lee and Carter (Chris Tucker) duo in Rush Hour trilogy which is so legendary and loved by many people from generation to generation.

Not only relying on the comedy side, chemistry with the main opponent and the action of the Bamboo Curtain country's typical matches, Chan's films are also attached to the spice of drama, especially closeness to the family. No exception in Hidden Strike, it is also told about his complex relationship with the princess, Xiao May (Wang Zhen Wei), which is one of the engineers at the oil company that Luo wants to save.

Since the beginning of the film, the audience has been given a little hint about the relationship, and the explanation is conveyed as the film goes on. Not only Luo, Chris also has a dark past regarding his family.

This similarity makes Luo and Chris learn more about each other's character, so that both of them find empathy and common ground in navigating regret and life experiences that are more or less similar. Unfortunately, this element is less built, so it can be said that it is not very touching from the emotional aspect.

Not only learning through the similarities they have, the two main characters also build chemistry through cooperation and disputes that combine many elements of action -- ranging from chase scenes with exciting armed cars, close-range martial arts, to shooting. The sequence of action sequences made Hidden Strike a light film to enjoy together.

The film is also seen taking Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) as one of its inspirations, especially in the round and scene that takes a setting in the middle of rock cliffs and desert expanses.

However, the heart of Hidden Strike lies in its two main strong play -- not the perfect visual and CGI effects, nor the storyline that has various plot twists.

And, there's nothing wrong with that. A simple story, performed by two figures who are easy to love, seems to be a combination brought by director Scott Waugh (Need for Speed", EXPEND4BLES) into Hidden Strike.

Still, Hidden Strike promises entertaining and fun time in theaters. The exciting and exciting dynamics between Chan and Cena is the main driving force behind it all, coupled with the longing to see Chan back in his best element in the action films again.