Ou Zhou gong lue

Do not waste your monry & time for this stupid movie. I thought with Tony Leung it should be a decent one but I was totally wrong :))

I was somewhat surprised to find a third movie in the "Raiders" series, especially because I hadn't even heard about it. I found it, picked it up and had to watch it regardless. I didn't even read the synopsis for the movie. The fact that it was a Hong Kong movie and in the "Raiders" series was more than enough.

However, this 2018 addition to the franchise wasn't quite as interesting as the previous movies. That being said, I have to say that the movie is still enjoyable and watchable, it just wasn't as solid a movie entertainmentwise and storywise as the previous movies were.

One of the better things in the movie was the amount of action that there was in the movie, and it was nicely executed on the screen. But of course the driving force here was Tony Chiu-Wai Leung in the lead role. I was thrilled to see JeeJa Yanin's name on the opening credits, but her role was so small it was almost non-existing. And that was a disappointment.

The storyline in "Europe Raiders" (aka "Ou Zhou Gong Lue") was a little bit too random. It felt like director and writer Jingle Ma was just making things up as the shooting of the movie progressed. There wasn't a continual red thread throughout the movie, and at times it just felt like I was watching random scenes put in the movie just because it was possible to do so.

The movie did have a fairly good cast with some familiar names and faces on the cast list, especially for a seasoned Asian cinema fanatic such as myself. So if you like Asian cinema, you might actually want to check out the cast list for this movie.

All in all, "Europe Raiders" is a movie that you watch once and never again, because it just failed to have the same charm, appeal and contents as the previous two movies in the franchise. An average, albeit mediocre, movie that just failed to be outstanding.

Europe Raiders is a quite entertaining action-thriller with strong martial arts sequences that comes around with a major and quite efficient twist in its surprising conclusion. The movie revolves around an invention that makes it possible to track down terrorists around the world. This tool has however been misused by the Central Intelligence Agency and its inventor died in grief and regret. Many years later, the inventor's very intelligent daughter seeks vengeance and manages to steal a part of the invention. The inventor's former bodyguard and friend cooperates with his female colleague and love interest in order to bring the tool back for the Central Intelligence Agency. To achieve this goal, the duo must cooperate with the inventor's imprisoned son whose goals are quite shady. Quite soon, a family drama unfolds and leads to a brutal showdown.

There are many positive elements about this movie that reminds me of the glorious days of Hong Kong cinema in the late eighties and early nineties. First of all, the film has fluid pace and a perfect length. Secondly, the dynamic martial arts elements are performed in a very grounded way which give the movie a more realistic touch than similar efforts. Thirdly, the characters are quite interesting as one cares for the gentle yet determined bodyguard and his quirky yet charming colleague but also for the desperate daughter and mysterious son of the sympathetic inventor. Fourthly, the locations are quite interesting as the film takes place in numerous beautiful cities in Italy. Fifthly and most importantly, the film comes around with a twist that I didn't see coming but that made sense to me and ended the film on a very high note.

A few elements need to be criticized as well. There are too many artificially flavored special effects in this film. This still looks cool in the opening sequence that could come from the James Bond franchise but the final showdown ressembles a video game rather than an actual movie. The depiction of the Central Intelligence Agency members and their objectives remain relatively shallow as they are quickly stigmatized as bad guys without adding any depth to it. The plot seemed to be somewhat shallow until the final twist turned it around in a most positive way.

In the end, I can recommend the movie to those who like and miss Hong Kong action-thrillers of the eighties and nineties. Europe Raiders gives you everything you need from breathtaking fights over intriguing characters to a story with a major twist. Tony Leung convinces as cool protagonist while Tang Yan, who might have her breakthrough with this role, complements him with breathtaking charm and beauty. Ignore the negative reviews and enjoy the wild ride.

After 5 mins on watching, you shall have already found it is really a waste of time to watch it. After 20 mins onwatching, you will wonder why such famous an actor Tony Leung was willing to be in this film. After 60 mins on watching, you will treat it as a catastrophe and you will never want to watch any film with the actor Chris WU and actress Tiffany TANG. They shall feel sorry for their brainless performaces and be away from film making from now on.

Unless you're a pre-pubescent Chinese boy, you shouldn't bother watching Europe Raiders. Production values are pretty bad in spots and it's an awfully tacky film over all. This one is a serious pass, my friends. Not recommended.