Agentes de Elite

I was just given the chance to sit down and watch the 2005 Hong Kong action movie titled "Dragon Squad" (aka "Mang lung") here in 2021. And this was actually my first time to watch it. Sure, I had heard about the movie before, but I just never have gotten around to watch it. So of course I jumped at the chance to do so now.

And I will say that "Dragon Squad" was an adequately entertaining action movie, though it wasn't among the best that the action cinema from Hong Kong has to offer. But it is definitely an entertaining and watchable movie.

The storyline told in "Dragon Squad" was a bit simplistic and linear. Sure, it made for proper entertainment, but the writers Daniel Lee and Ho-Leung Lau didn't really venture into new territory, deciding to play it safe and following a strict how-to-make-an-action-movie blueprint.

The action sequences in the movie were nicely choreographed and executed on the screen, and there was indeed an abundance of action throughout the course of the movie. And director Daniel Lee brought this to life on the screen in a good manner with lots of high speed and adrenaline.

"Dragon Squad" has a rather impressive cast list ensemble, which includes Shawn Yue, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Maggie Q, Andy On and Simon Yam; so there is an abundance of familiar faces in the movie, if you are familiar with Hong Kong cinema. And it was an absolute blast to have Michael Biehn in the movie as well, and he was definitely back in form here.

I found this 2005 movie to be a nice surprise, and it definitely proved entertaining enough. However, I don't think that this is a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time though, as the storyline just was a bit too weak for supporting multiple viewings. My rating of "Dragon Squad" is a six out of ten stars.

Five agents(not sure what it is that makes them the dragon squad… if they are) are sent to take on a gang, but there are experts on the other side, as well. Yeah, that's basically it. We don't even get details on the criminal activities. I guess they're "just bad". The characters are all so sparsely developed that it can be difficult to remember not only who is who, but what side someone is on. Instead, the time is spent on plentiful stylish(too much so for many(it looks like a video-game at times, honestly), and a ton of slo-mo), over-the-top, bloody action, with shoot-outs, martial arts(unarmed and otherwise... and *everything* is a weapon in the hands of these guys) and build-up. It is intense and fast. This is visually impressive, nicely edited and filmed and at times almost poetic. There are dueling snipers and machete-wielders, and of course no one can hit squat when they are aiming at anyone important(of which there is an excessive amount). Biehn is of course absolutely awesome and bad-ass... what else is new. Early on, this seems to suggest that there will be twists or something brainy to it. There isn't. The "moral" makes little sense. There is some humor, though the funniest thing is the utter abandonment of logic, and how everyone can talk to each other even though they speak different languages to each other(mostly Cantonese, and the text is that, too... are some of those supposed to be chapter titles?). Everything is subtitled to English, don't worry(well, if you get the right version). All in all, 109 minutes sans credits is a bit much for something this focused on superficial entertainment. I recommend this to those who love Hong Kong flicks of this genre. 6/10

Indeed, this is visually the most glorious movie I've seen. The Dircetor Daniel Lee gives us a lot of eye candy and he helms the action scenes well. This movie gives me an eerie feeling as I'm not used to see Asian movies and I like the flashback kind of scenes were we are given some background about the characters. All the actors give us good performances although I found the baddies more interesting. Especially Michael Biehn gives us a first rate performance, it's a shame he doesn't have any martial arts scenes. Maggie Q plays her role with ease, just by looking tough. Overall, this movie is well worth watching, maybe a little minus comes from the too shallow characters this movie creates. Maybe this is because of the fact that there are simply too many characters to plunge into. But the characters are still better improved than in many action movies. A big plus for the great soundtrack.

Objectively speaking, this was your typical formulaic Hong Kong cop thriller. Sammo Hung plays the once brilliant cop, Kong Long, with issues as he heads to retirement. One of his issues surrounds an old case in which his team gets wiped out by a gang. Meanwhile five superstars (Shawn Yue, Vaness Wu, Eva Huang, Xia Yu, Lawrence Chou) in the Asian entertainment scene play five international cops who are there to testify against a mobster. However, on the way to court he is "rescued" by the gwei-lo, a former SAS man, Petros (Michael Biehn) and his team (which contains the delectable Maggie Q). Not surprisingly, once the mobster escapes, the young cops are after them and a chase ensues, following a path of history that Kong Long is all too familiar with.

Unlike most HK cop thrillers, there is more of an element of psychology involved and there are mind games that you, the viewer, do get caught up in. It is intelligent in parts, triggering some suspense. However, the downside is that this wasn't consistent throughout the film and much of the rest of the plot is rather weak and predictable. There are some action scenes that add a bit of excitement, but overall the script is the usual formulaic stuff that is much a throw-back to that seen in the last three decades of HK film.

But for most, like many Hollywood efforts of this type of film, the film appeals to the mass market. Some very big names in the world of entertainment in the Far East appear in this movie, including boy band F4-member, Vanness Wu, veteran kung fu supremo, Sammo Hung, and former model Maggie Q. It isn't a sublime work of art. It is meant to be seen at face value. And in that, it might have some success.

Overall, this film breaks no boundaries, in fact it stays well within the outfield. But, it's a fairly solid film that the masses will probably enjoy. One for a bit of action.

DRAGON SQUAD is a no-brainer for me: a Hong Kong action film in which Interpol agents battle criminal gangs, with warfare on the streets. Martial arts battles with machetes, sniper stand-offs, daring heists, and a revenge-fuelled storyline are all par for the course for this genre, so this should be an easy film to like. Unfortunately there's one big problem which drags it down to a barely enjoyable level: Daniel Lee's direction.

This is the worst directed Hong Kong action film I've seen in many, many years. DRAGON SQUAD is over-edited to within an inch of its life. The editing is super fast throughout, with constant shaky-cam work and headache-inducing montages. It makes the film look dated and amateurish and the 1990s-looking captions don't help either. I mean, why on earth did Lee think it would be a good idea to keep showing black-and-white stills of the characters during the suspense scenes? It's ridiculous! Had the direction been restrained, oh I don't know by actually allowing the actors time to act and the combatants to show off their skills, then this would have been a lot better. As it stands, Lee is the cinematic equivalent of a bratty kid at a birthday party, jumping up and down and shouting "Look at me! Look at me!".

I've seen other works by the same director (THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON, 14 BLADES) and they were nothing like this so I can only hope he learnt his lesson by his mistakes here. Otherwise, DRAGON SQUAD is fun film; plenty of action and one hell of cast to really get your teeth into. Among others this movie features Maggie Q as a sniper, Sammo Hung as an elder cop with an Alsation, Michael Biehn as the villain, Simon Yam as the chief cop, Li Bingbing as a love interest, Andy On as a bad guy, and Shawn Yue as one of the heroic cops. A shame about the charisma-free (and oddly-named) Vaness Wu (yeah, he's a guy) as the Emo-style hero, but then you can't have everything. I just wish the director hadn't messed up so bad on this one.