The Mongolian Connection

Can't say that I would have enjoyed the 3-hour-long director's cut, but this wasn't the worst cliched action movie I've ever seen -- far from it. It's a movie we've seen countless times before, but it was a lot better than most of the '70s and '80s action flicks it harks back to.

Guess it's the Mongolian charm?

Working undercover on a human trafficking bust, maverick FBI agent Wade Dalton (Kaiwi Lyman), captures Serick Ibrayev (Sanjar Madi), a mysterious operative from the Mongolian underworld. With time running out, Wade must escort Serik back to Mongolia, and team up with hard-boiled police detective Ganzorig (Amra Baljinnyam), to deliver Serik to court to testify against a crime Syndicate that will do anything to stop them.

As a cop movie it's fantastic, it's fun to see Hollywood and Mongolia in the same movie. The acting is great and the action is the best, this is a promising start for international mongol films.

The novelty of watching an action film predominantly shot in Mongolia, with mostly Mongolian actors, is certainly an initial draw. But if the movie doesn't grab you in the first few minutes, that novelty wears off and you'll probably move on. But that is certainly not the case with THE MONGOLIAN CONNECTION. This has the look, feel and edge of a 1970s action film. There is a grittiness to the proceedings but also a beauty in the choreography of the action scenes. Director Drew Thomas knows his way around an action scene, and you'll find that out within the first ten minutes. As we all know, most shootouts are a bore. We've seen millions. But watch the first one in this film and don't tell me you don't see touches of Brian DePalma. In a later car chase scene (again, we've seen millions), you'll be reminded of Friedkin's FRENCH CONNECTION scene. Maybe that's going overboard for a lower budget genre action picture, but you'll notice this film is made with care. You'll care about the characters, and there is some humor. A lot of these action pix forget to throw that in, or they lay it on with a trowel. This has just the right amount to make it work, but then it gets back down to dirty business. A very intriguing film and well-worth checking out.

A Mongolian cop mistake will allow an organized crime boss to go free. His only chance is a prisoner coming to Mongolia with an FBI custodying him. As always, corruption in the forces and the criminals made the delivery of the prisoner quite difficult so the three has to escape and try to survive while dealing with their own personal problems. Looks cliched; but is not. The director play with cliches but makes unexpected but very logical turns that make the movie more interesting every moment. The three unknown actors (at least for me) play their parts perfectly. The movie does not tries to be Rush Hour. There are a few humor moments; mostly product of languages difficulties; but is mostly serious and quite violent.

With Oriental movies; the fights are the best part and this one is able to maintain credibility and cut your breath away.

The sentimental part (sometimes too much in Oriental movies) is quite controlled here. The final fight has the "Honor Among Criminals" theme but not abusive and the fight is in itself fast and breathtaking

In brief; it is not a completely original story but a lot of details make it work very well and the action is intense and realist enough

As a moviegoer, you're always looking for that surprise thrill from a movie you have heard nothing or very little about. Holy moly - this was it. Non-stop action from front to back, and the fight choreography in particular was exceptional (coming from someone who grew up on John Woo films). The whole thing seemed like it was made for more money than it likely was. Think of it as the "Midnight Run" of Mongolia.

Kaiwi Lyman was a standout among the cast (his comedic chops were spot on), but don't sleep on Sanjar Madi or Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam, one of Mongolia's most feted actors. All three of them were great, and the chemistry between them was clear. I'm going to keep my eye out for all of them, but mostly I'll be curious to see what director Drew Thomas does next.

Really solid movie. Glad I found it.