China Strike Force

First of all, this H.K. movie is clearly aimed at a more international market. Nothing immediately wrong with that - in fact, I was excited when I saw Mark Dacascos in the cast. I've enjoyed his work in other movies in the past, since not only does he know his craft well, he has screen presence and even has some acting ability.

But perhaps because Dacascos is unfortunately still not that well known in North America, the producers also picked someone with more "name" value to pair up with him. While I can sort of understand this, they really made a bad choice with choosing Coolio(!) I guess I can't really blame Coolio, because in the past he has shown some screen ability. However, the screenplay and the direction make him EXTREMELY annoying, with his non-stop slang talking and insulting. What's even worse is that Coolio's character is given much more focus than Dacascos' character, right down to the climatic action sequence. To say that Dacascos is greatly wasted is putting it mildly.

The climatic action sequence IS entertaining, and so are the previous ones in the movie... what little there are. The remaining running time is talk, talk, talk, blah, blah, etc. Most of the focus is in fact on a plot so weak and so cliched that it gives dumb action movies a bad name. (I suspect this is the main reason why the movie has yet to receive an official release in North America, 3 years after it was made!) Stanley Tong really needs to return to his roots, to realize what made his past movies work.

I read some of the comments on this movie and it was described as being very funny rather than serious. So i decided to take a look, as much as i didn't want to laugh, i had to laugh because it is hilariuos. Badly acted, and badly performed that it becomes funny. What is up with the jumps? they look more like flying... And with the motorbike sequences? no comments...The dialogs are as cheesy as it gets. The only good parts are with Mark Dacascos, which is the main reason for me watching this movie, but yet another disappointment from his side...

A movie with Mark Dacascos in production by Stanley Tong, should be of high quality in all directions, this one was a failing attempt.

This movie has some great fight scenes and incredible stunts but the plot is only average and the casting director should never have been hired. most of the acting is so awful it will have you cringing, especially the performances of Coolio and Norika. And while Aaron Kwok and Lee Hom give reasonably good performances, they've given the actor who can barely speak english (Kwok) the english lines and the American born actor (Lee Hom) with a rather bad mandarin accent got most of the mandarin lines

I really expect much from Stanley Stong, because he is well known as a good action director (Rumble In The Bronx, Martial Law), but when I decide to watch this one, I found my self fell in a such boring movie. The things that deserve to watch are only the action scenes and (off course) Noriko Fujiwara. The plot is trashy, and Aaron Kwok was seems to gorgeous to be a cop. Bad for you, Stanley. I hope he could do better next time.

5/10

CHINA STRIKE FORCE has some strikes against it. One is the odd casting of Coolio and the Japanese female lead. The other is the casting of two pop idols, which usually signal a flighty, silly movie.

While CSF is sometimes silly, it's mostly entertaining. Not incredibly so by any stretch, but entertaining enough that you wouldn't mind watching the film again. The action is good, and Coolio gives the film some terrific laughs.

CSF is one of those films that doesn't do anything it does with great excellence, but it's always good enough that you never feel cheated.

6 out of 10.