Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Guy THE MISSION is an HK film about men with guns. In this case they're hired shooters, chosen as bodyguards for a Triad boss after an assassination attempt. Their job is to keep him safe and work out who in his organisation was behind the failed hit. Basically this means a film of two halves. One half is a gentle comedy about (a very unusual) workplace, as the gunmen get bored and do things like covertly play football with a scrunched up piece of paper. The other half is a stylish action film, with it's standout scene being an ultra-cool shootout in a deserted shopping mall after hours; it's all angles and mirrors as the two sides try to outmaneuver and kill each other. It's short, unpretentious and not especially incident-packed but it makes up for that with some wry smiles and clever gunfights.

cbdunn What an outstanding film this is. Yes, the music is way out of place. But hey. It stars Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Francis Ng, Simon Yam, and Eddy Ko. This has some of the coolest gun fights that I have seen in a long time. The shootout in the mall is just amazing. Listen for the echo of the of the single shot sidearm. Very very cool. The plot is about five people who are in the Triad that must protect a boss at all costs. They come from different walks of life. One is a gun enthusiast, another is wanting to make a name for himself as a gunmen, another owns a club and is being constantly harassed by some guys who think they are tough. Anthony Wong points out their mistake the hard way. Oh yes. And Anthony Wong is a hair stylist...don't let that fool you one bit. If anyone has seen "Untold Story" and John Woo's "Hard Boiled", then you know what I am talking about. Just see this movie with another great film by director Johnnie To called "Fulltime Killer". This movie gets a 10 out 10.

roskakori i saw this movie at local festival named "the art of enmity", playing several well-known hong kong flicks. those i already knew were the popular "bloods & guts & dance & fight" type. so i expected "the mission" to at best be an entertaining action movie with lots of stereotypes.it turned out to be quite different, and i felt pleasantly surprised.the basic plot is rather classic: 5 guys are hired to protect a triad boss, who is assaulted on a regular base.the difference to other movies from this genre is that none of the 5 turns out to "the hero" (they work as a group), there are no ridiculous stunts, stupid over-reactions, or silly pride (they calmly do their job), and the main character is not the boss or his right hand (his bodyguards are).of course there is some fighting and shooting, but with comparably small amounts of bullets and blood. the highlight is a scene in a mall, where the bodyguards and the assassins are only a few meters apart, and calmly wait for each other to make the first move. several minutes of people standing around and smooth music in the background - and yet, more tension than in any hollywoodesque thriller.occasionally, there are small scents of humor (for example when they start a soccer match with a paper ball while waiting for their boss), but no "fun".we often see the boring side of the work as a bodyguard: drinking coffee, watching surveillance cameras, walking circles, driving the wife shopping. these sequences are short enough to not bore the viewer, but long enough to make him feel glad not to be in their position.on the negative side, i found that it took the movie unnecessary long to get going. there's not much interesting happening before the 5 get together. clearly, the movie is about their relationships among each other, and their behavior as a group. so the short introduction to the characters alone didn't really add much.if you are just looking for yet-another-hong kong-flick, you will be disappointed. i myself am glad it didn't fulfill my expectations. 8 of 10.

Eric1213 The Mission is a very Man-ly movie. All about doing their job and keeping a good reputation and status while maintaining your friends. Johnnie To gives the audience such subtle hints about how the characters are feeling that it took me a couple of viewings to pick up most of it. This is not your average gun fight and explosions movie. Great guy flick.