My quick rating - 6.9/10. Another foreign flick from my watchlist bites the dust. This time it was Invisible Target, a Hong Kong action thriller from the late Benny Chan. Right from the opening armored car robbery, it is clear what we are in for. Those intentions are apparently explosions, gunfire, fistfights, and the complete destruction of every piece of glass within a five-mile radius.
The story follows three cops, Chan (Nicholas Tse), Fong (Shawn Yue), and Wai (Jaycee Chan) - who all end up with personal reasons for hunting down gang leader Tien. One loses his fiancée, one gets publicly humiliated, and one has his brother kidnapped. Needless to say, nobody is having a particularly good week. And yes, Chan is a common last name, but in this case, it is actually Jackie Chan's son.
As expected, Invisible Target opens with a bang. Literally. Then follows it up with a shootout, and I am already glad I popped this one on. The fallout from that opening sequence gives each of our main characters their motivation. Before long, we're watching Nicholas Tse casually demonstrate that arresting suspects is just another opportunity to show off martial arts skills. The man dishes out beatings like he's trying to clear a backlog.
There is one thing that Hong Kong action movies are really good at, which are the chase scenes, and there is no shortage of those in Invisible Target. This film features rooftop chases, insane leaps, and plenty of parkour. My knees were hurting just watching it. The best part is knowing a lot of this was done by actual stunt performers rather than a computer generating twelve backflips while the actor stands in front of a green screen drinking coffee.
There's also a scene where four criminals get stopped by two police cars and proceed to absolutely dog-walk the officers involved. It was one of several moments where I found myself wondering if the police academy in this universe teaches anything beyond how to fill out paperwork.
When the three leads finally collide, the fight choreography is fantastic. And the wire effects are kept to a minimum. Fast, brutal, and easy to follow. Even better, the movie sneaks in some comedy that caught me off guard. I actually laughed out loud, which I wasn't expecting from a movie where disagreements are settled by kicking someone through (insert glass-made item here).
What surprised me most was that Invisible Target isn't just nonstop action. The villains are given reasons for what they do and aren't simply evil for the sake of being evil. It adds some flair and helps them feel more human.
Wu Jing is excellent as Tien and absolutely earns that paycheck during the final fight. Long, final fight. Fans of his work, such as the Wandering Earth movies, will recognize him immediately. And it's easy to see why he went on to become such a recognizable action star.
But let's get back to the glass. Good lord, the poor glass. Windows shatter. Display cases explode. Bodies crash through storefronts. Bullets seem magnetically attracted to every intact pane in Hong Kong. By the end, I was convinced the invisible target wasn't a person at all. It was every surviving window in the city.
Make sure you stick around during the credits. The behind-the-scenes stunt footage is worth sticking around for. We get some proof that these performers were risking life and limb for the camera. After seeing some of those jumps and falls, I'd say they earned every cent.
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